Kumar Bhatta

Dr. Kumar Bhatta

Park, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

8Years (2019-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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30 October 2020 in Tourism and Hospitality
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Kumar BhattaKumar Bhatta
Kumar Bhatta
Yasuo OheYasuo Ohe
Yasuo Ohe
This study reviews the published quantitative literature in agritourism from the supply, demand, and both supply- and demand-side perspectives to determine the implications for agritourism in developing countries. A total of 85 quantitative papers were reviewed. Most studies in the literature concern developed countries, and the motivations and attributes of the actors in this field have been investigated thoroughly, whereas few researchers have focused on quality tourism and identity in agritourism. This study suggests that policymakers in developing countries should promote females, insist on maintaining the quality of the workforce, ensure the availability of credit or subsidies to farmers, and guide and monitor the planning and development of agritourism. Furthermore, connecting different stakeholders and minimising the adverse effects in society through innovation in agritourism may lead to sustainable agritourism.

1 January 2019 in Open Agriculture
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Kumar BhattaKumar Bhatta
Kumar Bhatta
KIKeishiro Itagaki
Keishiro Itagaki
Yasuo OheYasuo Ohe
Yasuo Ohe
Agritourism in developing countries is regarded as a tool not only for rural development but also for poverty alleviation. However, up until now, the majority of the studies on agritourism have been conducted in economically strong countries, focusing on already-developed agritourism destinations. Thus, the main objectives of this study were to investigate farmers’ willingness before the establishment of agritourism and the factors that are driving their motivation. The results of an empirical questionnaire survey in rural Nepal conducted in August 2017 revealed that farmers are willing to engage in agritourism. Furthermore, the results indicate that agritourism has a statistical connection with elements related to tourism and an element related to agriculture. Specifically, willingness to start agritourism is connected with the types of tourist attracted and the farmers’ willingness to share land resources. Each factor is further explained by employing three different variables. In summary, those farmers who are 21 to 40 years old, have returned from foreign countries, are frequently involved in community activities, and are relatively educated are the potential agritourism practitioners in rural Nepal. This study suggests that policymakers should pay special consideration to farmers with the above traits for agritourism development.

6 January 2022 in Sustainability
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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Michał RomanMichał Roman
Michał Roman
Robert KosińskiRobert Kosiński
Robert Kosiński
Kumar BhattaKumar Bhatta
Kumar Bhatta
ANArkadiusz Niedziółka
Arkadiusz Niedziółka
AKAndrzej Krasnodębski
Andrzej Krasnodębski
The first European COVID-19 infection was recorded in February 2020, and Poland followed in mid-March. Restrictions were imposed on traveling between states and using public space. These movement restrictions forced a search for new, often innovative, forms of tourism. Google Earth virtual reality (VR), Google Street View, and the Chernobyl VR Project are just some of the selected opportunities to create virtual tours. Different activities using VR mean that people can experience the illusion of travelling in time and space, outside of their everyday surroundings, in a digitally constructed three-dimensional (3D) environment, for cognition or entertainment. Therefore, this study aimed to present virtual and space tourism as new traveling trends during various crises, such as health, economic, etc. A diagnostic survey with a developed questionnaire was conducted in June and July 2021 in Poland. A total of 564 fully answered responses were collected from randomly selected respondents. We found that around 82% of Polish people were aware of VR technology, and 70% believed that new technologies determine VR tourism development. VR presents the possibility of travelling to places that no longer exist in their original form, but have been reconstructed only in VR. Around 75% of the respondents agreed that VR tourism plays an essential role in tourism promotion in Poland and throughout the world. Moreover, VR and augmented tourism lets us visit fictitious and dangerous, politically restricted, and geographically as well as economically difficult destinations. For example, our results revealed that many people want to experience North Korea, the USA, Antarctica, Syria, etc. At the same time, people recommended the NASA space station as a visiting destination using VR and augmented reality. VR offers an alternative form of tourism during crises and pandemics such as COVID-19. We found over 26% of the respondents were satisfied with contemporary tourists’ cognitional needs during VR sightseeing. More than 87% of the respondents believed that VR tourism cannot substitute real-world tourism in the long run. However, VR tourism will be more beneficial for developing countries facing difficulties in economic aspects, and easier than attaining visas to enter developed countries. Furthermore, virtual sightseeing may also constitute an alternative for people who are disabled or sick, and who cannot undertake the effort of active tourism and explore tourist resources of the world on their own.

3 April 2019 in International Journal of Tourism Sciences
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
Kumar BhattaKumar Bhatta
Kumar Bhatta
Yasuo OheYasuo Ohe
Yasuo Ohe
Despite an increase in farmers’ income due to community-based agritourism (CBAT), their willingness to undertake CBAT has never been investigated. Therefore, this study aims to investigate farmers’ willingness as software to establish CBAT where agritourism does not exist. Sixty-four farmers in rural Nepal were interviewed, and the data from their responses were analysed through an ordered logit regression model. The factors affecting willingness were first defined and structured into three categories – social, agricultural, and tourism-related issues – which were further explained by six variables. The empirical results of the investigation show that investment capacity and farmers’ knowledge of tourism had the largest marginal effects on willingness; all other factors had significantly positive effects too. To assist CBAT development, policymakers should first provide the support measures focusing on investment issues and capacity building.

1 June 2020 in Agriculture
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Kumar BhattaKumar Bhatta
Kumar Bhatta
Yasuo OheYasuo Ohe
Yasuo Ohe
ACAdriano Ciani
Adriano Ciani
Despite Nepal’s agritourism strategies for promoting agrarian villages, agritourism has not yet gained popularity. Based on two different surveys conducted in August 2017 and January 2019, we explore the agritourism development strategies and the agritourism potential for Phikuri village, an agrarian village in Nepal. Using a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) matrix, we explore four main strategies and 15 sub-strategies. The four main categories are as follows. A maxi-maxi strategy characterised by strengths and opportunities, a maxi-mini strategy characterised by strengths and threats, a mini-maxi strategy characterised by weaknesses and opportunities, and a mini-mini strategy characterised by threats and weaknesses. A quantified SWOT matrix of the estimated total value of the internal and external factor evaluation matrices reveals that Phikuri village has more strengths than weaknesses and more opportunities than threats. We statistically compare the opinions of three different groups, organised by gender, age, and occupation. The results reveal statistically significant differences in the opinions of men and women, younger and older generations, and public and private workers. This study also shows that women are critical for agritourism development, even in a male-dominated society.

17 October 2021 in Sustainability
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Michał RomanMichał Roman
Michał Roman
Kumar BhattaKumar Bhatta
Kumar Bhatta
Monika RomanMonika Roman
Monika Roman
Prakash GautamPrakash Gautam
Prakash Gautam
This study aimed to present the socio-economic conditions, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their effects on travel decision-making. Data were collected in January and February 2021 using an online questionnaire survey. We compared the data on personal attributes, socio-economic factors, and organizational-related factors of 957 Polish and 181 Nepalese respondents. We found that people would like to travel, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, in both countries; however, tourism in developed countries is expected to revive earlier than in developing countries. Tourists chose natural and rustic areas for travel destinations and family members and friends as travel companions in both countries. Similarly, the use of travel agencies decreased significantly as compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic in both countries. Levels of income and travel motivation were observed to be different between the two countries. Respondents from both countries similarly believed that the overall cost of travel had increased during the pandemic. Therefore, policymakers and authorities of tourism destinations should jointly introduce discounted or subsidized packages targeting family members.