Tourism Outlook Conference Sri Lanka 2014 Abstracts

Tropical Tourism Outlook Conference
Nature, Culture and Networking for Sustainable Tourism

combining
The 7th Tourism Outlook Conference and The 3rd Tropical Coastal and Island Tourism Conference
8
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August 2014 - Heritance Kandalama, Dambulla, Sri Lanka

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Tropical Tourism Outlook Conference Sri Lanka 2014

ABSTRACTS

Department of Tourism Management
Faculty of Management Studies
Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
P.O. Box 02, Belihuloya 70140
SRI LANKA

www.sab.ac.lk

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CONFERENCE PARTNERS

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL), Department of Tourism Management, Sri Lanka
Universiti Teknologi MARA, (UiTM), Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Malaysia
Northern Arizona University (NAU), Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation, USA
International Geographical Union (IGU), Commission on the Geography of Tourism, Leisure and Global
Change
Tourism Geographies journal (TG), Routledge, U.K.

CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT

Dr. Iraj Ratnayake, SUSL
Dr. W.K.A.C. Gnanapala, SUSL
Mr. M.S.M. Aslam, SUSL
Dr. Nor' Ain Othman, UiTM
Dr. Norliza Aminudin, UiTM
Dr. Alan A. Lew, NAU and TG and IGU

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Dr. Norliza Aminudin, UiTM Shah Alam, Malaysia
Mr. M.S.M. Aslam, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
Dr. W.K.A.C. Gnanapala, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
Dr Mohamad Abdullah Hemdi, UiTM Shah Alam, Malaysia
Dr. Alan A. Lew, Northern Arizona University, USA
Dr. Lawal Marafa, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Dr. Dieter Mueller, University of Umea, Sweden
Dr. Nor' Ain Othman, UiTM Shah Alam, Malaysia
Dr. Iraj Ratnayake, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
Dr. Jarkko Saarinen, University of Oulu, Norway

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Table of Content

Levering Crowd Sourcing to Facilitate the Development of Sustainable Tourism Industry
D.A.M. De Silva

8
Green Marketing Practices and Customer Satisfaction: A Study of Hotels Industry in Wennappuwa
Divisional Secretariat
Ambalam Pushpanathan and Heiyantuduge Lakmal Nuwantha Perera

9
The Role of Government on Community Resilient in the Homestay Industry in Malaysia
Ammar Abd Ghapar, Nor'Ain Othman and Salamiah Jamal

10
Role of Training and Capacity Building in Southern Tourism Development
Nilantha De Silva and A.D. Jayasinghe
11
Socio-Economic Impacts on Local Community through Tourism Development with Special Reference
to Heritance Kandalama
Geethika Nayomi and W.K. Athula Gnanapala
12
Environmental Management for Sustainable Countryside Tourism in Tanzania: An Evaluation of the
Policy & Practical Challenges - A Case Study of Ruaha National Park
Celia I Muyinga
13
The Study on Level of Visitor Satisfaction at Different Attributes of Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
C.N.R. Wijesundaraa and H.A.C.S Hapuarachchib

14
Harassments on Tourists at Cultural Sites in Sri Lanka
D.P.U.T. Pathirana and W.K. Athula Gnanapala

15
Tourism Development and its Impact on Residents Quality of Life: The Case of Tioman Island
Mohd Hafiz Mohd Hanafiah, Akmal Adanan and Raziff Jamaluddin

16
Networking and Stakeholder Participation in Community Based Tourism: A Case Study
H.M.H.M. Herath

and P.K.S. Munasinghe

17
Diverged Meaning of Heritage: A Critique on Visual Authenticity of the Golden Rock Temple of
Dambulla
Iraj Ratnayake and Mahesh Hapugoda

18
Human Resource Audit for Sri Lankan Tourism and Hospitality Industry
Isuru C. Hettiarachchi and D.A.M. De Silva

19
Motivations and Constraints of Adoption of Environmental Management Practices by the Hotel
Sector in Sri Lanka
Kanchana Wickramasinghe

20
Sustainable (Eco)Tourism Development: The Belum-Temenggor Forest Complex
Khairil Wahidin Awang
21

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A Proposed Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism Development Practices for Hotel MICE Venue
Maisarah Abd Hamid, Noralisa Ismail, Zatul Iffah Mohd Fuza, Khairil Wahidin Awang and Khairun
Najiah Ahmad

22
Current Trends and Emerging Issues in Medical Tourism in Tropical Asia
Malcolm Cooper and Mayumi Hieda

23
Impact of All-inclusive Tour Packages with special reference to Bentota Tourist Resort
W.H.M.S. Samarathunga

and W.K. Athula C. Gnanapala

25
Developing the Foreign Language Competencies of Tourism Industry Oriented Undergraduates in Sri
Lankan Universities
H.J.M. Yoganjana S. Menike and K. Manori Pathmalatha

26
Drowning in Tourism: An Industry Opportunity to Lead the World
Michael D C Fonfe and John Connolly

27
Community Capacity and Participation in Sustainable Rural Tourism Development in Sri Lanka
M.S.M. Aslam, Khairil Wahidin Awang, Zaiton Samdin and Norain Binti Hj. Othman

28
Global Climate Change Implications for Tourism Sector in Sri Lanka: A Review
Mohamed Esham

29
Community Based Ecotourism Operation: The Help or Hindrance of External Forces
Nantira Pookhao

30
Tourism Interference and Cultural Sustainability of Indigenous Community
Noorerliza Jailani and Norliza Aminudin

32
Accountability of Government Agencies and Homestay Operators in Homestay Programmes in
Malaysia: Lessons from Afar
Nuraisyah Chua Abdullah and Jamaliah Said

33
Governance of Rural Tourism: Legal and Policy Framework of Selected Countries
Nuraisyah Chua Abdullah and Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi

34
The Influence of Sustainable Tourism Awareness and Environmental Sustainability Dimensions on
Behavioural Intentions among Domestic Tourists in Developing Countries
Payam Mihanyar,

Sofiah Abd Rahman and

Norliza Aminudin

35
Ecological Behavioural Intentions Based on Sustainable Tourism Awareness and Carbon Footprint
among Domestic Tourists in Developing Countries
Payam Mihanyar, Sofiah Abd Rahman

and

Norliza Aminudin

37
Coastline Changes, its Vulnerability and Predictions A case Study: North Western Coastal Belt of
Sri Lanka
P.G.R.N.I. Pussella, Jagath Gunathilake, K.R.M.U. Bandara, J.A.S. Jayakody and T.L. Dammalage

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Adoption of Green Marketing by the Hotels in Sri Lanka: A Case of Colombo District
K.G.P.N. Gamage, K. Wickramasinghe, A.P.S. Fernando

and S.N.D. Dissanayake

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Residents' Attitude and Socio Economic Impact of Tourism Development in Isfahan, Iran
Pooyan Ghomsheh and NorAin Othman

39
One Dollar: One City - A Model to Integrate Neighborhood and Sustainable Tourism - Case Study Galle
Fort, Sri Lanka
Ranga Soysa and Zainab Khalifah

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A Comparison of Eco-Tourism Practices of Sri Lankan Hoteliers with Reference to International
Standards
Rangana Sri Shalika Wadippuli Arachchi, Abdol Ali Khatibi and Mohd Shukri Ab. Yajid

41
Estimation of Welfare Benefits for Recreational Planning: A Case Study in Kawdulla National Park in
Sri Lanka
R. M. W. Rathnayake and U.A.D.P. Gunawardena

43
Role of Agri Tourism as a Moderated Rural Business
Rohana P. Mahaliyanaarachchi

44
Economic Innovative System Indicators for Islamic Tourism
NorAin Othman and Rozian Mohd Taha

45
Analysis of Demand Motivators for Nuwara Eliya as a Tourist Destination
Ruwan Ranasinghe

46
Operators Perspective on Homestay in Sri Lanka
Ruwan Ranasinghe and Iraj Ratnayake

48
Home Away From Home: A Promise to a Reality in Commercial Hospitality
Sarath Munasinghe and Uditha Liyanage

50
Up Scaling Aboriginal Handicrafts and Woodcarvings as the Potential to Promote Peninsular Malaysia
Tourism
Siti Sarah Adam Wan, Zalina Ibrahim, Dona Lowii Madon and Muhammad Firdaus Nasir

51
Leadership Factors in the Continuity of the Negeri Sembilan Homestay Programme
Wan Siti Zubaidah Yahya, Norliza Aminudin and Norzuwana Sumarjan

52
An Evaluation of Graduates Perception on Employment in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry
W.G.S.R. Wijesundara

53
Stakeholder Conflicts in Tourism: A Study of Hoteliers and Travel Agents in Sri Lanka
W.K. Athula Gnanapala

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Tourists Experiential Value Perception and Motivation to Revisit Heritage Tourism Destination
Zaharah Mohamed Rani and Norain Othman

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Persuasion of Instagram on Generation Y Behavioural Intention to Travel
Rozzana Ihsanuddin, Nurul Amirah Zainol Rashid and Faiz I. Anuar

57
The Impact of Tourism Based Mobile Application towards Generation Y Travel Behaviour in Malaysia
Dynna Ruth W. Lohindun, Rashidah Atan, Syazwani Mohd. Kassim and Faiz I. Anuar

58
Increasing Demand of German Tourists in Choosing Sri Lanka as an Ayurveda Wellness Destination
Nirosha Paranavitana and Lakmini Wanasinghe
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Levering Crowd Sourcing to Facilitate the Development of
Sustainable Tourism Industry

D.A.M. De Silva
Department of Agribusiness Management, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
desilva.achini@yahoo.co.uk

Sustainability of Sri Lankan tourism industry has forced the segment to investigate the alternative models.
This paper explains how crowd sourcing would constitute for a promising business model in tourism
industry. Study utilized 35 cross case studies to identify stakeholders, their roles and develop stakeholder
map. Focus group discussions with key stake holders and co-creation research competition were used to
test the model. First phase of the model is idea generation which begins with internal and external
technology base. Researchers, industry experts, educators, students, industry partners, governments, local
communities and clients were the key stakeholders of generating ideas. Sustainable tourism innovations
begin with the generation of ideas with the collaboration of external crowds. Phase two of the model aims
to filter the generated ideas and develop selected ideas into products and services. Commercialization of
developed products and services belongs to third phase. Co creation model generated economical
outcomes for the tourism sector and the solutions were vital for the sustainability of the sector. Agro based
alternative tourism activities, extraordinary sightseeing experiences, Spa therapy, shopping experiences,
new services or unconventional events, ideas for travel, unique accommodation facilities, conventional
meals and the use of information communication technologies for promotion were most favored
expectations of the stakeholders.

Key words: Crowd sourcing; Open innovation; Tourism

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Green Marketing Practices and Customer Satisfaction:
A Study of Hotels Industry in Wennappuwa Divisional Secretariat

Ambalam Pushpanathan
a
and Heiyantuduge Lakmal Nuwantha Perera
b

a
Department of Economics and Management, Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
pushpa642002@yahoo.com
b
Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
perera.lakmal777@gmail.com

In the last decade, consumers have become more open-minded on ecological issues. Green marketing
refers to selling product or rendering services based on environmental gain. It comes into continuation in
late 1980s and early 1990s. Green marketing is rising quickly and consumers are willing to pay a lot for
green product. There has been little analysis of the impact of this new market on the consumers and the
environment so far. Green marketing affects all areas of our economy, it does not just lead to
environmental safety but it also generates new market and job opportunities. Companies that are green
stewards stand a chance of gaining many satisfied and loyal customers. Hotel company managers
increasingly have to take environmental issues into account. Hotel industry in Sri Lanka has become one of
the major income sources to the GNP. With the end of three decades war in Sri Lanka, hotel industry is
developing more increasingly. And hotels are developing and implementing different kind of strategies to
win the market through enhancing their customer satisfaction. On the other hand customers are now
looking for more eco friendly hotels which secure their health and enhance their satisfaction. The research
question of the present study is, how green marketing practices impact on customers satisfactions? Green
marketing is a tool for protecting the environment for the future generation. It has a positive impact on
environmental safety. Because of the growing concern of environmental protection, there is an emergence
of a new market which is the green market. For Hotels to survive in this market, they need to go green in all
aspect of their business. Consumers want to identify themselves with hotels that are green compliant and
are willing to pay a premium for a greener life style. As such, green marketing is not just an environmental
protection tool but also, a marketing strategy. The main objective of the present study is to analysis the
relationship between green marketing practices and customer satisfaction. Three hotels in Wennappuwa
area were selected for the presents study, such as Club Dolphin Hotel Waikkal, Ranweli Hotel Waikkal and
Hotel Heaven Inn. 100 customers selected as sample for the present study. 45 customers were selected
from Dolphin Hotel, 35 customers were selected from Ranweli hotel, and 20 customers were selected from
Hotel Heaven Inn. The convenience sampling method was used in this study. A structured questionnaire
was issued among customers of the hotel industry for collecting data. Environmental product and place
strategies were considered as independent variables of the present study and customer satisfaction was
considered as dependent variable. SPSS 16 package was used for analyzing the data of the present study.
The finding of the present study indicates that the positive relationship was observed among
environmental product and place strategies and customer satisfaction of the Hotel Industry in
Wennappuwa.

Keywords: Green marketing practices; Environmental product strategy; Environmental price strategy;
Customer satisfaction

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The Role of Government on Community Resilient in the
Homestay Industry in Malaysia

Ammar Abd Ghapar, Nor'Ain Othman and Salamiah Jamal
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
ammar@tourism.gov.my

The level of resilience measured will determine the action to be taken by the community as well as the
government to ensure the homestay operators sustained in the market. In Malaysia, community resilience
may not be associated with disaster as severe natural disaster does not happen in Malaysia. In the context
of this study, community resilience may be referred as the ability of the homestay community to enhance
and sustain in the business. The Government role in the context of resilience involves monetary support,
political influences and commitment; policies making, planning, legal and regulatory system, interaction
with emergency response and recovery, accountability and community participation. The role of
government in policy making and planning a strategic Tourism plan has been stated and registered in most
references and its vary from one country to another. This study focus at community-based homestay
through the concept of resilience, the findings should increase understanding of various aspect of
community resiliency, developing the government role within the homestay community at large.
Subsequently, this information can assist the policy makers in planning effective strategies and maintaining
the resiliency in the homestay tourism community. It is important for the community resilience to find ways
to protect and propagate what is valued and central for their survival. The findings from this study is hoped
to provide some indication to the government as what role to play in enhancing the sustainability of
homestay tourism. In this regards, more strategic approach can be recommended to increase the
government role and involvement in sustaining the homestay industry.

Keywords: Community; Resilience; Homestay; Government role, Tourism

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Role of Training and Capacity Building in
Southern Tourism Development

Nilantha De Silva and A.D. Jayasinghe
Department of Agriculture Economics & Extension, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
nilanthade@agecon.ruh.ac.lk, dulangij@gmail.com

Today tourism is the 4
th
largest foreign exchange earner in Sri Lanka. Tourism is also a major employer in
the island, whether directly or indirectly with the ability to provide employments for skilled, semi-skilled
and unskilled workers. The biggest tourism asset of the Southern province is its palm fringed sunny
beaches. People of the Southern province accepted tourism as an economic need of the country and one
which can benefit their region. The specific objectives of the study was to study the present status, to find
out state and non-state actors involved in the provision of training and capacity building services for
tourism development, to investigate the needs of the training and capacity building and to identify the
associated issues in the tourism sector of the southern province. A convenient sample of twenty hotels,
twenty five guest houses, thirty five employees, twelve guides and fifteen tourists were used as the sample.
Stratified random sampling technique was used. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire survey,
focused group discussions and informal discussions. Wilcoxon sign rank test and descriptive statistical tools
were employed to analyze the data. Results revealed that majority of hotels (74%) and guest houses (84%)
were still not approved by Sri Lankan Tourist Development Authority. The number of participants registered
for tourism training programs has been reduced in recent years. Very few numbers of hotels (5%) and guest
houses (8%) were established in recent years. Thus actual accommodation capacity has not been met.
There is less priority given to hold tourism promotion activities except sport tourism. So need to improve
diverse tourism promotion events. Majority of Hotels and Guest Houses have perfect Organization
structure, Staff evaluation and Monitory evaluation. But they have not Performance based salary increment
or promotion schemes. 100% of Managers used Word of mouth for advertising their hotel facilities. There
is a need for Web Site and e-marketing program preparation for popularize their facilities. High percentage
of trained staff is performed in High standard Accommodation types. So trained staff cause for improve the
service quality. Employees in tourism field cannot obtain enough salary. This cause low employee retention.
Trainees were not satisfied with their programs so need to improve time duration of trainings, content of
training and practices of industrial trainings. Study also found out, poor participation of women in tourism
employment due to negative response and attitudes by the society.

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Socio-Economic Impacts on Local Community through Tourism
Development with Special Reference to Heritance Kandalama

Geethika Nayomi and W.K. Athula Gnanapala
Department of Tourism Management, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
athulatmsusl@gmail.com

Tourism is considers as one of the largest and fastest developing sectors of the world. Its high growth and
development rates bring considerable volumes of foreign currency inflows, infrastructure development,
employment generation, regional development, economic multiplier effects and introduction of new
management and educational experience actively affect various sectors of economy, which will be
positively affected to the social and economic development of the country. However the industry also
generates a number of other negative socio- economic and cultural impacts on local communities.
Therefore, the study considers the main social and economic impacts on local community trough tourism
development in Kandalama area of Sri Lanka. Heritance Kandalama, a star class hotel, commenced its
operations in 1994 beside the Kandalama lake in a picturesque environment. During the construction stage
there were many protests against the hotel and may parties claimed that the hotel will pollute the natural
and the socio-cultural environment in the area. Finally, the company build a award winning environmental
friendly hotel and introduced many programs to deliver benefits to the local community through their CSR
activities. The study mainly target to identify the social and economic impacts on local community and
their perception towards the tourism development in the neighbourhood. The study is adapted the mixed
methodology and the data is generated through structured questionnaire survey, personal interviews and
discussions. The study identified that community has developed positive attitudes about the tourism
development and the community is accepted tourism as a major income source through active and passive
participations. The hotel also has taken numerous policy decisions and practices to ensure the delivery of
benefits of tourism to the local community. As usually the industry has generated both positive and
negative impacts in the area. However, the negative impacts are at a minimum level when compare with
the positive impacts. It is suggested that to have more community awareness and education programs in
order to obtain positive benefits and to minimize the negative impacts of tourism. Community
empowerment and their capacity building is highly important in this context

Keywords: Tourism development; Socio-economic impacts; Community perception; Sustainable tourism
development

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Environmental Management for Sustainable Countryside Tourism in
Tanzania: An Evaluation of the Policy & Practical Challenges -
A Case Study of Ruaha National Park

Celia I Muyinga
Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China
cemkwawa@hotmail.com
The role of tourism as a development tool, particularly in developing countries, has been cast into doubt by
such problems as the industrys foreign domination and dependency, socio-economic and spatial
polarization of the activity, environmental degradation, and cultural alienation or erosion of social control
and identity of host communities. The extent of these problems and the performance of the tourism
industry in the developing countries, more so in sub-Sahara Africa, are influenced to a large extent by the
quality of the countries policies and their implementation. Policy quality is, in turn, largely determined by
the presence or absence of a vision and comprehensive long-term strategy for the tourism industry. For my
native country Tanzania, a framework for evaluating the policy-practice interface is important especially for
a sector such as tourism dominated by private investment where, generally, planning needs to be
tempered with local realities if overall benefits to the small economy are to be realized. At its best tourism
is and will continue to be an enriching experience for Tanzania and other economies of the third world
dependent on foreign exchange for their growth. Accompanied by bad policy and practice, however, it can
turn into a disaster for the visitor, the place and the host community. Whereas- as research has established
-some erosion and pollution of resources is caused by great numbers of visitors, most environmental
damage in the tourism industry is caused by lack of plans, policies, and action to prepare for changes in
demands in the economic, social and political spheres.

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The Study on Level of Visitor Satisfaction at Different Attributes of Yala
National Park, Sri Lanka

C.N.R Wijesundara
a
and H.A.C.S Hapuarachchi
b

a
namalsusl@yahoo.com
b
Department of Sport Sciences & Management, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
hapuc@sab.ac.lk

The number of visitors selecting to visit the many national parks spreaded around Sri Lanka is constantly
booming after establishing the peace in 2009. The Yala is the mostly visiting National park in Sri Lanka.
There has only been a lesser number of research undertakings into the measure visitor satisfaction at
National parks in Sri Lanka. With this in mind, the researcher set out to investigate and identify the visitor
satisfaction at different attributes of the local National park and inspect their intention to revisit. The five
variables used in the study were measured by distributing Questionnaire on their visit to Yala Nation Park.
The set of questions were used to measure the level of visitor satisfaction at Yala National park & measured
the intention of revisit. The variables developed were based on the items traditionally used in tourism
research studies on park attributes such as park information, park personal, park maintenance, park
facilities and park experience. The quantitative approach was employed for the study. The results of the
study shows that visitors are satisfy with the Park information, Park maintenance and Park experience
while desperate at Park personnel and Park facilities. Further the results show that there is positive
tendency at park loyalty and repeat intentions to Yala National Park. These results further confirmed that
Park information, park maintenance and park experience influence significantly and positively for visitor
satisfaction at the park & its stimulate the repeat visit intentions. However the study found some must
improve sectors of the Yala National park such as Park personnel and Park facilities to further strengthen
the bond of visitors at Yala Park.

Keywords: Visitor satisfaction; Park attributes; Park loyalty

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Harassments on Tourists at Cultural Sites in Sri Lanka

D.P.U.T. Pathirana and W.K. Athula Gnanapala

According to Macintosh and Goeldner (1986) tourism is the sum of the phenomena and relationships
arising from the interaction of tourists, business suppliers, host governments and host communities in the
process of attracting and hosting these tourists and other visitors. People travel in different destinations to
fulfil their travel needs. The culture and history are considered as one of the major travel motives of the
tourists to visit Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is rich with numerous cultural and historical treasures including eight
world heritage sites. The main objective of this study is to identify the types of harassments faced by the
tourists at Cultural sites in Sri Lanka and to investigate whether there is a relationship between the
demographic variables of the tourists and the types of harassments. The study is conducted using the
mixed methodology and data collected from the different sources such questionnaire survey with tourists,
discussion with the different stakeholders and personal observations. The study revealed that the tourists
who visit cultural sites undergo harassment by different parties like tour guides, local vendors etc. In
addition to that the tourists face harassing situations due to the poor site management and the variation of
the natural environment. The harassments create dissatisfaction among the tourists and it also affect for
the future wellbeing of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Tourists; Harassments; Cultural sites; Sri Lanka; Tourists satisfaction; Sustainable tourism
development

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Tourism Development and its Impact on Residents Quality of Life:
The Case of Tioman Island

Mohd Hafiz Mohd Hanafiah, Akmal Adanan and Raziff Jamaluddin

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

As main interest of travellers is to bathe in the sun and sea, these have made the islands among the major
attractions in Malaysia. In response to that, many tourism developments have been carried out in the
islands to cater the demand of the industry. Despite the numerous literatures on sustainable tourism, most
of the research has focused narrowly on tourism development and mass tourism industry. The industry is
seemed to set priority to satisfying the needs of tourists rather than the population in the area. In
perspective, a survey of tourism literature reveals that most tourism studies stress more on tourists rather
than permanent residents of the area in which tourism take place. The relationships between tourism and
communities have trivially been discussed in literature especially in Malaysia. In conjunction with that, this
paper was carried out to examine the perception of the residents towards tourism development and its
impacts to their quality of life (QOL). It evaluates the residents perception of the impacts of tourism
development towards the population in Tioman Island, Malaysia. Specific research objective included: (1) To
investigate the residents overall perceptions of tourism development; (2) To investigate the residents
overall perceptions on their quality of life; (3) To investigate the relationship of tourism development in
Tioman Island towards residents quality of life. The samples perceived quality of life was measured using
the survey method. The theme of tourism development impacts and quality of life questionnaires were
used to get the qualitative data and later analysed using thematic analysis. The result found that, there is a
positive and negative relation between tourism development and residents' quality of life. Most of the
residents view their quality of life in both positive and negative perspectives. While welcoming more
tourists and tourism development, the residents are not very comfortable with higher cost of living, the
depletion of greenery, and other pollution impacts. It is recognized that, the result of the assessment can
give valuable contributions to the field of sustainable tourism and sustainable community development.

Keywords: Sustainable tourism; Tourism development; Quality of life

Acknowledgement:
Special thanks to Fundamental Research Grant (FRGS), Ministry of Education Malaysia and Universiti
Teknologi MARA Malaysia for supporting this research.

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Networking and Stakeholder Participation in
Community Based Tourism: A Case Study

H.M.H.M. Herath
a
and P.K.S. Munasinghe
b
a
Department of Public Administration, UvaWellassa University, Sri Lanka
hanshika.herath@gmail.com
b

Tourism is sustainable when it reaches a collective decision and that the decision is reached through the
identification of commonly held views and aspirations of the various stakeholders in the industry. This
paper examines the significance of networking and stakeholder participation for sustainable community
based tourism development. Community based tourism is an economic driver that enables each
community member to have equal access to an improved quality of life. Many nationalities promote
community based tourism as regional development strategy and it is a combination of both community
development and engagement. Focusing on networking and collaboration of industry stakeholders, the
study employs mixed methodology to inquire the significance of networking and participation of
stakeholders. Having followed the case study approach to study tourism in Ella area, Sri Lanka, two main
findings site were identified. First, lack of active participation and collaboration of public and private
authorities to make sure the tourism is developed in a sustainable manner. Second, the lack of education,
awareness and training targeted at local community.

Keywords: Community-based tourism; Networking; Sustainable development

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Diverged Meaning of Heritage: A Critique on Visual Authenticity of the
Golden Rock Temple of Dambulla

Iraj Ratnayake
a
and Mahesh Hapugoda
b

a
iraj@susl.lk
b
Department of Languages, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
hapugoda@gmail.com

The credibility of heritage is often based on its possibility of objective representation of authenticity. The
historical monuments, places, rituals or cultural souvenirs are not supposed to modify, alter or transform
distorting their historical link to the present or re-create to an extent that the original idea is negatively
seen by the viewer. Authenticity, as a valued ideal or an exemplar of an objectification of a representation
(Vannini and William 2007); is deemed critically significant as the true self of what is represented is
cognitively shared or experienced by the viewer. Although on the universal principle that there is nothing
static and everything is subject to change, there is no absolute point of reference to those monuments, in
the case that is focused in this study, the reproduction of known history and modification of historical
landscape and archaeological monuments to the eye of the tourist is arbitrarily and obstinately staged
(MacCannell, 1973: 100), subsequently vandalizing and de-contextualizing all its original symbolic
meanings. On the grounds that the authenticity in the site is either distorted or significantly altered and
there are implications of visual impacts caused by the new structures, UNESCO, in 1999, has expressed
critical concern over the conservation and management of the site including the removal of the newly
constructed temple that is alien to the World Heritage complex (35). This paper attempts to investigate
the implications caused to the holistic effect of the visual presentation of the site. Hence the study is based
on empirical evidence drawn from the case being selected. The empirical data were primarily gathered
from in-depth interviews with key stakeholders and documentary evidence. Findings of the study reveal
that this has gone beyond its acceptable limits by deteriorating the necessary collaboration of key
stakeholders of a world heritage site. The site amply bears evidence of distorted authenticity resulting
diverged meaning of history and heritage in the perception of a global viewer. On that light, this study
traverses the inferences caused to the originality, intactness and authenticity of the entirety of the cultural
landscape by the manner it is conserved and presented in its holistic sense while preserving the
outstanding universal value of the property.
Keywords: Authenticity; World heritage; Marker; Visual integrity; Sight; Golden Rock Temple of Dambulla

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Human Resource Audit for Sri Lankan Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Isuru C. Hettiarachchi and D.A.M. De Silva
isuru.susl@gmail.com; desilva.achini@yahoo.co.uk

The importance of tourism and hospitality employment in both developed and developing countries is
attested to by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), who suggest that travel- and tourism-related
activities account for over 230 million jobs, or 8.7 per cent of jobs worldwide (WTTC, 2006). Principal focus
of the study was to assess the present status and the future demand for human resources (both the
quantity and the quality of the demanded human resources) in tourism and hospitality industry. Case study
approach was utilized and t both primary and secondary data were employed to produce holistic view on
industry human resource requirements. Needs assessment was utilized to diagnose and prioritize
constraints together with key industry stakeholders and suitability assessment was conducted to assess the
suitability of potential solutions to the problems identified. Resource Allocation Maps (RAM) were
employed to examine managers decisions regarding human resource allocation in different situations and
to examine human resource competition between different tourism enterprises. Tourism and hospitality
related business establishments were categorized into 5 major groups such as hotels, restaurants, other
accommodation units, travel agents and tour operators, recreation and entertainment businesses, souvenir
and handicraft shops. While hotels, restaurants, travel agents and tour operators provide direct
employment opportunities ahead of other establishments, businesses which sell goods and services to the
tourism sector generate indirect employment. Employees were employed under three major categories,
managerial and professional level, technical, clerical and supervisory level and manual & operative level.
Study revealed that huge gap between demand and supply, as well as a severe shortage of skilled human
resources at technical, clerical, supervisory, manual and operative levels of hotels, restaurants and other
accommodation units ahead of other tourism related business establishments. Small and medium sub-
sector face real challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled labour due to low pay, high staff turnover,
problems in recruiting skills in a number of key areas, a high level of labour drawn from socially
disadvantaged groups, poor status and the virtual absence of professionalism while star class sub-sector
provides an attractive, high-status working environment with competitive pay and conditions, which is in
high demand in the labour force and benefits from low staff turnover. Skills issue in the tourism and
hospitality industry is strictly affected by poor or non-existent educational and career development
structures.

Keywords: Tourism; Hospitality; Human resource; Audit

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20

Motivations and Constraints of Adoption of Environmental
Management Practices by the Hotel Sector in Sri Lanka

Kanchana Wickramasinghe
Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS), Sri Lanka
Kanchana@ips.lk

Tourism industry in Sri Lanka has being witnessing a significant revival following the end of the civil
war. In order to cater to the increasing demand, significant investments are taking place in the
hotel sector. Tourism is an industry which consumes significant quantities of water and energy
resources and generates waste. With the increasing number of tourism arrivals, there is a
tendency to use enormous amounts of energy and water and generate high amounts of waste.
Therefore, it is important that the accommodation sector adopts better environmental
management practices. However, there has been no comprehensive research-based analysis on
the motivations and constraints for adopting environmental management aspects in regard to the
accommodation sector in Sri Lanka. In the backdrop, the paper aims to assess the motivations for
adoption of better environmental management practices and constraints in actual
implementation. The paper is primarily based on data collected through a survey of registered
hotels in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. The survey was carried out using a pre-tested
structured questionnaire. The assessment shows that the adoption of better environmental
management practices is primarily motivated by two factors namely, cost reduction and gaining
market advantage. The constraints seem to vary according to the hotel characteristics. The paper
presents novel research findings in regard to the environmental management in the hotel sector
and relevant determinants and key policy implications, based on the Sri Lankan context which may
be applicable to similar contexts in the world.

Acknowledgement:

This paper is primarily based on data collected through a survey of registered hotels in the Western
Province of Sri Lanka, funded by the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.

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21

Sustainable (Eco) Tourism Development:
The Belum-Temenggor Forest Complex

Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
khairil@upm.edu.my

This paper implores the ideal of sustainable tourism development in a protected site known as the Belum-
Temenggor Forest Complex. The 2
nd
Temenggor Scientific Expedition 2012, which took place from 1
st
until
10
th
of October 2012 at the Sungai Enam Basin, in the southern sector of the forest complex set the setting
of the paper. The expedition offered a glimpse of a scientific fact finding mission participated by many local
scientists from several premier Malaysian universities and research institutes. However, the researcher
focussed on the attributes of ecotourism, one of the many forms of tourism development encouraged by
the government. Participation-observation was used as the tool to collect primary data. The expedition as a
whole resulted in vast amount of data presented in the form of scientific papers at a symposium which took
place from 22
nd
to 25
th
August 2013. Other secondary data such as documents, journals and newspapers
also formed the basis of arguments. Findings suggest that the area was rich in flora and fauna, increasing
the possibility for many ecotourism-related activities to be carried out in the near future. However, such
activities have to be streamlined according to the ideal of sustainable tourism development. They have to
lean towards the notion of ecotourism as propagated by scholars like Cebellos-Lascurain. Cooperation
among all stakeholders is, however, strongly needed to make this suggestion into a reality.

Keywords: Belum-Temenggor Forest; Ecotourism; Malaysia; Scientific expedition; Sustainable development

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22

A Proposed Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism Development Practices
for Hotel MICE Venue

Maisarah Abd Hamid
1
, Noralisa Ismail
1
, Zatul Iffah Mohd Fuza
1 ,
2
and Khairun Najiah Ahmad
3
1
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia
maisa179@tganu.uitm.edu.my, noral634@tganu.uitm.edu.my, zatul710@tganu.uitm.edu.my
2
Graduate School of Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
khairil@econ.upm.edu.my
3
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia
khairun@salam.uitm.edu.my

The objective of this study was to generate the guidelines for sustainable tourism development practices
for MICE Hotel venues. A secondary data was used to collect the data. The data was gathered from the
internet sources. The keywords to search the data were sustainable tourism practices and MICE tourism.
The internet sources was used because it is convenience and flexible. There were five guidelines that
available and relates to the sustainable practices for MICE Tourism. Each of the guidelines was compared
and analyzed using the NVIVO 10 computer software. The data was analyzed in three steps namely data
reduction, data displays and drawing the conclusions. The guidelines were segmented into three variables
namely economy, social and environment. Each of the attributes was analyzed to identify the similarity and
the differences between the guidelines. There were about 177 attributes of sustainable practices were
identified in this five guidelines. The results of the study used to propose the guidelines that suitable to be
implements for Hotel MICE Venues. Realizing the importance of sustainable development and the potential
of MICE Tourism, thus this study is useful to be platform to the researcher to further analyzed the best
sustainable tourism development practices for MICE Tourism.

Keywords: Sustainable tourism practices; MICE tourism; Economy; Social; Environment; Hotel

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23

Current Trends and Emerging Issues in Medical Tourism in
Tropical Asia

Malcolm Cooper
a
and Mayumi Hieda
b

a
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan
cooperm@apu.ac.jp
b
St Lukes IVF Clinic, Oita, Japan
aout19@hotmail.com

Medical tourism will continue to grow rapidly on a global basis in the next few years due to a combination
of economic, demographic, epidemiological, communication, and transport trends.This paper assesses the
drivers of growth of medical tourism in tropical Asia, and points to a set of emerging issues that will have
policy implications for the nations wishing to host greater numbers of such tourists. The major issues
identified in the literature being: 1. That the high medical costs in many countries are not going to decline,
in fact new policy frameworks may lead to costs rising further in particular jurisdictions as a result of more
stringent regulatory requirements, thus persuading more people to travel in search of alternatives; 2. The
continued demographic change to aging populations will require more intensive use of medical care, and
this will in turn promote some travel in search of cost relief by patients; 3.This is exacerbated by the fact
that older populations are leading to a shift to non-communicable and chronic diseases, necessitating
greater levels of hospitalization; 4. Technologically, procedures that in the past could only be done in
developed countries are now available in emerging economies as well, and are of comparable quality but
can be provided at a lower cost, even after adding the cost of travel; 5. Communication media, especially
the Internet, have empowered citizens all over the world to take decisions on medical care, etc., into their
own hands, looking for health providers with lower costs and travelling to alternative destinations if there is
a need; and 6. Transport cost reductions have made it possible for more people to travel for health care
and associated wellness benefits, as well as holidays, and increasingly for combinations of these purposes.
Conventional medical tourism consists primarily of patients from underdeveloped countries seeking
advanced medical care in developed countries or patients of developed countries seeking economic
benefits from medical care where medical costs are lower. The second of these typifies the situation in
Asia, except for Japan, as a potential destination for medical tourism. Sri Lanka, Vietnam, The Philippines,
Cambodia (and Japan), are behind Thailand, Singapore, India, and Malaysia as countries involved in medical
tourism, and Taiwan, South Korea, and China are also poised to grab a larger share of the Regional market
in the near future. In terms of understanding these changes though, a major industry problem is the paucity
of data to determine the parameters of the local industry and to establish baselines. While this problem
was recognized as early as 2007, it has not been acted upon. Key data such as medical tourist arrivals,
expenditures, and services are not readily available. There are also very few formally written accounts of
the industry and its subsectors, with the possible exception of the spa subsector, and reports by
consultancy firms are proprietary and expensive. While the desired economic impacts have generally
materialized for existing medical tourism destinations, there have been some ethical, economic and
medical problems in the conventional forms of medical tourism. An organ recipient from a country where
there are few organ donors may be causing a trade deficit of human organs. A tourist patient receiving
subsidized care in a different country may be taking undue benefit from the tax money of native citizens. A
patient from an under developed country may introduce antibody resistant strains back home after being
treated with modern medications abroad. Added to these will be the potential impact of a third and new
type of medical tourism, digital medicine, that will have important implications for medical policy, medical
finance and insurance, treatment strategies, and ethics. A large portion of the white collar work force is
expected to become digital nomads in varying degrees in the near future, and this will be reflected in their
interaction with medical treatment systems. The so-called digital nomads are an extreme example of a

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24

new style of work and life not tied to any particular location. Such a lifestyle may also offer wider options
for medical care. Conversely, it may constitute a third type of medical tourism. Also, doctors may be forced
to adopt different treatment strategies depending on the geographic background of the patient. The
coming expansion of medical tourism will not therefore be more of the same, but one of increasing
diversity of demands, and of concomitant challenges for providers.

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25

Impact of All-inclusive Tour Packages with Special Reference to
Bentota Tourist Resort

W.H.M.S. Samarathunga
a
and W.K. Athula C. Gnanapala
b
a
MTEHM, Department of Economics, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
manoj.susl@gmail.com
b

All Inclusive (AI) Beach Holiday packages are developed and offered to attract and retain long staying
tourists in a destination globally. Sri Lankan AI packages offer breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning and evening
snacks, tea, coffee, mineral water, soft drinks and unlimited local liquor along with the accommodation.
Bentota being the first planned tourist resort in Sri Lanka attract thousands of tourists per year, out of
which a significant proportion are AI clients. Use of product bundling strategy in Bentota resort has created
an enormous pressure among other hotels, restaurants and the economy in the area and the country by
large. This research aims a) to explore the tourists purchasing intention of AI packages; b) to identify the
advantages and disadvantages of promoting AI packages in a tourist resort; c) to make recommendations to
minimize the negative effects of AI packages and to promote alternative packages. To achieve the
aforementioned objectives, a mixed method approach has been adopted, and interviews and
questionnaires have been used to collect relevant data. The findings reveal that in the study context, 30%
who patronized the Bentota Holiday Resort during the study period, are AI clients and the cheap price of
the AI packages has been their key purchasing motive. In addition, convenience and assurance provided by
tour operators were some credible factors that affect tourists purchasing decision. Further, hoteliers of
large scale are decidedly benefited by AI packages depending on their industry capacity and in the contrary
destination management companies have to satisfy with very low profit margins after promoting AI
packages. The findings draw attention on the pressing need for introducing a common holiday package at a
profitable price for the resort that all hotels can enjoy, to limit supply of certain ancillary services along with
AI packages for the survival of the small and medium scale operators in the area and to enforce a minimum
price policy for AI tour packages.

Keywords: All inclusive packages; Product bundling; Holiday resort; Holiday package; Purchase intention;
Destination Management Company

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26

Developing the Foreign Language Competencies of Tourism Industry
Oriented Undergraduates in Sri Lankan Universities

H.J.M. Yoganjana S. Menike and K. Manori Pathmalatha
Department of Tourism Management, Sabargamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
yoganjanasm@yahoo.com,kmpmanori@gmail.com

The purpose of the study is to identify key obstacles to develop foreign language competencies of tourism
industry oriented undergraduates in Sri Lankan universities. Sri Lanka is a number one tourist destination
which attracts the tourists all over the world. Tourism in Sri Lanka, despite its benefits for the local
economy, it is one of the main foreign income sources of the country. Sri Lankan graduates who involve in
the tourism industry have to frequently deal with different foreign tourists. Language proficiency of these
graduate employees plays a key role for both career development of them and productivity improvement
of the industry. Universities which generates such graduates has a huge responsibility to develop foreign
language competencies of their under graduates. For identifying the key obstacles the pragmatic research
approach was followed by the researchers. All tourism industry oriented undergraduates of Sri Lankan
universities constituted the population of the study. Studys sample comprised randomly selected 300
tourism industry oriented undergraduates from 3 universities in Sri Lanka. Both questionnaires and
interviews were used as the data collection methods and key obstacles were determined through the
factor analysis. Lack of materials such as text books and work books, less lecture hours and lower
motivation for language learning were found as major obstacles to develop the foreign language
competencies of tourism industry oriented undergraduates in Sri Lankan universities.

Keywords: Foreign language competency; Obstacles; Tourism industry

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27

Drowning in Tourism: An Industry Opportunity to Lead the World

Michael D C Fonfe
a
and John Connolly
b

a
Sri Lanka Womens Swimming Project UK Registered Charity No 1129236, United Kingdom
michael.fonfe@me.com
b
The Lifesaving Foundation, Ireland
john@lifesavingfoundation.ie

The global drowning epidemic takes a million lives each year. Tourists are naturally drawn to waterside
facilities but most host countries in the Tropical Zone are nations of non-swimmers and have epidemic
levels of drowning themselves. For example, more United Kingdom children drowned in swimming pools
while abroad than in the UK while, in a recent Philippine sample survey, over 70% of those who drowned in
resort pools and beaches were tourists. This paper takes the form of an essay which reviews current
drowning issues and drowning prevention measures developing around the world at the international,
global level. It also draws upon a decade of hands-on experience in the Sri Lanka Womens Swimming
Project, which has taught over 3,500 women and teenage girls to swim, on the premise that if a mother can
swim, she will ensure her children will also. The paper advocates that a golden window of opportunity
exists for the tourist industry to create a self-financing gold standard in aquatic Duty of Care of its clients
and staff, for the greater good of all. Drowning is bad for business. Nations do not like their best drowning
prevention practices negated by highly visible foreign tourists or migrants drowning. The lure of water is a
potential honey death-trap for the tourist industry, and yet, if seen as an opportunity, the industry could
set a definitive standard in the Duty of Care, to be self-financed by the great earning potential of teaching
tourists and hotel guests to swim. However, it requires the industry to seize the initiative and head off
government intervention with its own high standards of best practice, without which heavy-handed safety
legislation is otherwise bound to follow in the face of currently worsening statistics and adverse publicity
arising from drowning.

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28

Community Capacity and Participation in Sustainable Rural Tourism
Development in Sri Lanka

M.S.M Aslam
a
, Khairil Wahidin Awang
b
, Zaiton Samdin
c
and Norain Binti Hj. Othman
d

a
aslam@sab.ac.lk
b
Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
khairilawang@yahoo.com
c
Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
zaisa_ika@yahoo.com
d
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Technology MARA, Malaysia
norain568@salam.uitm.edu.my

Tourism is a rising developmental intervention in many rural areas. Diverse and fragmented rural natural
and man-made geography endow with a number of tourism and recreation opportunities. However,
prevailing rural community capacity determines the incorporation of tourism into sustainable development.
This study proposed to investigate enormities of community capacity and participation in sustainable rural
tourism. A holistic empirical case study has - taken place in addition to a wide array of published and
unpublished literature in printed or electronic versions. Empirical investigations were carried out in rural Sri
Lanka through in depth interviews and direct observations. Comprehensive analysis of documental realities
and factual interpretation elucidates that the poor capacity avert the interweaving of rural community with
tourism appropriately to ensure the sustainability. As a result tourism fails to contribute for local
development, livelihood improvement of rural community or to preserve and conserve natural and man-
made geography. In addition, penetration of side shoots of conventional mass tourism with alternative
labels causes the syndrome of chaotic development. This study illuminates the significance of capacity
building of rural community to participate effectively in Sustainable Rural Tourism Development (SRTD)
process.
Keywords: Rural development; Sustainable rural tourism; Community capacity; Natural and cultural rural
landscapes; Developmental chaos

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29

Global Climate Change Implications for Tourism Sector in Sri Lanka:
A Review

Mohamed Esham
esham@susl.lk

Tourism is likely to be a long term economic thrust area of Sri Lanka as it has been identified as one of the
key drivers of economic growth. There is a significant revival in the tourism sector in the post war period,
the number of tourist arrivals has increased significantly from 0.45 million in 2009 to 1.28 million in 2013.
An ambitious target has been set to attract 2.5 million tourists by 2016. Considering the relative importance
of tourism to the country's economy and its overwhelming dependence on climatic factors, the impact of
global climate change on this vital sector is the topic of this review paper. This review paper seeks to
improve the understanding of climate change and its implications for the tourism sector in Sri Lanka by
looking at observed and projected climate change and reviewing recent literature pertaining to climate
change impacts on tourism and identify key knowledge gaps and future research needs in climate change
and tourism in the context of Sri Lanka. There are ample evidences to indicate that climate change is
happening in Sri Lanka in terms of rainfall variability and an increase in climate extremes and warming. The
Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the IPCC has indicated that Sri Lanka is among the most affected countries
in Asia. Most profound impact of climate change on tourism is likely to arise from sea level rise, landslides,
sea surface temperature increase and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. There is
serious knowledge gap on climate change impacts on tourism and tourism adaptation to climate change.
Although, some concerted efforts at the policy level are taking place to address concerns about climate
change, for instance sea level rise, overall the concerns are not adequately addressed. Hence, there is an
urgent need to mainstream climate change adaptation into national development and tourism
development policies and strategies.

Keywords: Adaptation; Climate change; Sri Lanka; Tourism

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30

Community Based Ecotourism Operation:
The Help or Hindrance of External Forces

Nantira Pookhao
Hotel and Tourism Studies Department, Siam University, Thailand
n.pookhao@uws.edu.au

Ecotourism is an alternative form of tourism that is regarded as a development tool that also promotes
ecological conservation. In practice, scholars have shown that ecotourism does not genuinely produce
greater sustainable outcome than mass tourism. Additionally, ecotourism does not focus on the well-being
of local residents, but rather emphasises on the environmental mind-set. Community-based ecotourism
(CBET) seeks to fill the gap in ecotourism by integrating the local community in the development and
operational processes. Consequently, CBET seems to be a solution for local people seeking sustainability in
a tourism destination. The notion of CBET is particularly embedded in the notion of community control,
involvement and ensuring a significant proportion of the economic returns. It persistently reiterates the
preservation of the ecological surrounding. Yet, most CBET research omits the importance of external
forces by solely emphasising the hosts, and disregarding various tourism stakeholders, particularly
environmental agencies. Therefore, it is interesting to explore the roles of these other, non-host
stakeholders. Unlike developed countries, the local community in Thailand is typically lacking in CBET-
related knowledge for effective operations. Collaboration with, and assistance from, external tourism
stakeholders is therefore vital. This paper seeks to understand the dependent relationship of a CBET village
and external agencies in relation to the operation of CBET. This paper likewise examines whether the
relationship created is sustainable for improving the quality of life of local people. A case study of Ban Busai
village in North-eastern Thailand, just a few steps away from the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex,
a UNESCO World heritage area, was selected due to the contentious issue surrounding ecotourism and the
conflict between the various tourism stakeholders and local villagers. The informants in this study
represent various tourism stakeholders that promote the contributions or hindrances on the operation of
the CBET village. The central government agencies and related NGOs participated in the in-depth
interviewed prior to arrival at the village. Ethnographic techniques were applied to explore the internal
dimensions, while the external stakeholders that relate to the CBET operation were introduced by the
villagers and interviewed. The findings reveal that academics and NGOs are the most trusted organisations
by the local people. Academics and NGOs are (1) the most important tourism initiators that inspire local
people to engage in conservation activities and CBET operations and (2) the most important sectors that
raise local awareness in relation to conservation. Additionally, profit-oriented entrepreneurs promote the
tourism and conservational atmosphere at the village through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),
which might be considered as green washing projects. Although the projects are considered green washing,
the local people still receive benefit from them. Apart from the relationship with the academics, NGOs and
outside entrepreneurs, the findings likewise explain the complex issues among government agencies and
the local community. The influence of national and local politics, particularly corruption for gaining benefits
within the UNESCO World Heritage Area, continually affects the CBET operation at local level. Another
concern is the intense degree of conflict among local people, the National Park (NP) and other government
agencies in relation to the controversy over the land ownership. This paper indicates that these issues
profoundly and directly impact the local CBET operations, become a hindrance towards sustainability, and

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31

degrade the quality of life of local people. This paper proposes those not only are community
empowerment through local participation and equitable benefit distributions decisive factors to
auspiciously operate CBET at community level, but also required is collaboration among the international,
domestic and local authorities. Yet, these external authorities and factors may become either hindrance or
reinforcement in the CBET operation. The paper finally concludes that most agencies do not authentically
support the CBET operation towards sustainability and do not genuinely elevate the quality of life of local
people in long-term manner. Finally, this paper suggests that the prospective study should identify other
influences in relation to the CBET operation for blinding the gaps in literature and directing the tourism
developers and practitioners towards sustainability which will ultimately elevate the quality of life of local
people.

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Tourism Interference and Cultural Sustainability of
Indigenous Community

Noorerliza Jailani and Norliza Aminudin
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, University Teknologi Mara, Malaysia
erliza.jailani89@gmail.com, norliza@salam.uitm.edu.my

In Malaysia, indigenous peoples are natural people or original people in Malay language where these
communities have their own land, cultures, languages, spirituality and knowledge. One of the uniqueness
of indigenous peoples that can be significant attractions is their culture where cultures of indigenous
peoples have been endorsed as a tourist attraction. The primary aim of this study is to look into the impacts
of tourism interference on cultural sustainability of the indigenous community. In order to achieve the
purpose of the study, a preliminary study was conducted at indigenous Mah Meri ethnic group in Carey
Island, Selangor which this area is a well-established indigenous tourism destination in Malaysia. This study
uses quantitative data collection method where a total of 215 questionnaires handed out to selected
respondents in indigenous peoples village around Carey Island, Malaysia. The determinations in this
subject discovered that tourism interference does have some an impact towards cultural elements of the
indigenous community. Nevertheless, despite the various impacts of tourism interference, the indigenous
people are still actively using their culture because of the tourism interference. Since cultural tourism is one
of the contributors to the tourism industry, it is imperative to investigate whether tourism interference is
coming hand in hand with culture, sustainability, especially for these indigenous people as previous studies
showed that tourists demand in authentic of indigenous culture.

Keywords: Tourism interference; Indigenous community; Mah Meri; Cultural sustainability

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Accountability of Government Agencies and Homestay Operators in
Homestay Programmes in Malaysia: Lessons from Afar

Nuraisyah Chua Abdullah and Jamaliah Said
nuraisyah@salam.uitm.edu.my

The main concept of homestay in Malaysia is staying together with host families, experience the everyday
way of life of the family and involve in cultural activities. In other countries homestay accommodation have
different definitions such as in Australia, farm stay is used, Japan and South Koreaeducational home stay,
and the USAagriculture and educational homestay. There are frequent research findings which appears
to prove that the reach-out activities which the government agencies adopt towards the goal of upgrading
the standard of living of the homestay operators are not benefitting the rightful beneficiaries and at the
same tone, the homestay operators tend to adopt an-easy-going approach of conducting homestay which
do not comply with the existing laws in Malaysia. Using qualitative comparative approach from selected
countries, the paper emphasises that more effort should be placed in the aspect of accountability of both
the various related-government agencies and the homestay operators via clear regulated framework and
policy for the homestay programme to achieve the agenda of homestay as one of the pro-poor tourism
projects.

Keywords: Homestay operators; Accountability; Government agencies; Legal framework; Policies

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Governance of Rural Tourism:
Legal and Policy Framework of Selected Countries

Nuraisyah Chua Abdullah and Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi
nuraisyah@salam.uitm.edu.my

There is increasing number of tourists exploring fragile rural destinations. This has led to increased
environmental concerns, socio-cultural disintegration and economic inequality leading to rural destination
becoming unsustainable and no longer desirable. Existing literature emphasised that careful attention to
balance between the volume and type of rural tourist activity and the sensitivities of carrying capacities of
the resources being developed is very important. Tourism projects may not only environmentally harmful
but also economically and socio-culturally self-destructing in the absence of comprehensive discussion on
the issue of governance in rural tourism. Hence, the discussion in this paper is to fill the gap. Using a
qualitative comparative approach, from the experience of developed countries such as US and Canada, and
developing countries such as Malaysia, this paper suggests that proper monitoring of rural tourism can only
be effective with clear legal and policy framework which governs the conceptual, registration, standards
and quality of operation, specification of premise and structure, planning permission and operators
limitation of liability.

Keywords: Rural tourism; Governance; Legal and policy framework of tourism; Environmental tourism;
Monitoring tourism activity

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The Influence of Sustainable Tourism Awareness and Environmental
Sustainability Dimensions on Behavioural Intentions among
Domestic Tourists in Developing Countries

Payam Mihanyar,

Sofiah Abd Rahman and

Norliza Aminudin
Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School, UniversitiTeknologi MARA, Malaysia
payam.mihanyar@gmail.com

This research explores the relationship between sustainable tourism awareness and environmental
sustainability among domestic tourists in developing countries by measuring the depth understanding of
sustainable tourism and level of tourists awareness. The guiding principle of this study is that the tourists
behavioural intentions depend on the availability of existing environmental sustainability dimensions and
the perceived importance of those dimensions. The method used quantitative statistical analysis to
measure the existing environmental sustainability portfolio and its perceived importance. The findings
confirmed for the tourism industry to survive there is a need on availability of environmental sustainability
dimensions.

Keywords: Sustainable tourism awareness; Environmental sustainability; Behavioural intentions

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Ecological Behavioural Intentions Based on Sustainable Tourism
Awareness and Carbon Footprint among Domestic Tourists in
Developing Countries

Payam Mihanyar, Sofiah Abd Rahman

and

Norliza Aminudin
Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
payam.mihanyar@gmail.com

This research explores the relationship between sustainable tourism awareness and ecological behavioural
intentions among domestic tourists in developing countries by measuring the depth understanding of
sustainable tourism and level of tourists awareness. The guiding principle of this study is that the tourists
sustainable tourism awareness and environmental attitude will influence ecological behavioural intentions,
as well as the perceived importance of carbon footprint awareness and its negative effects. The method
used quantitative statistical analysis to measure the existing sustainable tourism and carbon footprint
awareness and their perceived importance. The findings confirmed for the tourism industry to survive there
is a need to make tourists more aware of their carbon footprint by increasing their awareness about
sustainable tourism and its contribution to the present and future generation while protecting the nature.

Keywords: Sustainable tourism awareness; Carbon footprint; Ecological behavioural intentions

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37

Coastline Changes, its Vulnerability and Predictions
A case Study: North Western Coastal Belt of Sri Lanka

P.G.R.N.I. Pussella
a
, Jagath Gunathilake
b
, K.R.M.U. Bandara
a
,
J.A.S. Jayakody
a
and T.L. Dammalage
a

a
Faculty of Geomatics, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
pgrnip@sab.ac.lk, krmub@sab.ac.lk, swarna@sab.ac.lk, thilantha9@gmail.com
b
Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
jagath@pgis.lk

The coastal area of Sri Lanka is more important in the economical, social and cultural background. The
majority of the coastal public survives on their basic needs from the various types of economical activities
such as fishing and tourism from the area itself. But the low elevated coast is threatened by the regular
erosion and seasonal changes due to human and natural activities. This suggests that a proper monitoring
system of the coast line for protection from human and natural intervention is essential for the
management of this resource. The main objective of the study was to identify the changes of the coast line,
assess the vulnerability. Further the study gives a prediction about the future coast lines using the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fourth assessment report in 2007 were considered in
identifying the possible climate change scenario to the study area. These investigations were carried out to
checking the feasibility of coastal line change detection using Remote Sensing data. It was used the Digital
Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) tools to predict the future coastlines. Further, ten physical variables,
coastal slope, barrier type, rate of shoreline erosion, land use pattern, geomorphology, relative sea level
change, beach type, dune height, mean tidal range and mean wave height, were used to assess the
vulnerability. The scenario of these different variables along the coast line was categorized using experts
views and existing model parameters. The relative influences of these variables were determined using the
knowledge of the expertise and analyzed by using the pair-wise comparison analysis. The final weights were
calculated through the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) method. The final model to assess the
vulnerability was prepared using the ArcGIS software and the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) was
determined. The model resulted 1.6744 as the lowest CVI value, while 4.4497 as the highest CVI value
throughout the study area. These CVI values were categorized as very low, low, moderate, high and very
high vulnerable areas using the Natural Breaks (Jenks) tool. The results of the vulnerability assessment for
the region show that, nearly, 60% of the coastal line is more vulnerable and 40% of the line is low
vulnerable. The study identified that there is a strong relationship between the final CVI values and the
variables such as barrier types, rate of shoreline erosion and accretion, land use pattern and
geomorphology. The study recomends that the administration must take actions to reduce the coastal
vulnerability in a proper manner. Further, it was identified the hot spots and the weaknesses of the present
coastal barriers.

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ADOPTION OF GREEN MARKETING BY THE HOTELS IN SRI LANKA:
A CASE OF COLOMBO DISTRICT

K.G.P.N. Gamage
a
, K. Wickramasinghe
b
, A.P.S. Fernando
a
, and S.N. Dissanayake
a

a
Department of Agricultural Systems, Rajarata University, Sri Lanka
b
Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Sri Lanka

Tourism industry is highly dependent on the natural environment and its sustainability. The industry has
been adopting various approaches to achieve environmental sustainability goals. Hotel sub-sector has also
begun to implement green and sustainability concepts. Research based information which shows the level
of using green marketing concepts applied by the hotels in Sri Lanka is lacking. This study investigates the
adoption of green marketing concepts by the hotels in the Colombo district. The specific objectives are to
identify the level of adoption of green marketing, to assess the green practices carried out in hotels as a
marketing tool, to identify the green strategies carried out by hotels and to determine the impact of hotel
characteristics on green promotion. The study makes use of primary data collected using a structured
questionnaire. The respondents were the Marketing Managers of the respective hotels. A total of 36
registered hotels in Colombo district were included in the study. The reason for this selection was to study
the unique methods of adopting green marketing in the most urbanized district in Sri Lanka. Data was
analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Around 83% of the sample responded to the
survey. Results indicated that majority (56%) have less adopted the concepts of green marketing. Highly
adopted hotels show similarities in terms of number of rooms, room price and percentage of foreign
customers. It was also found out that out of the 35 identified green practices, only 9 was mostly adopted.
Results of probit analysis showed that green promotion was significantly affected by the percentage of
business purposed customers and the sum of modes of advertising. Therefore, the level of adoption to
green marketing is still in the infancy stage particularly among small hotels within the context and needs
further improvement.

Keywords: Green marketing; Hotels; Level of adoption; Sustainability; Sri Lanka

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Residents' Attitude and Socio Economic Impact of
Tourism Development in Isfahan, Iran

Pooyan Ghomsheh and NorAin Othman
pooyan_groad@yahoo.com, norain568@salam.uitm.edu.my

Tourism development is seen by many as a critical set of economic endeavours for the purpose of
enhancing local economies and communities. Therefore, community participation is a notion widely
discussed within the confines of sustainable tourism. Based on the information obtained from UNESCO,
Iran is ranked as one of the top ten countries in the world in terms of having ancient and historical assets
and 12,000 out of a million historical monuments in Iran are officially registered. Isfahan has long been a
good place to attract tourists due to favourable natural condition, being located in the geographical centre
of Iran, easy access to the other parts of the country and cultural and civilization manifestations. Despite
strong cultural and archaeological relevance, Iran continues to be relatively unknown to the outside world
as an exceptional tourist destination. This situation is the result of the varying degrees of sanctions on the
country, all of which have had serious problems on the tourism potentials of Iran. Many studies have been
conducted on residents attitude toward tourism development in other parts of the globe but little research
has added to the knowledge of the researcher has examined residents attitude towards tourism
development in Isfahan, Iran. This study is to examine the relationship between residents attitude,
perceived impact and support for tourism development and to describe the relationships between socio-
economic characteristics of respondent and tourism development. The 27-item Tourism Impact Attitude
was used to measure residents attitude and socio demographic data include gender, age, and lengths of
residency in Isfahan, and level of income. The finding of the study indicated that the residents of Isfahan
have positive attitudes towards tourism development, majority are from the 30-40 years of age from both
genders. The residents are likely to participate in the tourism development if it benefits them through
employment and increase their family household income in related tourism businesses.

Keyword: Resident; Attitude; Perception; Tourism development

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One Dollar: One City - A Model to Integrate Neighborhood and
Sustainable Tourism - Case Study Galle Fort, Sri Lanka

Ranga Soysa
a
and Zainab Khalifah
b

a
Department of Planning , University Technology Malaysia, Malaysia
b
Faculty of Management & Human Resource, University Technology Malaysia, Malaysia

Heritage conservation & urban development are always within the dilemma of contradictions. Academics &
practitioners are making every step to fortify the sustainable growth of urban environment against forces
created by market driven economy. Galle fort, coastal fort city of Sri Lanka with extensive colonial heritage
from the days of protges and currently listed as UNECO world heritage category under Outstanding
universal value of two. The city has been popular destination in tourism for last three decades mostly due
to its attributes of living character & urban environment. Nevertheless colonial architecture and intangible
heritage like oral history of its inhabitant generations added a value for appreciation among the visitors.
Thus tourism has been adversely affected to urban environment by pursuing inhabitants and replaced by
boutique hotels due to higher demand in properties. The existing tourism model was not in a capable of
sustaining their livelihood as well as not appreciating their presence in terms of maintaining building
structures at higher cost. Aim of the proposed model is to overlook the gap created between tourism
industry players and inhabitants by integrating a passive solution where tourist can be directly involve in
heritage conservation through a heritage trail. Secondary objective of this project is to conserve oral history
of each architectural structure and document them properly parallel to physical conservation. Sample size
of 45 houses among approximate 230 houses was selected within the fortified area for initial study and
finalized 21 houses for the heritage trail after an analytical survey. Oral history of the built environment
was furnished at each selected house with the interaction of its inhabitants and tourists were informed to
contribute one dollar as an appreciation towards conservation efforts of these dilapidating structures. The
project was reviewed after six months with both positive and negative results and further provided
solutions to rectify its sustainable destination.

Keywords: Urban conservation; Stakeholder management; Sustainable tourism; Living heritage

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A Comparison of Eco-Tourism Practices of Sri Lankan Hoteliers with
Reference to International Standards

Rangana Sri Shalika Wadippuli Arachchi
a
, Abdol Ali Khatibi
b
and Mohd Shukri Ab. Yajid
c

a
rangana@sab.ac.lk, ranganashalika1980@gmail.com
b
Faculty of Business Management & Professional Studies, Management Science University, Malaysia
alik@msu.edu.my

c
Management Science University, Malaysia

Tourism is presently one of the most crucial contributors to the economy in Sri Lanka. Attitude of tourists
have gradually changed from one that emphasized beach tourism to one that demands more, natural,
cultural and social interactions. There is a new phenomenon, which is broadly termed as Alternative
Tourism. As a result, the concept of Ecotourism emerged with the collaboration of cultural, rural, nature
tourism, and its related activities as a niche market (Silva, 2004). "Ecotourism is environmentally
responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate
nature (and any accompanying cultural features - both past and present) that promotes conservation, has
low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local
populations (Ceballos-Lascurain, 2005). Ecotourism is potentially the best growing segment in the
international market. Many hoteliers in Sri Lanka promote the sustainable use of this concept as a new
market oriented concept. Being a good business opportunity and the fastest growing segment, Sri Lankan
tourism is changing its outlook to sustain this new product. Since Sri Lanka is rich with much cultural and
natural diversity, it has the potential to develop the eco-tourism concept as an alternative form of tourism
better than other destinations for the benefit of the Sri Lankan economy and community (SLEF, 2001).
Many eco resorts in Sri Lanka are Trojan horses, marketing tourism as environmentally friendly, but in fact
destroying the every eco system they claim to protect (SLEF, 2001). It is a cause of customer dissatisfaction.
Arrivals of eco tourists to Sri Lanka have been less than 1% over the last decade (The mid-term strategic
plan for Sri Lanka tourism 2002-2004). It proves that the Sri Lankan eco-tourism market is not enjoying the
benefits of the cultural and environmentally friendly areas to earn more foreign exchange, get
employment, further regional development (infrastructure, superstructure) and increase the living
standard of the community (National policy of eco-tourism- SLTDA, 2003). Compared to Sri Lanka, other
Asian, African and European countries have a great demand for eco-tourism and eco resorts. Based on
these findings and preliminary interviews, the researcher has identified issues of practicing the concept of
genuine eco-tourism and meeting international standards in Sri Lankan eco resorts. It is essential to identify
how the eco resort hoteliers understand and practice the eco-tourism concept. It provides factual facts
whether the practice of eco-tourism in eco resorts deviate from international standards or not. These
findings help to check whether the practice of ecotourism in Sri Lankan eco resorts have an impact on the
declining eco tourist arrivals. This study examines the way eco resort hoteliers comprehend the meaning of
the eco-tourism concept in Sri Lanka. In the study, Green Globe 21standarads and The International Eco
tourism Society guidelines were used to compare the practice of the eco-tourism concept in eco resorts.
Initially, this study tests existing ecotourism practices by Sri Lankan eco resort hoteliers. Secondly, it
provides helpful information for marketers in hotels. With the results of the study, they can survey whether
implementation of their marketing programs of the eco-tourism concept is accurate or not. This research

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also improves the insight of Sri Lankan hoteliers on the applicability of eco-tourism concept in marketing
their tourism properties. The main objectives of the research are as follows:
To enhance and expand the construction of the eco-tourism concept by Sri Lankan eco resort
hoteliers
To investigate differences between the Sri Lankan eco resort hoteliers interpretation and
international standards.
A comprehensive case study research approach was used to conduct this research. Interpretive paradigm
and the social constructionists philosophical stand of the researcher provided the opportunity to explore
or describe a phenomenon in context using a variety of data sources. The target population for this study
was self-declared eco resorts, which were registered under the Sri Lanka Tourism and Development
Authority. When selecting the cases for study, the scale of rooms was used to categorize the resorts
according to their size. Samples were selected purposively. In the sample, managerial level staff were
selected to conduct in-depth interviews to explore the meaning of the term of eco resort. Primary data was
collected through in-depth interviews in this research with the support of observation method. Using these
different data collection methods, the researcher has reliable data for the research. Analysis of in-depth
interviews and observations showed that the practice of the eco resort concept has been misused by the
hoteliers in Sri Lanka as pointed out by the tourism professionals, which was due to the lack of
understanding of the concept. They have been unable to classify the eco tourists and identify the market
and customer segment clearly. They have constructed the meaning of the eco-tourism concept in a
different manner neglecting some components of the eco-tourism concept which deviates from the
international standards. When the principal guests are dissatisfied, there is a possibility of long term
dropping of the business. It has created dissatisfaction among eco tourists to move away from the Sri
Lankan eco-tourism market to other destinations. Attaching the eco-tourism label to poorly planned
programs have provided the local population with little besides social tension and environmental
degradation, while leaving the genuine eco tourist dissatisfied and cheated.
Keywords: Eco tourism; Eco resort; International standards

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Estimation of Welfare Benefits for Recreational Planning:
A Case Study in Kawdulla National Park in Sri Lanka

R. M. W. Rathnayake
a
and U.A.D.P. Gunawardena
b

a
b
Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

Kawdulla National Park (KNP) is the most popular destination for elephant watching in Sri Lanka. Due to
policy directions and market failures, this natural resource base is undervalued, and underutilized.
Therefore, ad hoc recreational planning is continued in national parks in Sri Lanka. Usually, findings of the
surveys on visitor characteristics and perceptions are considered in recreational planning and the welfare
benefits are not considered. This study examined how welfare changes in terms of consumers surplus (CS)
changes could be applied in recreational planning. Hypothetical travel cost approach was applied to identify
the best recreational scheme to be adopted at Kawdulla National Park (KNP). Existing visitor satisfaction,
visitor characteristics and perceptions and vehicle carrying capacity were studied, and two recreational
scenarios were drafted. Under these two different scenarios CS per person was SLR 4056 and SLR 10870,
and those values are more than 10 times higher than the existing CS recorded at KNP. Meanwhile the net
present values of benefits (NVB) under these two scenarios were also considerably high compared to the
existing NVB emphasizing the conservation value of KNP. Therefore, these economic values could be
considered in recreational planning in KNP choosing the better alternative recreational scheme.

Keywords: Hypothetical travel cost method; Consumers surplus; Net present value of benefits

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Role of Agri Tourism as a Moderated Rural Business

Rohana P. Mahaliyanaarachchi
Department of Agri Business Management, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
rohanap@sab.ac.lk, pandul1962@yahoo.com

Most of the alternative tourism approaches are closely related with rural economy and thereby rural
development. The main reason for this is that tourist destination of these alternative tourism approaches
are rural areas. Therefore, agri tourism as an alternative tourism creates a new economic opportunity in
rural areas as well as to the macro economy of a country. Based on the factors such as the place where agri
tourism activities take place, people who involve in providing agri tourism activities, nature of agri tourism
activities and services, nature of the tourists and main objectives of the agri tourism business, agri tourism
can be categorised into four types, namely Farm Stay, Farm Catering, Farm Tours and Farm Retailing.
Hence, farmers who are trying to diversify their economies due to low profits and high risks, agri tourism
offers a complementary/supplementary income source that allows a large financial leverage for capital
expenditure, depending on how much the entrepreneur wants to invest. On the other hand, young people
in rural areas can start an agri tourism enterprise in their farmland which will be their main income source.
This is a rural business in the hands of various stakeholders such as inbound and outbound tour operators,
small and medium scale farmers, plantation or agriculture companies, tour guides, villagers, etc. Unlike
mass tourism agri tourism attracts local tourists who are interested to experience rural life as relaxation
and escape from urban busy life. Therefore, agri tourism benefits both farmers and local communities as a
rural business because these tourists bring money to spend for experiencing rural life. This money
generates extra income for the people in the rural areas. Hence, it can be considered as a sustainable rural
business.

Keywords: Agri tourism; Rural; Business

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Economic Innovative System Indicators for Islamic Tourism

NorAin Othman and Rozian Mohd Taha
norain568@salam.uitm.edu.my

Islamic tourism can be seen from a different perspective as compared to the conventional tourism such as
economic, cultural and religious perspectives. According to the World Tourism Organization, the Islamic
tourism market provides a wealth of investment opportunities and currently gaining global popularity.
Statistically, Tourism Malaysia reported an increased in the Muslim arrivals in 2011; nevertheless, the
arrival was mainly from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Iran. This indicated that there are many
other potential Muslim tourist markets such as Turkey, OIC countries, Europe, China, Australia, Russia, USA
and South Africa have been unexplored. An exploration of the C-PEST (Competitive, Political, Economic,
Socio-cultural and Technological) factors that stimulate Islamic tourism to introduce many other Islamic
compliance products and services is important before it can be successfully promoted. Failure to address
these factors leads to wasted investments. Therefore this study aims to assess the Economic innovative
system indicators factors the current and potential Islamic tourism market in the country. Further analysis
will be conducted to investigate the market on their acceptance, expectation, motivation and values
towards Islamic tourism. This study is in line with the 10
th
Malaysia Plan and Tourism National Key
Economic Area (NKEA) and the Tourism Transformation Plan aims at attracting high yield tourist markets
and contributes significantly to the GDP.
Keywords: Islamic tourism; Economic innovative system; Tourism transformation plan

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Analysis of Demand Motivators for Nuwara Eliya as a
Tourist Destination

Ruwan Ranasinghe

Faculty of Management, Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka
ruwan.fm@gmail.com

International tourism has become one of the attractive economic activities in the global context. It has
created an enormous opportunities for many island nations like Sri Lanka. It also has been of primarily
important in empirical studies amongst the contemporary academic community. It is of pivotal for the
success of any destination to explore empirical evidences of the relationships between tourists motivation
factors for the choice of destinations. There are an increasing number of empirical studies on international
tourist motivation. Contrarily, less number of studies in the field of foreign tourists push and Pull factors to
a certain tourist destination like Nuwara Eliya. Amidst this background the present study focuses to
examine the factors relevant to destination as well as tourists themselves in selecting Nuwara Eliya as a
tourist destination. The main objectives of the research is to identify tourists Push and Pull factors in
Nuwara Eliya district and evaluate significance of the factors in demand perception. Findings of the study
will immensely facilitate the destination marketers activities in planning and executing marketing
strategies in order to capture more market share and also implement effective tourism policies. Most of
the discussions in the tourist motivation literature have tended to revolves around the theory of push
and pull motivation (Crompton, 1979; Kim and lee, 2002; Oh, Uysal, et al., 1995; Yoon and Uysal, 2005).
The theory assumes that people travel and choose their destinations according to different push and
pull motivational variables. Basically, this is a two-steps process involving push factors which motivate
an individual to leave their home, and pull factors draw an individual to travel to a specific place. The
research is exploratory in nature and questionnaire survey found to be most appropriate to explore the
demand perceptions of tourists who visit Nuwara Eliya. All the foreign tourists visiting Nuwra Eliya being
the population a sample of 125 foreign tourists were extracted for the survey from Gregory lakeside,
Horton plains, Kndapola area, Shanthipura village and Queen Victoria Park. Descriptive statistics,
independent sample t tests, Friedman mean rank analysis and cross-tabulations were employed to analyze
data with the help of SPSS version 20. Out of 120 questionnaires distributed 109 were usable for the final
analysis representing a 91 percent response rate. The reliability coefficient for push factors was 0.89 while
the same was 0.92 for the pull factors illustrating a high level of reliability of the instrument employed.
According to the analysis of age group differences, there exist quit a few differences between older foreign
visitors and younger ones, with a varying level of significance. Although tourists do not seem to stress the
prestige function of travel such as showing social status, travel brag, earning face, comparatively, those
older foreign tourists prone to care more about these issues than younger ones do. In contrast, younger
visitors seem to be pushed by the desire of escaping, comparing with their older counterparts. This may be
because that younger people are not as sophisticated and experienced as older people, thus younger
people incline to escape when they meet problems. Focusing the gender, physical advantages born with
man, those male informants are more willing to try outdoor activities or enjoy trills. On the contrary,
female tourists are motivated to go to the Nuwara Eliya for travelling by other factors. Derived from the
research findings, the foreign female respondents are willing on learning different culture, expanding
knowledge, and feeling exotic atmosphere. Exotic atmosphere, climate and outdoor activities have
significantly contributed to attract tourists to Nuwara Eliya as per the findings of this study. More market
share will be captured when tourism products are designed and marketed as solutions to consumers
needs. Thus, with the general insights on international tourists travel motivation concerning their needs
and desires, efficient marketing effort should be expanded to cater to these needs and desires in order to
attract more foreign tourists to Nuwara Eliya. In Nuwara Eliya, foreign tourists are mostly pushed to travel

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by the desire of exploring, natural beauty and thereby mainly pulled by tourism resources that much their
preferences like natural scenery and exotic atmosphere, the tourism products or itineraries of Nuwara Eliya
should enclose those attractions. Moreover, when designing the tourism products or itineraries, tour
operators or travel agencies should consider the destination image of Nuwara Eliya in foreign tourists
mind. Advertisement (through, social media, TV advertisements or programmes) on Nuwara Eliya tourism
may of great use in achieving this goal. Furthermore, as there are obvious differences between the younger
group and the older group foreign tourists, it is necessity to design slightly different tourism products to
cater to the varying needs or preferences of segments; flexible adjustments could be made to a mixed-sex
group to satisfy both males and females as much as possible. Future researchers should focus on the
tourists level of satisfaction verses their level of expectations, tourists image of Nuwara Eliya (pre and post
consumed destination image) to make a better understanding of the big picture for marketing exercises.

Keywords: Push-pull framework; Tourist motivation; Nuwara Eliya

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Operators Perspective on Homestay in Sri Lanka

Ruwan Ranasinghe
a
and Iraj Ratnayake
b
a
Faculty of Management, Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka
ruwan.fm@gmail.com
b
iraj@sab.ac.lk, iraj@susl.lk

Homestays are viewed as a means of cultural and heritage tourism. In 2009, Sri Lankas government
announced the slogan Refreshingly Sri Lanka to reposition its rich natural, cultural and heritage based
tourism product after the resolution of disputes. Because of this trend, the government helped cultural
tourism investors to develop their business and supported Sri Lankas homestay programme since 2009.
Therefore, the sector of cultural tourism and the sector of homestay tourism were attractive to potential
tourism investors. To develop homestay as an attractve tourism product and the market for it, desirable
product attributes should be considered (SLTDA, 2011). The homestay is a new concept of Sri Lankan
tourism but it is expected to continue with the support of Sri lanka Tourism Developmnet Authority. Amidst
this background this study investigates how the homestay as and accommodation option has been
perceived by operators and implications of the same on this particcular tourism product. It also explores
the potential solutions for such issues from the operators point of view. Moreover, it elucidate the
possibilities of improvement of Sri Lankan homestay product in order to meet the demands of present and
future visitors. This study being explored the homestay programme of Sri Lanka with an eye to understand
the issues, challenges and potentials with reference to its hosts point of view, the research is socio-
economically and culturally situated. Thus it required a rich narrative description which would support
qualitative examination. For these reasons the qualitative method in the form of indepth interviews has
been adopted and the analytical approach based on qualittaive narrations supported by coded interview
transcritptions. The concept homestay results many effects and the true feelings of operators need to be
tapped and hence Such an approach was chosen as it offers the researcher adaptability in data collection,
whereby ideas can be followed up on, responses can be further probed and motives and feelings can be
further explored. The population being all homestay operators in Sri Lanka, a sample of 27 homestay
operators were interrviewed all over the country represnenting all 9 homestay zones defined by SLTDA. As
the interviews were conducted by the researcher with respondents at various locations at different times,
an intervied protocol was used to ensure coverage of the research objectives; that has been only an
interviewing guide and has not directly administer to the respondents. The interview field notes and
recodings were trancscribed which could used in the further analysis. The open coding and axial coding
extracted analytical output form the transcriptions and that has been further elaborated using a qualitative
narrations. It was interesting to find that variety of factors act as motives for people to enter and run
homestay business. Even though a business mainly focuses monitory and material objectives, homestay as
a business has motivated operators by an assortment of aspects. Among them source of income, business
prospect, persuasion and experience, appeal of the area, personal appeal and availability of resources were
key points to understand the factors of motivation for homestay. The study also examined the issues and
challenges encountered by homestay operators. Due to this form of accommodation in rural areas it has
been expewrienced a number of socio economic and cultural issues. The weaknesses of the exiting product,
socio-cultural issues, and external disturbances, unethical behavior of guests, guest complaints and poor
capability of operators were of significant issues in homestay operatiobs. In order to further explore the
aforementioned issues the research probe into the views of homestay operators to find out applicable
suggestions to mitigate such issues. The suggestions proposed by homestay operators are classify here in
the axial coding stage to explain and understand them better. Accordingly, host guest understanding and
awareness of homestay, improvement of facilities, marketing and promotion, enhancing operator capacity
and better organization for the sector discussed as suggestions to mitigate above issues. All tourism

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products should offer a memorable visitor experience based on maintaining high standards and high quality
products. For such an exciting experience the hosts perception should be of fascinating in terms of product
offerings and its impacts. Quality management is of pivotal in ensuring homestay tourism products
success. Quality is about delivering an experience that meets or exceeds visitor expectation which has been
the expectation of many a homestay operators. Visitor needs vary depending on the nature of the target
market and has been true to homestay as well. While all target markets may not seek luxury and
sophistication, conformable and reliable accommodation in a healthy and safe environment is a must for all
segments of the market. Homestay accommodation can be one of the major activities for economic
development among rural communities where the appeal for tourism is rich in terms of natural, cultural
and historical resources. Local communities can benefit from this program as economically, socially and
environmentally and culturally. Homestay accommodation increases the visitors awareness of
sustainability. It encourages the tourists to deliver culturally acceptable behaviour towards locality. It also
helps to reduce the environmental pollution as well as social degradation. Thus, local government can give
emphasiz on homestay accommodation for the economic development of local people. Tourism policy
should be formulated for enhancing homestay in the rural areas. Proper participation of homestay
operators also ensure in this regard. Homestay is potential business operation for the local entrepreneurs.
Tourism policy should be formulated for enhancing homestay in the rural areas. This accommodation will
ensure employment opportunities and economic advancement for the local people. Proper planning and
marketing, standardization and quality assurance, legal and administrative formalities must ensure for a
healthy homestay accommodation. Future research should focus community and guest perceptions on
homestay.
Keywords: Homestay; Qualitative inquary; Perceptions; Tourism; Sri Lanka

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Home Away From Home:
A Promise to a Reality in Commercial Hospitality

Sarath Munasinghe
a
and Uditha Liyanage
b

a
sarath@sab.ac.lk
b
Postgraduate Institute of Management, Sri Jayewardenepura University, Sri Lanka

The concept of home is a frequently used term in commercial hospitality, with which hotel businesses make
the promise of offering homely comfort for guests. However, the provision of homely comfort in the
current context of hotel industry has been challenged by some arguing that it is beyond the reach and
ineffective. This paper discusses some findings related to the concept of homely comfort that were
revealed in an attempt made to explore the repeat customers experience in hotels. The study was done in
three selected beach resort hotels in Sri Lanka where there is a high repeat visitation. Hotel managers,
repeat guests and guest-contact employees were studied through in-depth interviews. Accordingly, this
paper presents the nature of the experience of home away from home and its antecedents. Important
findings were concluded in relation to the making of home away from home. Implications of the findings
have been discussed in relation to the post-war development of tourism in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Home away from home; Homely comfort; Home; Commercial hospitality

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51

Up Scaling Aboriginal Handicrafts and Woodcarvings as the
Potential to Promote Peninsular Malaysia Tourism

Siti Sarah Adam Wan
a
, Zalina Ibrahim
b
, Dona Lowii Madon
a
and Muhammad Firdaus Nasir
a

a
Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
wansarah82@bdrmelaka.uitm.edu.my, wansarah82@gmail, donalowii@bdrmelaka.uitm.edu.my,
firdausnasir@melaka.uitm.edu.my
b
Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
zalina7276@yahoo.com

The escalation of foreign tourists from all over the world to Malaysia open doors to the increase in sales of
Malaysian souvenirs such as beautifully coloured design local batik, songket, pewter ware, local aboriginal
woodcarvings and handicrafts. It has been discovered that the handicrafts which are being sold in the
aboriginal settlements by the rural residents to the visiting tourist are in need of a new facelift especially
the packaging to attract tourists to make their purchases. This research delves into introducing upgraded
packaging by identifying the criteria expectation needs of tourists on such souvenir items. This effort may
help to promote and increase the sales of the aboriginal handicrafts hence promote Malaysia to the outside
world. The research will cover visual observation of two separate aborigine tribes settlement in Malaysia
and interview with several foreign tourists, soliciting their responses and understanding their preference of
choices in selection of buying souvenir items. At the end of the research, a new proposed packaging will be
introduced and product design validation output.

Keywords: Aboriginal handicrafts; Aboriginal woodcarving; Packaging; Tourism; Malaysia; Tourist consumer
behaviour

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52

Leadership Factors in the Continuity of the Negeri Sembilan
Homestay Programme

Wan Siti Zubaidah Yahya, Norliza Aminudin and Norzuwana Sumarjan
Faculty of Hotel & Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
wan_szy@yahoo.com, norliza@salam.uitm.edu.my, norzu161@salam.uitm.edu.my

Over the last 19 years, the establishment of the homestay programme has been the agent of changes for
communities in nine villages in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Initially, this community-based tourism (CBT)
programme was intended to accommodate the overflow of demand for cultural tourism, as well as to help
improve the economy of the rural communities. In steering a CBT, it is essential for the community which
acts as a business entity to have a good management leadership. A good leader can have a strong impact
on innovativeness and entrepreneurial success of the management committee and its community. Many
empirical researchers have quantified the relationship between leadership and organisational performance
or success. Therefore, in order to rejuvenate and sustain the survival of homestay programme, it is crucial
to have a continuously training program for leadership. Such programme can also be regarded as enhancing
skill of leadership, and at the same time grooming future leaders in the community. No doubt the skill may
be passed from one generation to the next, especially if the first and second generation are from the same
family. Currently the Negeri Sembilan Homestay Programme is facing a decline in tourist arrivals and
receipts, despite more villages are joining the programme. This study is investigating the possibility of
leadership factors in contributing to the situation. To explore the phenomenon, four homestay chairmen
were selected for face-to-face interview. The samples were identified from lists provided by the Negeri
Sembilan Homestay Association and the then Ministry of Tourism. Data from the survey were factor
analyzed and interview sessions with informants were analyzed manually. The analysis and subsequent
findings indicated that other factor has contributed to the declining of the homestay operators income. As
the homestay program basically havent reach the level of it maturity in reality situation, the key issues
contributing to the declining of homestay providers income has been identify as a leader-ship factor. The
homestay management has not play an active role as an independent business entity orientation by not
acting to overcome of this leadership issues as suggested by previous of research that the leadership are
among the main contribution to the failures of small businesses are associated with poor leadership. The
need of having a transformational program of homestay management leadership is crucial in order to
sustain it survival and competitiveness. This research finding, from the homestay management perceptive
is hope to be the pointer for homestay program to plan its rejuvenate planning and escapade from the
failure to sustain it continuity.

Keywords: Community-based tourism; Homestay programme; Leadership

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53

An Evaluation of Graduates Perception on Employment in the
Tourism and Hospitality Industry

W.G.S.R. Wijesundara
Department of Public Administration, Uva Wellsssa University, Sri Lanka
shamila.wijesundara@yahoo.com

An individuals perception on his career is of pivotal to be successful in any context. Tourism industry
employment being of great significant at this junction in Sri Lanka, the employment potential and the true
feelings on this of its future leaders is of critical for the success of fast growing tourism industry of the
country. The present study is an examination of the feelings, attitudes and perceptions of graduates who
join tourism industry in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) works closely with
public and private organizations to train and develop required employees to the fast growing industry.
Presently, tourism and hospitality related degree programs for local students are conducted by four public
universities in the country. Approximately, 200 fresh graduates join the industry annually from government
universities and graduate contribution to tourism workforce has been increased with positivity. According
to tourism strategy 2011-2016 the annual output of 1500 graduates is the industry requirement to facilitate
2.5million tourists in 2016. Moreover, employee attitudes, performance, and behaviour are key
determinants of service quality, which has a direct linkage to customer satisfaction and loyalty (Heskett,
Jones, Loveman, Sasser Jr., & Schlesinger, 1994). An employees commitment to any industry will be
determined by his or her perceptions and attitudes toward working in the industry and the types of jobs
available in the industry. Kusluvan and Kusluvan (2000) argue that this is particularly pertinent to the
tourism and hospitality industry as it has been reported that working in the industry has a negative image
in the eyes of potential recruits (Aksu & Koksal, 2005; Brien, 2004; Getz, 1994; Kusluvan & Kusluvan, 2000).
Therefore, it is essential for tourism and hospitality management graduates to have a positive attitude
toward working in the industry (Kusluvan & Kusluvan, 2000). Amidst this background, the continuation of
graduate employees and their attitudes to remain in the industry has mostly been discussed in the society.
The primary objective of this study is to examine and evaluate the attitudes and perception of graduates
from Sri Lankan government universities on their employment in tourism industry in Sri Lanka and other
countries. This would be of great significance for human resource developers and planners in tourism and
hospitality industry. The population for the study being all the graduates who joined different sectors in
hospitality and tourism industry, a sample of 120 graduate employees representing four government
universities were selected using the cluster sampling and convenience sampling techniques considering
their working sections. Reviewing the related literature, a questionnaire was prepared including semi-
structured questions. Telephone interviews and Skype communication technology were employed to
gather primary data from the respondents as they have been working in Sri Lanka and in foreign countries.
Secondary data were collected from documents of government universities, tourism employment related
books, journals and research papers. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches have been used to
analyze data since such an approach provide opportunity to examine details and feeling of respondents
while scientific approach supported with quantitative analysis. The collected data were imported into
Statistical Package for the Social science (SPSS) where descriptive analysis and t-tests were undertaken.
Results revealed that66 percent of respondents are currently working in the tourism industry with positive
perception due to main four factors; position received, compensation package, relevant knowledge and
skills and available opportunities for carrier development. Negative perceptions which were 34 percent
were found due to working schedules, job environment and personal attitudes. Even though early
researches found negative perception among tourism and hospitality graduates toward to their
employment, according to the findings of the study, they have come up with positive perceptions than
negative perceptions. It was also found that no female graduate employee working in both housekeeping

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54

and culinary departments in hotel sector because of heavy works, lack of significant technical skills in area
and availability of high male employees. However, it is needed to improve attitudes of undergraduates
emphasizing the career progress in line with their basic knowledge. Further educating parents and the
entire society regarding the tourism is a must in order to maintain positivity while converting things from
negativity to positivity. Future researches should be focused to identify the intentions of potential students
following tourism related degrees.

Keywords: Tourism industry; Employments; Perception; Graduates

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55

Stakeholder Conflicts in Tourism:
A Study of Hoteliers and Travel Agents in Sri Lanka

W.K. Athula Gnanapala

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and it is an increasingly important source of
income, employment generation, and economic development strategy in many countries. Tourism also
considered as a multidisciplinary industry and it consists of many different stakeholders such as hoteliers,
travel agents and, entrepreneurs, employees, media, government etc. According to Freeman (1984) a
stakeholder is any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the
organizations objectives. Hoteliers and travel agents are considered as two major stakeholders in tourism
and they have to interdependent on each other to achieve their marketing other objectives. However, it is
noticed that through literature and practice there exists conflict situations between these two key
stakeholders and finally it also affect for the customer satisfaction. The paper mainly target to identify the
factors that have caused for the existing conflict relationship among the stakeholders in tourism and
discuss the problems and difficulties faced by them. Finally, it will reveal whether these conflicting
situations have influenced the satisfactions of their clients who have come all the way from their home
countries compromising their time, money and effort. The study was conducted as a qualitativ study. The
primary method adopted for data collection was semi-structured, face to face and telephone interviews
with 15 hotel managers representing 15 hotels and 12 travel executives from 8 travel agencies. Primary
data also collected though 6 focus group interview with the tourists who visit Sri Lanka to identify their
issues and satisfaction. In addition to that the study has reviewed the tourists comments appeared in Trip
Advisor web page to identify the issues that have created due to the conflict between hoteliers and travel
agents. It is revealed that different factors have contributed to create the conflict situation between the
hoteliers and travel agents such as mismanagement, poor communication, pricing and payment, poor
attitudes of the employees, bargaining power and the monopoly etc. The conflict behaviour also affected
for the satisfaction of the tourists who have come to Sri Lanka through a travel agency or stay at a
particular hotel, because, the satisfaction is created by the comparison of the customers expectation
before and after consumption. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a client depends on the performance of
different stakeholders in tourism industry as well as the nature of the relationship among them.

Keywords: Stakeholder conflicts; Tourism; Hoteliers; Travel agents; Tourists satisfaction

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56

Tourists Experiential Value Perception and Motivation to Revisit
Heritage Tourism Destination

Zaharah Mohamed Rani and Norain Othman


The value of experience is recognized as central feature in service industry especially tourism. Experiential
value plays an important role in determining tourist motivation to revisit the tourism destination. Lack of
literatures pertaining to experiential value perception and revisit intention in the context of heritage
tourism has been discovered. Therefore, this study fills in this gap by examine the relationship of
experiential value and intention to revisit the heritage tourism destination. The present study provides an
understanding towards the significant of experiential value in heritage tourism. Additionally, the study
contributes to the understanding of tourist behaviours in relation to heritage settings along with
implications for the experiential marketing of heritage tourism settings. Thus, the objective of this
particular study is to 1) examine the roles of experiential value perception in heritage tourism, 2)
investigate the relationship of experiential value perception and revisit intention, 3) examine the role of
motivation as the moderator in the relationship between experiential value perception and revisit
intention.

Keywords: Experience; Experiential value; Revisit intention; Heritage tourism

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57

Persuasion of Instagram on Generation Y Behavioural Intention to
Travel

Rozzana Ihsanuddin, Nurul Amirah Zainol Rashid and Faiz I. Anuar
faizwanuar@salam.uitm.edu.my
Generation Y is generation that were born after the year of 1981 and this generation are known to be
young, active and technology savvy (Mullins, 2012). According to Wilson (2014), Instagram is now a must-
have application among the youngsters especially the Generation Y. Instagram is an application that allows
us to capture, edit and share pictures has become a trend among young travellers. The paper outlines a
study to analyze to use, adoption of Instagram and explore the behavioural intention to travel using
Instagram among Generation Y in Malaysia. The study focuses on investigating the factor of why
Generation Y use Instagram, how Instagram are being used, adopted and ultimately explore whether
Instagram triggers them to travel, affect their travel planning and behavioural intention. The paper seeks to
draw conclusions about Generation Ys information needs to provide implications for application
developers as well as tourism and hospitality marketers. Based on the findings, photos in Instagram does
influence Generation Y specifically, respondents who own an Instagram account, to travel and these
generations are most attracted to scenery/attraction photos in Instagram. However, their decision to travel
does take external influences into consideration such as others opinion and location of attraction.
Keywords: Generation Y; Travel based mobile applications; Travel behaviour

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The Impact of Tourism Based Mobile Application towards Generation Y
Travel Behaviour in Malaysia
Dynna Ruth W. Lohindun, Rashidah Atan, Syazwani Mohd. Kassim and Faiz I. Anuar
faizwanuar@salam.uitm.edu.my

The development of Information and Communication Technology (ICTs), which brings to the emergence of
travel based mobile applications has brought new opportunities in tourism and travel industry. At the same
time, widely accepted as currently most significant segment Generation Y is known for their high expertise
and passion for using technological innovations. The aim of this paper was to investigate the impact of
travel based mobile applications towards Generation Y travel behaviour by examining the use of mobile
applications by Generation Y and their opinions on the functions of mobile apps. Formal theories of push
and pull factors to identify Generation Y travel behaviour and the use of tourism based mobile applications
are the basis of the conceptual framework in this study. The study anticipate that travel based mobile
applications will play an important role especially among Generation Y who appears to be the highest user
of mobile devices and also are active travellers. The availability of increasing number of travel applications
might influence on their travel behaviour. Conclusions were complemented by a set of recommendations
for tourism stakeholders and future researchers.

Keywords: Generation Y; Travel based mobile applications; Travel behaviour

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Increasing Demand of German Tourists in Choosing
Sri Lanka as an Ayurveda Wellness Destination

Nirosha Paranavitana
a
and Lakmini Wanasinghe
b

a
Department of Languages, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
aayubowan@gmail.com
b
Aitken Spense Travels, Sri Lanka

Modern global economic situation has laid an extra pressure on the significance of people's psycho-
physical state of health. Hence, people are increasingly looking forward for new ways of relaxation. Tourism
service providers, especially the luxury hotels have been quick to cash upon these facts creating a palette of
wellness services. Subsequently, some modes of tourism in Sri Lanka is flourishing remarkably well during
the last two- three years by offering a new facility called Wellness, displaying an impressive growth rate.
The new trend has its focus on preventative wellness as opposed to curative medical tourism. Thus,
complementary and alternative medical treatments have become a trend to harmonize body mind
complex. Subsequently, traditional Ayurvedic medical practice is now utilized not only to prevent illness but
also to promote wellness of people. It is evident that even wellness tourism in Sri Lanka is at its infant stage
and that it can offer many facets of development opportunities to strengthen the competitiveness of the
tourist industry of Sri Lanka. Along with the indirect documentary methods, an empirical research first by
means of questionnaires distributed among German tourists in Sri Lanka and secondly through the
interviews with the hoteliers and the professionals were implemented to prove the hypothetical
assumption that the German tourists seek Sri Lanka as a wellness tourist destination for the main reason
being Ayurveda practise offered along with Sri Lankas beauty and location. The investigation has revealed
that the authenticity of the remedies and its products and its usage of natural native herbs and herbal
cosmetics incorporated with Sri Lankas natural beauty and exotic landscape have been the leitmotif of
their choice of an island holiday. Low cost health treatments and individual Ayurvedic treatments along
with yoga, meditation and diet counselling has further satisfied their expectations. The abundance of world
heritage sites located in a reachable geographical proximity in a short period of time had added more value
to the choice of a Sri Lankan holiday. Along with those findings, further means of development and
marketing strategies to strengthen the demands through media, government and through moderating
Ayurvedic medical education to suite the new trend is suggested and discussed in this paper at a length.
Keywords: Ayurveda; Wellness holiday; Sri Lanka tourism

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Tropical Tourism Outlook Conference

Nature, Culture and Networking for Sustainable Tourism

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