The Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India, situated in the ecologically sensitive western Himalaya, is simultaneously a zone of exceptional ecotourism potential and acute multi-hazard exposure. This study applies an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) integrated with Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) within a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework to assess ecotourism suitability and identify hazard risk across the district. Seven thematic criteria Tourist Hotspots, Protected Area Proximity, Village Proximity, River Proximity, Road Proximity, Slope, and Elevation — were evaluated using CARTOSAT-1 DEM and OpenStreetMap data. AHP weight assignment yielded Tourist Hotspots (0.376) and Protected Area Proximity (0.271) as dominant determinants. Results indicate that approximately 35.4% of the district falls within High or Very High suitability zones, concentrated around the Nanda Devi range and major pilgrimage nodes including Badrinath and Joshimath. A critical spatial paradox was identified: zones of highest ecotourism potential coincide with areas of elevated natural hazard risk, including flash floods, landslides, and seismic activity. The study underscores the urgent need for hazard-integrated ecotourism planning and provides a spatially explicit framework for sustainable tourism governance in this climate-sensitive Himalayan landscape.
Ecotourism suitability, Chamoli, AHP-GIS, Himalayan hazards, Nanda Devi
Uma Bhattacharya, Dr. Rajesh Jolly. Assessment of Ecotourism Suitability and Hazard Risk Management in the Chamoli District, Uttarakhand: An Integrated AHP-GIS Approach (1990–2026). Indian Journal of Modern Research and Reviews. 2026; 4(7):63-74
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