| Summary: | Human resource development has a very crucial role in the development of a service industry such as tourism. However, the significant role of human resources in its sustainability-oriented development seems to remain unrecognised and underrated. Tourism in India, though a major component in the nation's development, is marked by lacklustre performance and an inability to realize its real potential. With increasing incidences of negative impacts in many of her established tourism destinations, sustainability is an important issue in the country. Human resource development for tourism in India has had a relatively recent origin and suffers from infrastructural and pedagogical limitations. There is also a supply-demand disparity both in qualitative and quantitative terms. The principal aim of this study was to consider the role of human resource development in facilitating sustainability-oriented development of tourism. The study started with the assumption that by employing comprehensive human resource development policies and practices aimed at providing appropriate skills and competencies and instilling values of sustainability, tourism can be developed in a sustainable manner. Besides the relevant literature, a panel of experts on Indian tourism was interrogated on key issues the study investigated. Several conclusions on human resource development for tourism, sustainability-oriented development of Indian tourism were drawn from the study. The important role human resource development has in ensuring sustainability-oriented development of tourism has been underlined by the study. It highlights the disorganized condition of human resource development in Indian tourism, result of a chaotic bureaucratic system and a tourism industry reluctant to recognise and support tourism education and training. A human resource development model for sustainable tourism is proposed. The outcomes of this research have implications for tourism policy makers in India and elsewhere, guiding them in developing an effective system of human resource development that can assist in the pursuit of sustainable tourism.
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