Leveraging Tribal Craft Beverage Tourism for Community Capital Enhancement: Examining the Possibilities of Adaptation of the US-Destination Resources Framework

Abstract

The study examines the Destination Resource Acceleration Framework (DRAF) and its applicability to the beverage sectors of indigenous communities of Northeast India. This study identifies the framework\'s limitations within a culturally diverse context. Using a qualitative meta-synthesis and secondary evidence-based policy analysis, the study integrates the Community Capital Framework (CCF) with DRAF to develop an indigenous-based tourism model. The findings of the study provide insights into the Western destination framework, which often overlooks indigenous small-beverage economies and community-based cultural assets. To address these limitations, the study proposes a new framework that focuses on cultural and social capital as foundational input for tourism development in Northeast India. The model shows how traditional brewing knowledge and institutions can be transformed into a politically protected and sustainable form of economic tourism. The study contributes to tourism development literature by offering a way to promote indigenous entrepreneurship, cultural preservation, and community economic sustainability in Northeast India.

Introduction

This study examines how indigenous knowledge systems can be integrated with tourism development to promote sustainable economic growth and cultural preservation in Northeast India, particularly through the indigenous craft beverage sector. It combines the Community Capitals Framework (CCF), which evaluates seven forms of community capital (natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built), with the Destination Resources Framework (DRF) to create a model that supports indigenous entrepreneurship while protecting cultural heritage and traditional knowledge.

Globally, indigenous tourism has become an effective strategy for community empowerment, sustainable rural development, and cultural preservation. However, destination management models developed in Western countries, particularly the United States, rely heavily on formal institutions, strong governance, advanced infrastructure, and market-driven branding. Although successful in developed economies, these models often fail to account for the cultural, historical, and social realities of indigenous communities in developing regions.

The paper argues that directly applying the Destination Resources Framework (DRF) to Northeast India's tribal craft beverage sector creates several structural mismatches. Western models assume the presence of formal institutions, integrated transport systems, scalable infrastructure, and standardized branding. In contrast, Northeast India's economy is largely based on informal, household-level enterprises managed through kinship networks and customary institutions. The region also faces geographical isolation, weak infrastructure, and regulatory barriers. Furthermore, market-oriented branding may commercialize or commodify indigenous beverages, reducing their sacred, medicinal, and cultural significance while limiting community control over traditional knowledge and intellectual property.

The study highlights additional challenges facing indigenous craft beverage enterprises, including restrictive excise laws, limited access to formal markets, inadequate infrastructure, and policies that criminalize rather than support traditional brewing practices. These barriers prevent indigenous communities—especially tribal women who manage most traditional brewing—from benefiting fully from tourism and entrepreneurship.

The significance of the research lies in demonstrating that cultural and social capital can become the primary drivers of economic development, rather than treating financial and physical infrastructure as the starting point. By integrating the Community Capitals Framework with the Destination Resources Framework, the study proposes a more inclusive tourism model that emphasizes indigenous leadership, community participation, cultural preservation, and sustainable livelihood generation.

The literature review shows that the Community Capitals Framework has evolved from rural sociology into an important model for sustainable tourism development by recognizing the interconnected roles of seven forms of community capital. In contrast, the Destination Resources Framework, developed primarily within Western economies, focuses on transforming local resources into market-ready tourism products through strong institutions, public-private partnerships, legal protection, infrastructure investment, and branding. While effective in developed countries, this framework assumes conditions that are often absent in marginalized indigenous communities.

The review also discusses the growing importance of craft beverage tourism, which can transform traditional beverage production into a source of cultural empowerment and economic development. However, without community control, commercialization risks eroding cultural authenticity and reducing indigenous traditions to market commodities.

The study identifies a major research gap: although previous research has documented the cultural and ethnomedicinal value of indigenous beverages, very little work has developed a systematic tourism framework that integrates these products into sustainable regional development. Existing Destination Resources Acceleration Framework (DRAF) models have been developed almost exclusively in highly formalized Western economies and depend on assumptions such as formal financial systems, scalable infrastructure, and strong legal institutions that do not reflect Northeast India's realities.

To address this gap, the paper proposes recalibrating the Destination Resources Framework through an asset-first, indigenous-led Community Capitals approach. This modified framework seeks to demonstrate how informal indigenous economies can build competitive tourism advantages while preserving cultural identity, protecting intellectual property, and promoting sustainable livelihoods. The primary research objective is to assess whether the Destination Resources Acceleration Framework (DRAF) adequately reflects the socio-economic, cultural, and institutional realities of Northeast India's indigenous craft beverage sector and to develop a more context-sensitive model for sustainable tourism development.

Conclusion

The study shows that the USA’s destination development framework has not been directly applied to Northeast India’s Indigenous beverage sector. However, through a qualitative meta-synthesis, this study proposes a framework that integrates the community capital framework with the destination resources acceleration framework, putting cultural and social capital at the foundation of tourism development in Northeast India. The findings of the study suggest that the brewing knowledge of these communities and the indigenous governance system can serve as a strategic basis for building sustainable tourism destinations by focusing on community-led development, legal protection, and equitable benefit sharing. The proposed model provides a way to transform traditional knowledge into a sustainable livelihood. The study contributes to the literature on tourism and development by offering an asset-based alternative model for infrastructure development. The study also provides practical insights for policymakers to develop tourism and cultural preservation policies and promote sustainable, self-reliant livelihoods in Northeast India. Future research should empirically test this framework through field studies across all tribal communities and for their beverage traditions.

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Copyright © 2026 Deep Jyoti Deuri, Prof. Arup Barman, Bhargabi Hazarika. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.