The Promotion of Cultural Tourism in Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh: An Evolution of Accommodation Facilities and Tourists Arrivals

The Lower Subansiri district is one of the oldest district of Arunachal Pradesh with an area of about 3460 sq.km and
about 83,030 population (2011) spreading in 536 villages. Geographically, it is an undulating terrain, altitude varies
from place to place. The greater part of it falls within the higher mountain zone consisting of tangled peaks and
enthralling valleys. The district is lying approximately between 26°55’ to 28°21’ N of latitudes, and 92° 40’ to 94°
21’ E of longitudes. The name of the district derived from the Subansiri River, a tributary of mighty Brahmaputra.
The district is rich in natural as well as cultural aspects. Nature has nurtured and groomed the district in the form of
superb scenery of majestic mountainous landscape, inter-montane plateau and wonderful sights of colourful tribal
cultures which attracts the tourists from within and outside the country. Thus, there lie possibilities for promoting
cultural tourism. Cultural tourism is one dimension of such development which can provide benefit to local people
both financially and socially. But certain regulatory constraints, lack of basic infrastructure as well as trained
manpower hindering the development of the tourism in the distict. Through this paper an attempt has been made to
examine the trend of tourist flow and changes in accommodation facilities as a result of promoting cultural tourism
based on field investigation and documentation.