Tourism-Driven Urban Expansion: Spatial Analysis of Built-up Growth in India’s Prominent Tourist Cities

India's tourism sector has witnessed a remarkable surge in the years following the 2009 economic crisis, leading to significant land use and land cover changes (LULC) in major tourist destinations. Increased demand for lodging and infrastructure has driven rapid expansion in built-up areas, reshaping urban landscapes. This study examines the spatial development patterns of built environments in three key tourist towns, each characterized by distinct tourism activities and heavy economic reliance on tourism. Using remotely sensed data and supervised classification techniques, built-up regions are mapped as binary images for analysis. Patch-based metrics are applied to assess growth patterns in terms of size, shape, direction, and form. The findings illustrate tourism’s role as a catalyst for urban expansion, demonstrating variations based on geographical attributes and tourism typologies. This research underscores the need for integrating spatial planning into sustainable tourism strategies, aligning with broader sustainable development objectives.