IPRC - 2018
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/19163
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Item Conceptual Framework for Promoting Food Tourism in Pettah, Sri Lanka(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Embuldeniya, A.; Embuldeniya, P.Sri Lanka as country is well known for tourism as well as hospitality. There is an increasing trend in tourists’ arrivals on the cause of archaeological and historical places, cultural activities, adventure and etc. On the same time tourists were tend to stay short period of time in the country. As tourists are encouraged to stay few nights in the country, promotion of short term tourism experiences for the tourists will be an effective utilization of available natural and man-made resources. Therefore, the study is motivated to develop a conceptual framework in order to promote food tourism in Pettah, Sri Lanka. As the sample frame of the study cannot be clearly identified the convenience sampling method has been used to collect data from the field and questionnaire method was used to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with Pettah in promoting food tourism. Questionnaire method was the main source of information while unstructured interviews also occasionally carried out. Descriptive statistics, SWOT analysis, and chi-square test were used to analyze data with the assistance of SPSS version 21.0 and Microsoft Excel 2010. The results of the study identified that most of the tourists are aware of Pettah as a place where all the goods are available. But none of the tourists was tend to visit Pettah due to popularity of its foods. Also the study could have identified that the majority of tourists buy some street foods from the street vendors while they are experiencing shopping at Pettah. Thereby the study could have identified that there is a huge opportunity to improve Pettah as a destination for Food Tourism. Pettah could be identified as a destination where a combination of strength and opportunities as well as weaknesses and threats too. The study found that Pettah is with a preferable environment for tourists and local travelers where majority of tourists and travelers comes for shopping purposes at lower cost. There is a collection of food manufacturing companies in the country whom that can be encouraged to be an active part of promoting food tourism in Pettah. Also there can be identified wide variety of foods and diverse product mixes relevant to specific regions, religions, festivals, races, and etc. On the same time the lower level attitude towards the quality of products in Pettah and the lack of cleanliness around the area are the major drawbacks to promote food tourism in Pettah. However, the study could conclude that there is a significant relationship between demographic factors of the tourists and preference to the food tourism in Pettah. Thereby the promotion of food tourism in Pettah should be align with the different requirements of the tourists along with their demographic characteristics as well.Item Identification of The Potentials to Diversify the Cultural Tourism Product by Promoting Agri Tourism (Special reference to Polonnaruwa Region)(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Senarathna, C.D.Tourism industry is one of the phenomenon in generating foreign currency to a developing country. Sri Lanka where the massive amount of resources can be identified also has already entered to the industry to get rid of many development issues. The country has huge potentials to diversify the tourism product by using different types of natural and man-made attractions. Polonnaruwa where the cultural tourism products have been already well-established is one of the attractive world heritage sites in attracting tourists to cultural sites in Sri Lanka. Gigantic reservoirs, monuments, artifacts and pagodas are attracted cultural tourists by showing heritage values to the world. Nevertheless, the ancient city has not been focused to diversify the tourism product by paying attention on other resources in Polonnaruwa district where the Agriculture industry is a major livelihood of the villagers. Polonnaruwa region encompasses hundreds of paddy fields where the high possibilities can be identified to Agri tourism to diversify the cultural tourism product. The major objective of the research is to identify the potentials in promoting Agri- Tourism in the Ancient city of Polonnauwa and identifying the problems to develop the Agri tourism in Polonnaruwa region. The study was conducted in Polonnaruwa district using questionnaires and group conversations. Conversations were held among 50 farmers in the region and questionnaires were distributed among 50 randomly selected tourists in the Ancient city. Both quantitative and qualitative analytical methods were used in combination in analyzing the data. Thereby, 74% of tourists responded that they prefer to engage in Agri based activities to have different experiences apart from travelling to cultural sites. Further discussions with farmers in polonnaruwa region, 62% of them satisfied to contribute to the suggested programme in order to enhance the life statues and income. Several problems were identified relevant to infrastructure development, less knowledge on tourism industry as the major issues in promoting Agri tourism in Polonnaruwa heritage site. Introducing to travel agencies to include Agri based activities into their tour packages, creating documentaries and well attracted videos by emphasizing the attractions relevant to agriculture, development of infrastructure facilities and informing farmers and villagers on the tourism industry and its benefits to community were identified as the recommendations for the above study