Tourist Towns

Tourist towns are settlements whose primary function is to serve as destinations for leisure, recreation, and tourism. The textbook lists several well-known examples from India: Nainital, Mussoorie, Shimla, Pachmarhi, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udagamandalam (Ooty), and Mount Abu. These places attract visitors for their natural scenery, hill climates, historical sites, or cultural heritage.

The key conceptual point the book makes is that cities are not static in their function. A town that begins as a specialised tourist destination does not remain frozen in that role. As it grows, its functions change due to the dynamic nature of urban development. Even a specialised tourist town, when it expands into a metropolis, becomes multifunctional. Over time, industry, business, administration, and transport become equally important alongside tourism. …