Community Participation in Ecotourism Management with Special Reference to Athirappilly and Vazhachal

The objectives of Ecotourism can be achieved if there is a well planned mechanism to manage destinations. Among the stakeholders of ecotourism projects, the host community of is the most important one. It is through them the ideology of ecotourism can be popularised. This paper investigates the factors that influence host community participation in ecotourism management of Athirappilly and Vazhachal – two popular ecotourism destinations of Kerala. The involvement of the host community in management of ecotourism destinations will help them to empower themselves while ensuring management of natural resources in an efficient manner. This destination centric study, unlike the other macro level studies, attempts to understand the factors influencing community participation in ecotourism management at Athirappilly and Vazhachal. It was found that Environmental Knowledge for Sustainable Development and Perceived Economic Impact of Community Based Ecotourism Management has more influence on Participation in Community Based Ecotourism Management.