Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: River Tourism in Nepal: A Social, Environmental, and Economic Assessment

Rhoades/货车De BergTourism旅游业是世界上的主要产业之一，旅游业对当地文化的影响是一个经久不衰的研究领域。本论文的研究涉及一个人类学的学生从格鲁吉亚大学研究的作用，河流为基础的旅游（白水漂流）在尼泊尔当地社区。 学生将学习漂流公司老板，河流导游和当地河流村庄以及漂流旅游客户。 这项研究将从这些利益相关者群体中的每一个群体中了解河流旅游业的主要成本和效益;使用共识分析评估每个群体内部和之间对社会、环境和经济成本和效益的一致程度;比较两条河流（一条较短的河流和一条较长的河流）沿着河流旅游客户所作的经济贡献。这项研究将促进我们对河流旅游在当地村民生存中的作用的理解，并收集数据，以帮助评估计划中的河流环境变化的影响。 此外，它将推进共识分析的人类学方法，分析一组人对一个确定的主题的知识的方式;将有助于年轻的社会科学家的培训，并促进我们对世界这一重要地区的理解。

0108977Rhoades / Van De BergTourism is one of the world's major industries, and the impact of this industry upon local cultures is an enduring field of study. This dissertation research involves an anthropology student from the University of Georgia studying the role of river-based tourism (whitewater rafting) in local communities in Nepal. The student will study rafting company owners, river guides, and local river villages as well as the rafting tourism clients. The study will elicit the major costs and benefits of the river tourism industry from each of these groups of stakeholders; assess the level of agreement about the social, environmental and economic costs and benefits within and between each group using consensus analysis; and compare the economic contributions made by clients of river tourism along two rivers, one of shorter and one of longer trip duration. The research will advance our understanding of the role of river tourism in the subsistence of local villagers and gather data to help assess the impact of planned changes in the river environment. In addition it will advance the anthropological methodology of consensus analysis, a way of analyzing the knowledge of a group of persons about a defined topic; will contribute to the training of a young social scientist, and advance our understanding of this important region of the world.