The Practice of Ecotourism in Sri Lanka

Ranjith Bandara
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Ranjith Bandara: Ranjith Bandara, Department of Economics, University of Colombo, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka. Email: ranbandara@gmail.com

South Asia Economic Journal, 2009, vol. 10, issue 2, 471-492

Abstract: There has been little assessment of ecotourism operator compliance in Sri Lanka towards the ecotourism guidelines set by the International Ecotourism Society (IES). This study presents the results from a survey of a sample of 15 ecotourism/ecolodge operators chosen from seven selected locations in the four provinces of Sri Lanka. This study shows that there is lack of understanding about the true policies of ecotourism. The majority of operators in the sample seem to practice more of nature-based operations, whilst others have a combination of nature and adventure-based tourism, but not proper ecotourism. Moreover, there is no enthusiasm towards the practice of ecotourism in its true sense and the current situation of the country with a low number of tourists, too, contributes towards it. Some of the ecotourism practices were not evident as it was expensive to implement them, yet, the simpler cost effective practices, too, were not given much consideration. Thus, the overall findings of this study overwhelmingly suggest that the authorities of tourism industry and various other stakeholder groups and conservers should work hand in hand to develop innovative ecotourism programmes which will create a market for Sri Lanka as an ecotourist destination in the world.

Keywords: JEL: Q55; Developing Countries; Ecotourism; Ecotourism Guidelines; Nature Conservation; Operator Compliance; Sri Lanka (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:soueco:v:10:y:2009:i:2:p:471-492

DOI: 10.1177/139156140901000209

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