Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Volume 2 – Issue 1, July 2020

RURAL TOURISM NICHE-MARKET AS A DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

ON RURAL COMMUNITY: REFERENCE TO HIRIWADUNNA VILLAGE
TRACK, MEEMURE AND HEELOYA KNUCKLES VALLEY TOURISM
VILLAGE, SRI LANKA

S.S. Pattiyagedara
Faculty of Management
Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka

P.I.N. Fernando
Faculty of Management
Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka
[email protected]

Abstract

Tourism is one of the main economic sectors as well as a foreign exchange earner to
Sri Lanka. Rural tourism is one of the niche markets catered to rural lifestyles and
events. The study investigated the rural tourism destinations; Hiriwadunna Village
Track, Meemure, and Heeloya Knuckles Valley village, which conduct rural tourism
activities on a regular basis as one of their main livelihood. The objectives are to
identify the impact of destination attributes on visitor satisfaction and assess the
contribution of rural tourism initiatives on the household economy and socio-culture
of tourism stakeholders. Purposive sampling method was conducted with dual sets;
100 foreign and local visitors and 12 tourism stakeholders from a rural community.
Data were gathered through the survey, and structured interviews and study adopted
mixed methods; descriptive and multiple regression with destination attributes (6A’s)
model as quantitative analysis and thematic analysis as the qualitative analysis
method. Findings exhibited a significant influence on the visitor satisfaction of all
destination attributes (6A’s), and ancillary services have highlighted as the most
influential attribute on rural tourism destinations. Further, the thematic analysis
revealed, rural tourism is positively influenced by socio-economic benefits on
residents’ livelihood. As recommendations, (a) promoting sustainable tourism
concepts catering to the niche market of “rural tourism”, (b) folk culture with the
rural tourism experience, (c) mechanism on safety and security of the rural tourism
destinations, (d) strategies to popularize the events catering rural lifestyle and
activities and (e) marketing programmes on sustainable tourism segments, are
provided.

Key words: Rural tourism, Destination attributes, Tourists satisfaction, Destination

Management, Tourism

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Introduction

Tourism is ranked as the number one industry in the world as compared to its
proportion in the world economy. Tourism is the only service industry to represent a
positive balance of trade with the flow from first world countries to developing
countries exceeding those in the opposite flow by US$66 Million( Dipietro and
Condly, 2007). It is identified as one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in
the globe, and it is high growth and development rate, a considerable volume of foreign
currency inflows, and infrastructure development actively effect for the various sector
of the economy. Besides, it will be affected by the socio and economic development
of the country (Nayomi and Gnanapala, 2015). Currently, Tourism is one of the
booming industry and a major economic contributor in many developing countries,
including Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is known as a major traveler destination with a variety
of resources. Its unique characteristics and strategic placement play a vital role in
tourism development. According to the Sri Lanka tourism development authority
(SLTDA), Tourism arrival to Sri Lanka during the year 2017 amounted to 2,116,407.
It was the third-largest foreign exchange earner in 2017 amounted was 598,356
Million. In the current scenario, new tourism concepts are far beyond traditional
tourism concepts, while tourists’ preferences have moved from mass tourism to niche
tourism. Rural tourism is an emerging trend in Sri Lanka, one of the niche tourism
sectors.

According to the Household Income and expenditure survey (2016), the

majority of the Sri Lankan population is in rural areas (16.1%) highlighting the
opportunity on niche areas related to rural tourism. Scholars Aslam and Awang (2015),
stated the inadequacy of rural tourism destinations to cater to the opportunity. Perera
(2016) has identified Lakegala, Meemure, Hiriwadunna, Dambulla, and Heeloya as
the popular rural tourism destinations in Sri Lanka and Weerasinghe (2018) conducted
a case study at Hiriwadunna track. Tourism creates many employments direct and
indirect to poor and unskilled as compared to the other industries, due to the low usage
of technology in terms of labour intensively. Further, scholars pointed out that the
tourism that catered luxury travel needs cannot always be the best strategy (Muhanna,
2007), highlighting the importance of catering to the rural segment. Economic and
social impact on the local community depends on how much of the income generated
by the tourists go to host communities. When comparing, more than 80% of the
benefits of all-inclusive package tours accounted for the airline services,
accommodations, and other international companies, while lesser benefits to the local
business and community. Thus the Destination attributes of the rural tourism
destinations should be highlighted by catering to visitor satisfaction on the rural
tourism niche market. Therefore the research questions formulated by highlighting

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 Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Volume 2 – Issue 1, July 2020

selected rural tourism destinations were identified as (a) what is the impact of tourism
destination attributes on visitor satisfaction in rural tourism destinations? (b) whether
there is a community contribution to rural tourism initiatives? The research objectives
have been formulated by catering to the selected rural tourism destinations;
Hiriwadunna village track, Meemure, and Heeloya Knuckles valley tourism village.

1). Identify the impact of destination attributes on visitor satisfaction in rural tourism
destinations.
2). Identify the community contribution of rural tourism initiatives.

Rural tourism is one of the emerging research areas as the popularity is

growing globally as well locally. Since lesser research studies conducted within the
Sri Lankan context by focusing the rural tourism, the results of this study would fill
the empirical research gap. Further, as a community booster, the findings would cater
more towards rural entrepreneurship in the tourism sector as well highlighting how
well a rural community can market their hospitality and other natural resources
towards sustainable tourism strategy. Therefore the study findings would be beneficial
to a larger segment of stakeholders in the community as a winning strategy for future
tourism development, both international tourism, and domestic tourism.

Literature Review

World Tourism Organization (WTO) defines tourism as activities of persons

traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than
one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes. The tourism industry is
identified as one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the globe. Further,
high growth and development rate, a considerable volume of foreign currency inflows,
and infrastructure development affect the various sectors of the economy. Tourism in
Sri Lanka has a long history, whereby, formally entered in 1960 and playing a
significant role in the global tourism market (Ministry of Finance and Planning, 2010).
Despite the diverse nature, tourism is one of the leading foreign exchange providers to
the economy, while identified as one of the best nature-based tourism destinations
from ancient time. In addition to the main benefits, the sector is highly affected by the
socio and economic development of the country (Nayomi and Gnanapala, 2015).
Particularly, top tourism destinations in developing countries such as national parks,
wilderness areas, lakes, and cultural sites are generally located in rurally (Okech et al.,
2012).

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Rural tourism as a niche-market

Tourism is the generic term to cover both demand and supply and has been
adopted in various forms and used throughout the world. Niche tourism highly vital in
the sector, as a destination with specific niche products, will be able to establish
themselves as a niche tourism destination. Among the niches, rural tourism is a niche
market based on visitor preferences and needs especially focusing on experiencing
rural livelihood (Novelli et al., 2005). Further, tourism in rural areas will increase the
benefits for rural residents from rural tourism activities and ensure the relationship
between rural tourism development and biodiversity conservation (Aziz, 2018).
According to the broader definition of rural tourism, its range of activities, service,
and amenities provided by farmers and rural people attract tourists to their areas in
order to generate extra income for their business. The niche segment, cover not only
farm tourism which is touring in rural areas, but also accommodation plus events,
festivals, gastronomy, outdoor recreation products and sales of handicrafts and
agricultural product (Aslam and Awang, 2015);( Fernando, 2015). Past literature
related to rural tourism (Verbole, 2000; Wilson,2001) suggested rural tourism should
be initiated in rural landscapes by the rural community incorporation with other
stakeholders in rural areas. According to Buhalis (2000), travelers desire to go back to
nature and experience some authentic agricultural process, and agricultural facilities
are transformed into leisure activities. Tourism is considered as the development
strategy where agricultural activities decline steadily. Scholars Alipour and Kayaman
(2011), Randelli et al (2014), Eruera (2008) discuss that rural tourism takes place
within the socio-culture and environment of the rural community. According to Okech
et al (2012) rural areas are heterogeneous with; spaces where human settlement and
infrastructure occupancy only small patches of the landscape. Further, dominated by
fields and pastures, woods and forests, water, mountain and desert, places where most
people spend on farms, abundance and relative cheapness of land, high transaction
costs associated with long-distance and poor infrastructure and geographical
conditions that increase political transaction costs and magnify the possibility of elite
capture of urban bias. Therefore, the novel tendency among tourists to experience
nature and traditional livelihood might create the avenue for this niche market, both
foreign and domestic tourism.

Destination attributes on visitor satisfaction

According to scholarly findings, tourists' decisions of “where to travel”

determined by the destination attributes and extrinsic motivational factors
(Dann,1981). The destination is comprised of various attributes catered for the
destination selection that represents a favorable image for the visitors. Moreover,
visitor satisfaction and future behavior such as revisit and word of mouth publicity are
determined by the destination attributes (Shulb, 2015). Leiper (1995) identified

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 Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Volume 2 – Issue 1, July 2020

destinations as places where people travel and choose to stay for a while in order to
experience certain features or characteristics a perceived attraction of some sort. As
Buhalis cited Cooper et al. (1998), define destination as the focus of facilities and
services designed to meet the tourists. Successful destinations combine diverse
services, which can be structured as the 6 A’s of tourism destinations: Attractions of
natural (e.g. mountains, lakes, beaches), artificial (theme parks, amusement parks), or
cultural (ritual places/events). Accessibility refers to both the transport to the outside
and within a certain destination. Amenities characterize all services facilitating a
convenient stay, accommodation, gastronomy, or leisure activities and Available
packages refer to the availability of service bundles to direct the tourists’ attention to
certain unique features of a respective destination. Activities refer to the tourists’ travel
motives available within the destination both active (hiking, swimming, skiing) and
passive (sunbathing, wellness). Ancillary services are not primarily associated with
tourism (Opaschowski, 2002; Althof, 2001; Buhalis, 2000). According to Chi (2005),
destinations showcased a mix of attractions and support services with a number of
common features. Destination components categorized into four A’s Such as natural
and artificial sites or events, amenities including accommodation, food, and beverages.
Accessibility such as local transportation and transport terminals, ancillary services
informs of a local organization. Elements of the tourist’s destinations classified into
primary and secondary sources. Climate, ecology, cultural traditions, and architecture
are identified as primary sources and developments, such as hotels, catering,
transportation, and amusements identified as secondary resources (Chi and Qu, 2008).

Tourism satisfaction and destination management

The satisfaction of a customer is the major objective in the profit-oriented

business. In the tourism and hospitality industry, satisfaction, or perception regarding
the destination has been decided based on various factors. Therefore, if a visitor is not
satisfied with the service, security, reliability, and credibility, that will result in
reducing the potential visitors and repeating visitors. Tourist satisfaction plays a vital
role in destination selection, as tourist satisfaction linked to destination choice
(Ahmed, 1991) and consumption of products/services and revisit (Stevens 1992
Kozak & Rimmington 2000; Ritchie and Crouch,2010). Bernini & Cagnone (2014)
suggested attributes level conceptualization is desirable for analyzing tourists'
satisfaction with the destination. Destination attributes play an essential role in visitor
satisfaction and evaluation of attractiveness image. The overall tourists’ satisfaction
as a function of destination attributes. The studies suggest destination attributes and
motivation could have integrated or impact on visitors’ satisfaction (Meng et al.,
2008). According to Chi and Qu(2008), the quality of the attribute acts as one of the
determinant factors to visitor satisfaction and provide a positive influence on overall
satisfaction. According to Chi and Qu (2008), attributes satisfaction has also shown to
be an antecedent of destination loyalty. Many scholars (Fernando and Wei,

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2012;Fernando, 2012 ) have shown the positive relationship between tourists’
satisfaction, revisit intention, and destination attributes, while less number of studies
on the negative relationship between destination attributes and visitor satisfaction
(Boit and Doh,2014). Further, staff hospitality and friendliness, activities offered in
the area, and natural attractions influenced visitor satisfaction positively. According to
Ghose and Johann ( 2019), tour package features show a positive impact on visitor
satisfaction and high impact attractions; culture, and monuments. Further, nature and
countryside show a negative effect as a result. According to the Chi, (2005),
destination attributes consists of sightseeing (Attraction), price of accommodation
(Accommodation), variety of entertainment (Activities), cleanliness, availability of
parking (Accessibility).

Rural tourism is considered as one of the niche tourism sectors (Novelli et

al., 2005; Fernando,2015; Paradopoulou,2016) to contribute to the poverty alleviation
in rural tourism destinations. Since the destination attributes play a vital role in shaping
up the destination management, the rural tourism destinations might be experiencing
the effects of the destination attributes. Further, these destination attributes within the
rural tourism destination might work as an extrinsic motivational tool to attract
visitors. When considering visitor satisfaction based on the destination attributes,
many researchers revealed that there is a positive relationship between visitor
satisfaction and destination attributes. Further, some empirical research literature has
found a strong positive relationship between the above two variables (Chi and Qu,
2008; Ghose and Johann, 2019). Therefore, this research catered to three distinct rural
tourism destinations in Sri Lanka, with their destination attributes and the perception
towards the satisfaction of rural tourism. According to Lewis (1996), Tourism is
working as an effective development tool for the rural destination, and there is little
empirical evidence to support this claim. Existing researchers have been dealing with
impact attitudes and perceptions of tourism in rural areas from the perspective of
tourists and the community. As a significant contribution to the economy, the remote
areas of a destination could be developed as a rural tourism destination, also as an
alternative to poverty alleviation. There have been less empirical studies undertaken
to develop an integrated strategic framework on this area highlighted by the research
gap and huge space on research related to rural tourism development and poverty
alleviation in rural areas (Samarathunga et al., 2015) and a little attention has been
paid to the rural tourism development in poverty alleviation in the empirical
researches.

The conceptual model has been developed by modeling the destination

attributes “6 A’s model” aligning with rural tourism destinations. The vacuum of
scholarly work based on rural tourism will be filled out by adopting this model. Figure
1 illustrates the conceptual model of the study.

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 Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Volume 2 – Issue 1, July 2020

Independent Variables:
Dependent variable
Destination Attributes

Attraction

Accessibility

Amenities Visitor satisfaction

on rural tourism
Ancillary services

Available package

Activities

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

Source: developed based on the literature survey

Methodology

The study focused on three main rural tourism destinations in Sri Lanka,
namely, the Hiriwadunna village track, Meemure, and Heeloya Knuckles valley
tourism village. The population of this study is the community and visitors of rural
tourism destinations in Sri Lanka. In order to achieve research objectives, 100 local
and foreign visitors, and 12 tourism stakeholders were selected purposively for the
sample. The study has been conducted during mid-2019, and due to the Easter Bomb
attack in April 2019, tourists’ arrivals drastically dropped down. Therefore, the sample
size was limited to 100 tourists and 12 stakeholders. A pilot test was conducted with a
sample of 50 respondents from each destination. The interview was conducted to gain
stakeholder’s perceptions regarding the economic and socio-cultural impact of rural
tourism and thematic analysis used to express stakeholder’s perceptions. Primary data
was collected through a structured questionnaire filled by the respondents and
conducted interview sessions. The questionnaire is comprised of three sections.
Demographic analysis, independent variable analysis, and dependent variable
analysis, which are based on a five-point Likert scale to capture visitor satisfaction
towards rural tourism in Sri Lanka have been used.

This research is based on the mixed-method approach by adopting both

quantitative and qualitative methods. The theoretical model with 6 destination
attributes (6 A’s model) with hypotheses was proposed based on the literature. The
conceptual model consists of attraction, accessibility, amenities, ancillary services,
available packages, and activities as independent variables, and the questionnaire is
laid to measure the impact of 6 destination attributes on visitor satisfaction. To assess
the impact of destination attributes and descriptive statistics, multiple regression
analysis has been conducted towards visitor satisfaction on rural tourism destination.

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Further, thematic analysis has been performed to assess the contribution of rural
tourism initiatives to the household economy. Therefore, both quantitative and
qualitative methods have been adopted to achieve research objectives developed.

Data Analysis and Discussion

The sample consisted of males (63%) than the female respondents (37%) ranging from
26-35 years of age category. The majority of the respondents were from Europe and
the main purpose of the visit was pleasure and vacation (69%). Visitors used online
sources and Social media to gain information than the word of mouth marketing
(WOM) and Travel agents. Unique and novelty experience was the main objective of
respondents (36%) on rural experiences, and the majority opted for village house
accommodations (41%) as their favorite.

Descriptive analysis

During the data analysis process, descriptive statistical analysis has been conducted
for the sample. Therefore, Table 1 and 2 present a summary of descriptive statistics.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics relating to the Destination attributes

Attribute N Mean Std.

Deviati
on
Attraction 100 4.0925 .47362
Tickets prices are reasonable for tour 100 3.84 .762
Natural attractions, Historical and cultural attractions 100 4.02 .512
are available 100 4.23 .529
Human made attractions are available 100 4.28 .792
the peaceful atmosphere is available

Accessibility 100 3.7533 .39531

Traditional transportation methods available 100 2.83 .378

An adequate level of vehicle parking facilities 100 4.16 .507
Comfortable vehicles are available 100 4.27 .709

Amenities 100 4.8800 .19831

Accommodation facilities with local row materials 100 4.77 .423

Quality catering and hospitality service 100 4.91 .288
shops with local handicrafts 100 4.96 .197

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 Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Volume 2 – Issue 1, July 2020

Ancillary Services 100 4.0660 .35851

Considerable amount of banking and financial facility 100 2.94 .371

Availability of Telecommunication facility 100 3.22 .811
Enough safety and security 100 3.22 .811
Information services for travellers 100 4.58 .606
Quality sanitation and drinking water 100 4.75 .597
100 4.85 .500

Available packages 100 4.1133 .26893

Availability of pre-arranged Rural tour packages 100 4.44 .592

Availability of Tailor-made Rural tour packages 100 2.98 .376

Village guide services 100 4.92 .273

Activities 100 4.9600 .15191

Availability of the number of recreational activities 100 4.98 .141

Eco-tourism activities are available 100 4.95 .219
Cultural activities are available 100 4.95 .219

Source: survey

The results of the descriptive analysis imply that all the destination attributes
positively influence on visitor satisfaction towards rural destinations. Accordingly,
attraction, accessibility, amenities, available services, ancillary services, and activities
accounted for mean value are 4.0925, 3.7533, 4.8800, 4.0660, 4.1133 , and 4.9600,
respectively. The visitors have almost agreed with the overall activities of rural
destinations with a positive perception of rural tourism destinations.

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics related to rural tourism satisfaction

Attributes N Mean S. Deviation
Preferences 100 4.9500 .13711
Village rules and regulations 100 4.90 .302
flexible for tourists 100 4.98 .141
Hope to revisit 100 4.98 .141
Recommended to others 100 4.97 .171

Happiness 100 4.9467 .12282

I am satisfied with a visit 100 4.88 .327
Destinations are clean 100 4.96 .197
Free health and safety facilities in 100 5.00 .000
an emergency situation
Source: Survey

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 Visitors showed a positive perception regarding the destination attributes as
the mean value of the dependent variable is 4.6971, which implies an overall positive
perception of the visitors with the dispersion of 0.12256 values.

Regression Results

During the data analysis process, to analyze the impact of the destination
attributes, the multiple regression has been conducted after testing the reliability of the
data and four assumptions. Table 3 presents the summary details of models, Table 4
presents the coefficients of independent variables, and Table 5 presents the summary
of the Regression analysis.

Table 3. Measurement Model Summary

Figure Value
R .938
R Square .880
Adjusted R Square .872
Standard error of estimate .04389
Model Sum of Mean DF F Sig.
Square Square
Regression 1.308 .218 6 113.196 0.000
Residual .179 .002 93
Total 1.487 99
Source: Survey

According to table 3 and 4 model summary, the multiple correlations (R) is

0.938 and Adjusted R Square estimated to 0.872. As the coefficient is greater than 0.7,
there is a strong association (87%) jointly with destination attributes (independent
variables) and visitor satisfaction (dependent variable). Further, P-value of the model,
which is 0.000 (P < 0.05), represents that the overall model is statistically significant.

Table 4 Coefficients of Independent Variables

Model Unstandardized Standardized P Value
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 1.924 .202 .000
Attractions .025 .009 .095 .011
Accessibility .114 .014 .367 .000
Amenities .087 .030 .140 .005
Ancillary Services .188 .019 .549 .000
Available Packages .054 .017 .117 .002
Activities .169 .032 .210 .000
Source: Survey

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 Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Volume 2 – Issue 1, July 2020

Regression Model

VS = β 0 + β1 (ATT) + β2 (ACC)+ β3(AME) + β4(ANC) + β5(APK) + β 6(ACT) +

ε

VS=1.924 + 0.025 (ATT) + 0.114(ACC) + 0.087 (AME) + 0.188(ANC) +

0.054(APK) + 0.169(ACT) + ε

Table 5 Regression analysis summary

Variable Coefficient P Value Relationship Status

Attraction .025 .011 Positive Impact Significant

Accessibility .114 .000 Positive Impact Significant

Amenities .087 .005 Positive Impact Significant

Ancillary Services .188 .000 Positive Impact Significant

Available Packages .054 .002 Positive Impact Significant

Activities .169 .000 Positive Impact Significant

Source: Survey

According to the regression analysis (Table 5), the β0 coefficient of attraction

estimated at 0.025 with a positive impact on visitor satisfaction and the P-value of
attraction is 0.011 is significant. β0 coefficient of accessibility is recorded as 0.114
with positive impact and significance while Amenities estimated as 0.087 provides a
significant positive impact on visitor satisfaction. Ancillary service estimated as 0.188,
available packages as 0.054, and activities as 0.169, all variables are significant and
have a positive impact on the dependent variable. The results (Table 5) imply that all
destination attributes (attraction, accessibility, amenities, ancillary services, available
package, and activities) are highly significant for the model and the ancillary services
(0.549) are the most influencing attribute out of the six destination attributes.
Therefore, the rural tourism destination attributes will positively effect on enhancing
visitor satisfaction on rural tourism.

Thematic analysis

Thematic analysis has been conducted to achieve the second research objective on
community contribution from a stakeholder perspective. Table 6 illustrates the
summary of the thematic analysis.

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Table 6 Summary of the thematic analysis

Parent themes Sub-themes Sub/Sub-themes

1. Economic Job creation Positive impact
Self-employment
Employment in tourism businesses

Negative impact
Poor quality job
Seasonality of tourism-related
business

Economic growth Positive impact

Income generation
Generate supplementary income for
people
Infrastructure development
Introduce a new market for tourism
products
Reduce migration

Negative impact
Cost of living

Women employment

2. Socio- Destination image Positive impact

Cultural Improvement of destination image
and community pride
Protection of culture and local
tradition (Lifestyle, traditional
festivals, arts, Crafts)
Culture exchange Positive impact
Social relationship

Negative impact
Cultural influences
Drug abuse
Misbehavior

Living standards
Social empowerment
Source: Survey

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 Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Volume 2 – Issue 1, July 2020

With regard to the economic and socio-cultural impact, both positive and
negative responses have been provided by the respondents. From the economic
impacts (a) economic growth (b) income generation and (c) women employment
creation were highlighted. From the negative impacts, the cost of living has been
highlighted. According to Scheyvens (1999), the importance of tourism's impact on
the economy has resulted in the personal economic benefits from tourism to become
one of the most consistent predictors of residents' support for tourism. In addition to
economic impact, socio-cultural impacts in both directions have been highlighted.

From the socio-cultural impacts, (a) destination image (b) prominence on

local culture (c) enhancing living standards and (d) social empowerment were
highlighted positively and as negative impacts, (a) social misbehavior (b) drug abuse
and (c) social influences were highlighted. The majority of the respondents highlighted
that the collaboration between both economic and socio-cultural factors would lead
towards a possible loss of negative impacts while maximizing the positive impacts.
Tourism strives to preserve the local culture and exchange between tourists and locals
leads to enhance positive impact on cultural identity such as improvement of
destination image and community pride, social relationship, preserve the culture and
local tradition. According to Dipietro and Condly, (2007), positive socio-cultural
factors might enhance self-esteem, positive attitudes on culture and customs, and
community pride. Gannon (2009), also mentioned pride and sense of place might help
to build community infrastructure, promote a team community spirit as the positive
socio-cultural impacts. In a summary, most of the respondents are affected positively
in economic and social terms from rural tourism than negatively.

There is a high potentiality to eradicate poverty from rural tourism in a

developing destination. In village track-Hiriwadunna, the security of the tourists and
service quality might be at risk, due to unavailability of safety guidelines, herein,
register the tour operational activities under the registered body and programmes for
promotion are highlighted. Further, the majority of the community, financially sustain
through rural tourism, and positively contribute to enhancing residents’ livelihoods.
Agro-tourism is one of the main tourism segments that can be successfully operated
with agricultural activities, and Meemure is a traditional village where the fresh
traditional Sri Lankan life can be seen with a vast variety of activities such as bullock
carts riding. Therefore, the collaboration between both Rural and Agro-tourism is
highlighted. Heeloya is rich with the many traditional agricultural activities, therefore
the potentiality to develop harvesting festivals and camping sites in agricultural fields
within the area is highlighted. As a holistic approach, rural tourism would enhance the
livelihood of the rural community, as well as positively contribute to tourism
development in Sri Lanka as a destination.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The study highlighted the rural tourism destinations of Sri Lanka namely,
Hiriwadunna village track, Meemure, and Heeloya Knuckles Valley Tourism village
as destinations and focused on identifying the impact of destination attributes on
visitor satisfaction. The vacuum of less research work on rural tourism might fill out

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from this study. Two research objectives have been developed, and a mixed-method
approach has been adopted to the conceptual model developed by aligning 6
Destination attributes on rural tourism destinations with visitor satisfaction. The
findings endorsed all six destination attributes positively impacting on visitor
satisfaction towards rural tourism and ancillary services illustrate the highest
coefficient with (0.549), highlighting a clear strategy for policy developers. The study
attempts to assess the holistic perception of the residents in terms of economic and
socio-cultural benefits from rural tourism. Herein the community contribution of rural
tourism initiatives to the household economy and socio-cultural betterment of rural
tourism stakeholders is highlighted, and perception leads to positive impacts. Hence,
future studies might focus on identifying prominent factors other than the destination
attribute.

All three rural tourism destinations are highlighted as places that could be
developed further as rural tourism destinations. Safety and security of the tourists,
service quality by registering tour operators combined with Agro-tourism with
traditional Sri Lankan life, and popularize events such as harvesting festivals and
camping sites in agricultural fields within the area had been highlighted.

Therefore the researcher would provide recommendations as;

 Promoting sustainable tourism concepts, especially by catering to the niche
market of “rural tourism.”
 Combine the folk culture with the rural tourism experience
 Cater safety and security to rural tourism destinations through proper
mechanisms.
 Strategies to popularize the events catering to rural lifestyle and activities
 Market programmes on sustainable tourism segments such as agro-tourism,
nature-based tourism, community-based tourism, and religious tourism.

Sri Lanka, as one of the famous tourism destinations, could be more popularized with
the image among the global market by catering more to authentic rural tourism
experiences by popularizing rural tourism destinations. Further, as the main outcome,
rural community livelihoods might economically and socio-culturally enrich on
adopting win-win strategies.

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rural development in Sri Lanka, International Journal of Economics and Financial
Issues, 5(1), 27-33

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