Strategic tourism development planning in the Seraj Valley, in Himachal Pradesh is necessary in order to ensure sustainable development in a fragile environment, but also to ensure that local people are able to benefit from tourism in their region. The paper briefly reviews the adverse forces acting on mountain people, addresses lack of financing and suggests a number of possible ways that local communities might be able to earn money from tourism directly. It also covers the need for state intervention and support to a livelihood strategy that should be treated as a distinct category within tourism. Consideration is made of the impact of tourism and pitfalls that need to be avoided. Recommendations on what needs to be included in a planning process and details on the following are covered: 1. Objectives - improve living standards of people, minimise leakage of income, eco-tourism, sharing the benefits; 2. Participation of local people - community-based, advantages of participation, Panchayat system; 3. Information - what the region has to offer tourist; 4. Revenues - ways to earn money from tourism: visa, concession fees, royalties, admission fees, local taxes, goods and services - accommodation, food, trekking, pony trekking, mountaineering, special interest tours, local guides tours, lodges and tea houses, handicrafts, bakery, cheese-making, entertainment, music, dances, festivals, events, guide books and information. 5. Training; 6. Marketing; 7. Planning and implementation - government agreement on ways of earning income from tourism, visa, tourist season, accommodation, planning permission, taxes, monitoring. 8. Conclusion - key issues: participation, funding/earning income and planning tourism development.
