INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AJ&K, PAKISTAN

Even though this is a generally recognized that tourism development can positively effect on employment, income and education and impact the countries socio-economic development, the empirical research on the tourism development and socio-economic development are limited, specifically in case of state of AJ&K which largely depends upon tourism. The current research intends to add to the literature on tourism development and socio-economic development through empirical examining the connection among tourism development and socio-economic development in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan. This research was based on social exchange theory. The data for this study was primary and collected through a questionnaire-based survey in three districts of AJ&K. The current study used SPSS version-21 for data analysis. The study used correlation and regression for analyzing data. This study findings confirmed that a considerable association exists among tourism development and socio-economic development in AJ&K, Pakistan. This research also validates the proposed tourism development and socio-economic development hypothesis. The present study increases the literature about tourism and socio-economic link, specifically for tourism dependent in AJ&K. The study findings are valuable for tourism officials, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and non-governmental organizations working for tourism development as well as economic development in AJ&K. Future researchers can base their research on the findings of this study. The current research is a primary data-based research conducted in a state which is having countless tourism potentials. The study is unique in the sense that to the best of authors' knowledge it is probably the first of its nature in AJ&K.