Digital Adoption and Sustainable Development in Niche Tourism: Evidence from GI-Tagged Handicraft Artisans of the Kumaun Hills of Uttarakhand

Abstract

Peripheral mountain economies hold rich cultural assets that remain under-utilized in mainstream tourism and economic-development strategies. This paper examines how Niche(special-interest) tourism, anchored in Geographically Indicated (GI-Tagged) handicrafts, contributes to artisan micro-entrepreneurship and sustainable development in the Kumaun hills of Uttarakhand, India, and how far digital-technology adoption strengthens that contribution. Drawing on primary field research among Pehchan-registered artisans across five Kumaun districts (population 7,431; N = 610; systematic sampling), and focusing on eight GI-tagged handicrafts, the study tests two propositions using descriptive statistics, correlation, Garrett ranking, factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. It finds that digital-technology adoption has a significant, positive effect on the promotion and sale of Niche products, and that Niche tourism significantly supports sustainable development across economic, socio-cultural, environmental, and capacity-building dimensions. Beneath these aggregate results lies a pronounced intra-regional digital divide: better-connected Nainital records the highest digital adoption, revenue growth, and online-sales share, while remoter districts such as Champawat and Bageshwar are held back by weak internet connectivity and limited digital skills. Awareness of GI status is high (79.8%), yet formal GI ownership among artisans is low (39.1%). The paper argues that in hill economies the developmental promise of GI-anchored Niche tourism is realized only where digital and connectivity infrastructure allows artisan enterprises to reach markets, and it offers policy measures aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 8.