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Given the prevalence of protecting geoheritage tourism sites, Ladakh has enormous potential. However, Ladakh’s potential and developments in its growth as a geotourism destination have received scant consideration. As such, this paper aims to explore Ladakh’s key drivers as a potential geotourism destination through cognitive dissonance and protection motivation theories.

This paper conducted in-depth interviews with 86 geoscientists and tourism professionals to assess Ladakh’s potential as a geotourism destination. This paper used a qualitative approach to congregate four constructs based on the image difference of the consensus map.

Because of the interviewees’ heterogeneity and uniqueness, meaningful constructs in the consensus were included for each figure and cloud words. This paper concluded that four drivers are the main forces behind geotourism development.

This paper explores the drivers – geotourism services, legislative requirements, experiential geotourism and SPARC (scientific, preservation, aesthetic, recreational, cultural) values – affecting geotourism in Ladakh. It is feasible to lessen the negative effects of overtourism and make sure that Ladakh’s distinctive nature is preserved for future generations by implementing sustainable tourism practices.

The Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) is a paramount step by the Government of India to develop sustainable communities through border tourism along the Indo-China border. The programme was launched with manifold objectives, e.g. border security (BS), event promotion (EP), infrastructure development (ID), livelihood creation (LC), check on out migration (OM) and local resource conservation (LRC). The programme performance was measured on the bases of six parameters, i.e. EP, LC, OM, LRC, service quality, BS and ID. The data was collected through a survey from participants of the Last Run, on 20th February 2023 at Pangong Tso (4225 Mt), Ladakh, India. The 65-survey data were obtained via a structured questionnaire from domestic tourists (who participated in the Last Run) on 9 parameters. The variance-based structural equation modelling (VB-SEM) was opted to test the hypothetical paths. This research was conducted with four objectives, i.e. (1) to put forward a programme performance measurement framework, (2) to find the mediation effect of word of mouth, among the relationship of Vibrant Village Programme Performance (VVPP) and destination revisit intention, (3) important Performance Metrix Analysis of the Model and (4) socio-economic impacts of the event in the border area. Tourism stakeholders can find important knowledge and can facilitate holistic destination management (especially event performance). The Smart PLS 4 was used in data analysis. The performance measurement of this programme is useable for policymakers, destination planners, researchers and business houses. This research work is a ready-to-implement document type; for tourism policymakers and managers, destination planners and border tourism event managers.