Kalyan Bhandari

Sociology of leisure and tourism, nation,  national identity and nationalism; tourism and regional development; tourism public policy; tourism sustainability and climate change; events studies; tourism, society and culture in Nepal and Scotland

My current research focuses on the sociology of leisure. I am interested in the debate on the cross-cultural comparisons of leisure and on the morality of leisure in the non-western societies including the diasporic communities. My recent research projects and publications have focussed on the role of social sanctions in exploring the leisure-tourism engagement in Nepal.

My past research projects have examined sustainable tourism practices in Nepal.  I have also examined Nepali tourism industry’s readiness for a voluntary sustainable tourism certification scheme.  The project was funded by the GCRF-Internal Pump Priming funding.

Before that I managed a project funded by British Academy Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant SRG 2015-16 Round. The study explored the significance of Mt. Everest as a ‘national’ icon in Nepal. The study was driven by the following research question: should Mt Everest continue to stimulate Nepal’s national imagery? The objectives of the study were: i. To explore the appreciation of Mt Everest as a national heritage in Nepal; and ii. To examine the significance of Mt Everest in the 'national' imagination in Nepal. 

Nepal Tourism Board (Nepal)

Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of Commerce (Dumfries, Scotland))

Visit Scotland (Scotland)

My research is driven by Sociology and most of my work is interdisciplinary in nature that draws from political science, anthropology, geography, history and development studies.

Tourism and national identity,

Tourism in Scotland

Tourism, society and culture in Nepal