UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

In tourism studies,carrying capacity refers to the level of visitor use an area can sustain without unacceptable environmental degradation or decline in visitor satisfaction. The stem directly mentions this maximum number of visitors without serious impacts. Therefore carrying capacity is the correct term.

Option A:
A footprint generally measures resource use or environmental impact per person or activity,such as ecological or carbon footprint. While related,footprint does not specifically denote the maximum acceptable number of visitors at a site.

Option B:
Carrying capacity helps planners decide how many tourists a site can host while maintaining ecological integrity and quality of experience. It is central to sustainable tourism management and fits precisely with the description in the question.

Option C:
The multiplier in tourism refers to the indirect and induced economic effects of tourist spending. It is an economic concept rather than an environmental limit. Hence it is not an appropriate answer here.

Option D:
Concentration could loosely describe the density of tourists in a particular area but does not embody the idea of a threshold beyond which impacts become unacceptable. Therefore it does not match the stem.