This article is based and focused more upon the current debate on the topic of sustainability of the rural resorts post-coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), especially in the peripheral region of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage sites of Aurangabad. Rural tourism is one of the fastest-growing segments of the tourism industry in India. In recent years, in states like Maharashtra, Aurangabad has been considered as a spot for the development of rural tourism, but districts like Pune and Baramati have already carved their niche on the global platform. Ajanta & Ellora, the first UNESCO heritage site of India, is also one of the major tourist attractions of Aurangabad. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the hotel and tourism industry of the Aurangabad district. In particular, it addresses the need to identify strategic actions and the measures that should be taken, especially during the pandemic or any crisis situation, to enhance rural tourism and its growth in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. Rural tourism post-COVID-19 can be one of the strongest forces that has a strong potential to alter the lifestyle, income pattern and employment opportunities and restore the rich heritage and traditions of Aurangabad. Also in support of the theoretical and methodological reflections and in order to understand rural tourism in detail, this article presents a case study of the two agri-tourisms of Aurangabad. This article concludes by discussing and highlighting the results that emerged during the discussion of these two agri-tourisms, which were termed AF-1 and AF-2, also during the preparation of the case highlighting the sustainability, rural tourism development post-COVID recovery strategy, measures and steps towards hygiene and cleanliness and even the training related to the hygiene and cleanliness at the resorts.
Abou KamarM. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 disruptions on hotel supply chain resilience and robustness: The role of risk alleviation practices. Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hospitality, 22(1), 132–152.
2.
AlluriS., & VenkateswarluP. (2023). A review on pre and post Covid-19 scenario of Indian Tourism. Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 6(8), 282–284.
3.
Anguera-TorrellO., Aznar-AlarcónJ. P., & Vives-PerezJ. (2021). COVID-19: Hotel industry response to the pandemic evolution and to the public sector economic measures. Tourism Recreation Research, 46(2), 148–157.
4.
AnyfantakiS., BalfoussiaH., DimitropoulouD., GibsonH. D., PapageorgiouD., PetroulakisF., TheofilakouA., & VasardaniM. (2020). Covid-19 and other pandemics: A literature review for economists. Bank of Greece Economic Bulletin, 51, 7–42.
5.
AshutoshP., & KulshresthaR. (2021). Service blueprint 4.0: A service design for hotels beyond COVID-19. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 13(5), 610–621.
BaumT. (2006). Human resource management for tourism hospitality and leisure. Thomson Press.
8.
BaumT. (2009). The relationship between physical and economic planning. Town Planning Review, 34(4), 269–284.
9.
BernardR. (2000). The challenge of sustainable tourism development in the Maldives: Understanding the social and political dimensions of sustainability. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 52(2), 148–164.
10.
BontempiE., & CocciaM. (2021). International trade as critical parameter of COVID-spread that outclasses demographic, economic, environmental, and pollution factors. Environmental Research, 201, 111514.
11.
BowenS. (2008). Proposals to restructure social security. Journal of Economic Perspective, 10(3), 67–88.
12.
BrooksC., WatertonE., SaulH., & RenzahoA. (2023). Exploring the relationships between heritage tourism, sustainable community development, and host communities’ health and wellbeing: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282319
13.
ButlerR., & TaiebiG. (2006). Tourism area life cycle (vol. 1). Multilingual Matters.
14.
ChalkerL., CaterE., & LowmanG. (1994). Ecotourism: On the trail of destruction or sustainability? A minister’s view (pp. 87–99). John Wiley & Sons.
15.
ChebliA., & SaidF. B. (2020). The impact of Covid-19 on tourist consumption behaviour: A perspective article. Journal of Tourism Management Research, 7(2), 196–207.
16.
ChienG. C. L., & LawR. (2003). The impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome on hotels: A case study of Hong Kong. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 22(3), 327–332.
17.
CreswellJ. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.
18.
DannG. (1977). Anomie, ego-enhancement and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 4(4), 184–194.
19.
DashS. B., & SharmaP. (2021). Reviving Indian tourism amid the Covid-19 pandemic: Challenges and workable solutions. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 22, 100648.
20.
DimitrovskiD. D., TodorovićA. T., & ValjarevićA. D. (2012). Rural tourism and regional development: Case study of development of rural tourism in the region of Gruţa, Serbia. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 14, 288–297.
21.
DworkinJ. (2012). Factors for success in rural tourism development. Journal of Travel Research, 40(2), 132–138.
22.
FaulknerB. (2020). Towards a framework for tourism disaster management. Tourism Management, 22(2), 135–147.
23.
GallenS. (2020). The response of tourism businesses vis-à-vis the economic ramifications of SARS-CoV-2. AIEST.
24.
GaniA. (2022). Using a consumer choice model to explain the effect of the newly developed Oxford COVID-19 government stringency measure on hotel occupancy rates. Quality & Quantity, 56(6), 4313–4333.
25.
GetzD., & PageS. (1997). Conclusions and implications for rural business development (pp. 191–205). International Thomson Business Press.
26.
GubaS. (1981). Report of the committee on capital formation in agriculture. In directorate of economics and statistics. Ministry of Agriculture.
27.
HallC. M. (2008). Tourism planning: Policies, processes and relationships (2nd ed.). Pearson Education.
28.
HosseiniK., StefaniecA., & HosseiniS. P. (2021). World Heritage Sites in developing countries: Assessing impacts and handling complexities toward sustainable tourism. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 20, 100616.
29.
JoshiP. V., BhujbalM., & PableS. (2021). Socio-economic development of the rural area of the Konkan region of Maharashtra state through agro-tourism. International Research Journal of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, 2(1), 103–107.
30.
KarthikeyanM. (2021). Entrepreneurship development of rural tourism: Exploring a cooperative business model. World Applied Sciences Journal, 31(4), 573–582.
31.
KellerT. (2021). Village and household economies in India’s semi-arid tropics. Johns Hopkins University Press.
32.
KorinthB. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international tourism income in tourism receiving countries. Sustainability, 14(19), 12550.
33.
KulkarniS. B. (2020). Employment generation through strategies in rural tourism in India. Tactful Management Research Journal, 33(4),72–75.
34.
KulkarniT. (2008). Effects of positive and negative rural tourism (case study: Rural Semnan Province). Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, 4(2), 63–76.
35.
KulkarniT. (2020). India’s demographic and food prospects: State level analysis. Economic & Political Weekly, 35(46), 4021–4036.
36.
KumarP. (2022). What is the impact of COVID-19 on Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India from the top fifteen Source Countries during 2019 and 2020: A cross-sectional study?Times of India, 12April2020, pp. A2–A4.
37.
KumarV. (2020). Tourism industry and COVID-19: Present scenario. Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Education, 10, 179–185.
38.
LamT., LoA., & ChanJ. (2002). New employees’ turnover intentions and organizational commitment in the Hong Kong hotel industry. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 26(3), 217–234.
39.
LaneB. (1994). What is rural tourism?Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2(1), 7–21.
40.
LincolnY. S., & GubaE. G. (2007). But is it rigorous? Trustworthiness and authenticity in naturalistic evaluation. New Directions for Program Evaluation, 30, 11–25.
41.
MalhotraS. (2008). Factors for success in rural tourism development. Journal of Travel Research, 40(2), 132–138.
42.
MarshallB. (2013). Environmental policy integration as a strategy for sustainable tourism planning: Issues in implementation. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(9), 1257–1274.
43.
McGeheeN. G., & AndereckK. L. (2004). Factors predicting rural residents’ support of tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 43(2), 131–140.
44.
Ministry of Tourism. (2022). A statistical overview (India Tourism Statistics, 2022).
45.
MorseL. (2000). Overview of tourism development prospects in Nepal. Laurea University of Applied Sciences.
46.
MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation). (2021). Tourism policy of Maharashtra (report no. TDS-2022/09/CR No 542/Tourism-4). Government of Maharashtra.
47.
NaheedS., & ShooshtarianS. (2022). The role of cultural heritage in promoting urban sustainability:A brief review. Land, 11(9), 1–17.
48.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (1997). Tourism strategies and rural development (pp. 13–75).
49.
PagdhareD. (2011). Feasibility of development of rural tourism in Palghar District: Maharashtra. Indian Journal of Rural Development, 35(2) 113–121.
50.
PageS., & GetzD. (1997). The business of rural tourism: International perspectives. International Thomson Business Press.
51.
PandeyK., MahadevanK., & JoshiS. (2021). Indian tourism industry and COVID-19: A sustainable recovery framework in a post-pandemic era. Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, 28(5), 592–606.
52.
QureshiH. (2000). An effort towards the development of eco-friendly rural technology for Parthenium based bio pesticide. Indian Journal of Environment Protection, 20, 332–336.
53.
QureshiH. (2017). Tourism diversification and its implications for smart specialisation. Sustainability, 10(2), 319.
54.
RajU., & DeviP. (2021). An overview of policies & schemes of Govt. of India to promote rural sector & tourism. International Journal of Applied Research, 1(13), 775–778.
55.
RobinsonJ., & O’ConnorN. (2013). Ballyhoura—A case study of cohesive rural tourism planning in Ireland. Tourism Planning & Development, 10(3), 307–318.
56.
SchwandtT. A., LincolnY. S., & GubaE. G. (2007). But is it rigorous? Trustworthiness and authenticity in naturalistic evaluation. New Directions for Evaluation, 2007, 11–25.
57.
SharmaN., & TiwariM. (2014). Entrepreneurship as a catalyst for rural Tourism development. In The World Conservation Union (pp. 1–8). IUCN.
58.
ShcherbinaE., & SalmoA. (2023). Exploring impact of historical and cultural heritage on the sustainability of urban and rural settlements. E3S Web of Conferences, 457, 03001.
59.
SikiricD., KranjnovicA., & RajkoM., (2022). Model for the implementation of the rural tourism development strategy in the count of Zadar. 34th International Conference on Organizational Science Development Internalization and Cooperation (pp. 1017–1027).
60.
SirakayaE., TeyeV., & SönmezS. (2002). Understanding residents’ support for tourism development in the central region of Ghana. Journal of Travel Research, 41(1), 57–67.
61.
SupriyaA. (2021). The tourism industry and the impact of COVID-19 scenarios and proposals. Global Journey Consulting.
62.
SwainT. (2006). Tourism, farming, and diversification: An attitudinal study of tourism management. Tourism Management, 27(5), 1040–1052.
63.
TiwariP., & JoshiB. (2015). Climate change & rural out migration in Himalayas. Change & Adaption in Socio Ecological Systems, 2, 8–25. https://doi.org/10.1515/Cass.2015-0002.
64.
TyabjiL. (2020). The coronavirus cloud has a potential silver lining for the Indian crafts sector. The Wire.
65.
UNWTO. (2001). International tourism highlights (2001 ed.). UN Tourism Publications.
66.
UNWTO. (2020). International Tourism Highlights (2020 ed.). UN Tourism Publications.
67.
UpadhyeJ. (2015). Problems of agro tourism industry in Maharashtra. International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities, 3(1), 478–488.
68.
ValleA. S. D. (2020). The tourism industry and the impact of COVID-19 scenarios and proposals. Global Journey Consulting.
69.
Vidic. (2012). Development of rural tourism. In TomkaD. & JegdićV. (Eds.), Tourism and local development, scientific monograph (pp. 129–134). Faculty of Sport and Tourism.
70.
WilsonS., FesenmaierD. R., FesenmaierJ., & Van EsJ. C. (2001). Factors for success in rural tourism development. Journal of Travel Research, 40(2), 132–138.
71.
YadavJ. (2015). Rural development through promoting rural tourism. International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, 1(1), 106–110.
72.
YangY., AltschulerB., LiangZ., & LiX. (2020). Monitoring the global COVID-19 impact on tourism: The COVID-19 tourism index. Annals of Tourism Research, 90, 103120.
73.
ZhouW., SongS., & FengK. (2022). The sustainability cycle of historic houses and cultural memory: Controversy between historic preservation and heritage conservation. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 11, 1030–1046.
