Intermediate effect of tourist perception towards harassment on the relationship between tourist harassment and satisfaction

Abstract

Sri Lanka is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. As it contains mixture of breathing landscape, misty hills, rare unique wild life, rich cultural tradition and heritage, tropical weather as well as delightful beaches. Because Sri Lanka is a tropical island found in the deep blue waters of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. However many tourists visiting Sri Lanka have to undergo many forms of harassment. The key objective of this study is to identify the contingency effect of tourist perception on harassment towards the relationship between tourist satisfaction and harassment. In additional here are three specific objectives viz.; 1). To identify the relationship between tourists harassment and tourist perception 2). To identify the relationship between tourists perception on harassment and tourist harassment 3). To identify the relationship between tourists‟ perception on harassment and tourists‟ satisfaction. The study was conducted using the mixed methodology and data collected from the different sources such questionnaire survey with tourists. Purposive sampling method was used to sample a total 50 foreign tourists from Mount Lavinia. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 21.0) was utilized to analyze the data from Ordinal Logic correlation. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and cross tabulations were calculated and presented using tables and graphs. The study revealed that the tourists who in Sri Lanka undergo harassment by different parties like tour guides, local vendors, beach boys 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. The findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between tourist harassment, tourists‟ satisfaction and tourist perception on harassment.