Customer Satisfaction on Eco-tourism Practices in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Tourism is presently one of the most crucial contributors to the economy in Sri Lanka. Tourism is one of the largest earners of foreign exchange in Sri Lankan economy. It accounts for Rs. 132,427 million of foreign exchange earnings in 2012 (Tourism and Development Authority, 2012). Many hoteliers in Sri Lanka promote the sustainable use of alternative form of tourism concept as a new market oriented concepts. Being a good business opportunity and the fastest growing segment, Sri Lankan tourism is changing its outlook to sustain new concepts like eco-tourism. Since Sri Lanka is rich with much cultural and natural diversity, it has the potential to develop the eco-tourism concept as an alternative form of tourism better than other destinations for the benefit of the Sri Lankan economy and community (Authority, 2012). The research was done with the intention of providing a thick description to the concept of eco-tourism with the customer satisfaction. Sri Lankan eco resort hoteliers construct the meaning of eco-tourism in various ways. They are more towards nature based tourism, wild life tourism and environment conservation tourism. They were unable to target eco-tourism market and attract eco tourist. Because the hoteliers’ practice of the eco concept differs from international practices and standards, they could not meet the expectations of eco tourists. Even though the eco resort hoteliers’ main market is eco tourist market, they cater and address to other type of tourists. Comparing to the international standard components, Sri Lankan hoteliers consider only few aspect as an essential components of an eco-resort. It has created a gap between the needs of eco tourists and the services of eco resort hoteliers. Based on these findings, the researcher tried to identify the quality of practicing the concept of genuine eco-tourism and meeting the customer expectations. Then it is important to explore this phenomenon in Sri Lankan context to find out whether there is an impact of eco-tourism practices in eco resorts to the arrival of eco tourists. The finding of the present study indicates that the positive relationship was observed among eco-tourism strategies and customer satisfaction.