Assessing agritourism potential for rural development in Sri Lanka | |
| Author | Malkanthi, S. H. P. |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.RD-13-01 |
| Subject(s) | Rural development--Sri Lanka Agritourism--Sri Lanka |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Regional and Rural Development Planning |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. RD-13-01 |
| Abstract | This study has examined the potential of agritourism for the rural development in Sri Lanka by evaluating the supply of and demand for agritourism and its impacts on local residents in Sri Lankan context. Information for this study was collected through primary and secondary sources. Primary information was collected mainly using three methods; case studies of agritourism operators, a questionnaire survey for agritourism visitors and a household survey for local residents related to agritourism industry of the country. In addition, participatory observation and key informants interviews were conducted to collect qualitative information to obtain a better understanding of different contexts of agritourism and its challenges and potential for development by cross checking the data collected through afore-mentioned three methods. Supplementary secondary information wascollected fromrecords and reports of agritourism destinations,relevant government authorities, departments, publications, reports and online services. Initially, fifteen agritourism destinations in ten selected districts were studied as case studies to understand the scope of agritourism in the country. Then, one destination namely, Paradise Farm at Kithulgala, Sri Lanka was randomly selected for the rest of the analysis of the study. This destination is a medium-scale operation currently functioning at the average standard. The study revealed that agritourism sector in the country is at its initial stage. Findings regarding the supply of agritourism disclosed that only fifteen agritourism operations are functioning with general facilities and services. However, due to the conducive factors such as attractive farm lands, knowledge of farming by the residents, family labour, beautiful rural landscape, there is a greater potential for the development in agritourism in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, small size of the farm lands, lack of necessary skills, poor level of product development, insufficient publicity and promotion, low number of visitors, unsatisfactory level of infrastructure and political influences are the common challenges confronted by the majority of agritourism operators in the country.The results of the analysis of visitors’ satisfaction on agritourism revealed that both local and foreign visitors have shown rather a moderate level of satisfaction for agritourism in Sri Lanka, whilst the satisfaction of local visitors is significantly higher than that of foreign visitors. Both groups have emphasized on further development of facilities and services in the agritourism destinations. Prevailing facilities and services of the operations are not up to a substantially accepted standard due to several issues and challenges. As per the findings, local visitors have a certain level of demand (average annual individual demand for agritourism is 3.28 trips) for agritourism. The five significant factors affecting the demand are monthly total household income, urban residency, availability of own transport, distance to the operation and individual travel cost. First three factors positively and the last two factors negatively affect the demand.Moreover, the study showed that the contribution of agritourism to rural development is not at a satisfactory level at present. However, local residents have a favorable attitude on impacts of agritourism and would like to see further development of agritourism and better contribution to rural development in future. Since the study shows a positive trend towards the development of agritourism, formation of appropriate agritourism policies and programs to enhance the industry, further development of agritourism and diffusing the benefits of agritourism to the area will help agritourism become a viable and significant tool for rural development of the country. |
| Year | 2013 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. RD-13-01 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Routray, Jayant K. |
| Examination Committee(s) | Thapa, Gopal B. ;Shrestha, Rajendra P. |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | IRQUE Project, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph. D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2013 |