Tourism in the Andaman Islands: An Anthropological Perspective

This is a detailed work on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a tourist haven. It provides a historical background to the islands, its religious facets, recreation and infrastructural facilities and transport and communication system available there, and role of the Andaman and Nicobar administration in the context of tourism. It identifies the places of tourist interest. Based on empirical studies, it studies the type of tourists who arrive, their motivation and purposes, and role of government officials and vested tour operators. It tries to understand the perspectives of the tourists and the host communities vis-à-vis tourism and brings to light the impact of tourism on the local culture and ecology of the islands. It discusses problems linked to tourism such as damage to the colonial ruins, promotion of sex tourism, environmental damage caused by snorkelling and scuba diving and the growing wood industry which is destroying the forests.