Papers by Namal Wijesundara
Belihuloya, Faculty of Management Studies, Sabaragamuwa university of Sri Lanka, Oct 10, 2016
Tourism, Leisure and Global Change, 2016
Homestay is becoming popular among the tourists as an alternative tourism product which gives mor... more Homestay is becoming popular among the tourists as an alternative tourism product which gives more authentic experiences about the local culture of the visiting country. It is a form of tourism that is closely related to the nature, culture, customs and traditions of the local community. Homestay provides the tourists foods and lodging and also arrange different activities related to the local culture as a means of education, entertainment and experiences. The developing countries are specially interesting to diversity their tourism offerings through community participation to attract more tourists and deliver the benefits to the rural areas. Homestay is considered as an alternative strategy to improve the socio-economic conditions of the rural areas. However, it is evidenced that there is no proper mechanism to develop the Homestay in Sri Lanka as a form of tourism product. Therefore, this paper is mainly to discuss the difficulties and challenges associated with the Homestay deve...
International Journal of Tourism & Hospitality Reviews
Purpose: This research has taken an attempt to explore the prevailing motives of hoteliers to inc... more Purpose: This research has taken an attempt to explore the prevailing motives of hoteliers to incorporate with sustainable business operations and practices. The empirical evidences & background of the study defines related terms such as sustainability, sustainable tourism, and motives for sustainable hospitality practices. Methodology: The study was designed as a case study and mixed method approach was utilized to investigate the matter. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to draw conclusions. Main findings: Study asserted that hotel operators in Sri Lanka were motivated to implement sustainable practices by different hidden motives. “To protect the resources, we depend on” was the main motivator for hoteliers to adopt sustainable business practices while “To enhance the reputation of the business”, “To attract environmentally conscious market”, “Personal values about sustainability” and “To attract potential saving benefits” were other prominent motives respect...
International Symposium of Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka., 2012
International Conference on "Sustainable Tourism Development", Hanoi, Vietnam., 2019
1st ISSCR Conference - VASS International Conference, Danang, Vietnam., 2018
International Conference on Business and Information: University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2014
International Research Symposium, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, 2015
6th International Conference in VIPSAR, Indore, India, 2017
In rapidly changing contemporary tourism world, the emerging significance of the tuktuk industry ... more In rapidly changing contemporary tourism world, the emerging significance of the tuktuk industry has been one of the most crucial economic developments of the past decade. A paradigm shift was recorded in terms of the ease of transportation and reliability of the tuktuk across the destinations. The tuktuk industry has played an important role in the Sri Lankan economy especially in serving as a vital component in the tourism industry. The study focused on assessing the service quality and customer satisfaction of tuktuk transportation in Ahungalla. The objectives were to determine service quality and customer satisfaction using the SERVQUAL dimensions. The data was collected by using self-administered questionnaires and interviews. The study found that service quality was quite high in the affluent segment this being a resultant of segmentation. The study revealed that Reliability, Responsiveness and Assurance were the three main elements for tourists to satisfy with tuktuk transportation. Tourists also dissatisfy with some service quality dimensions and best practices in these aspects must be enhanced to uplift the existing service quality level of tuktuk transportation.
6th International Conference in VIPSAR, Indore, India, 2017
The number of visitors selecting to visit the many national parks spreaded around Sri Lanka is co... more The number of visitors selecting to visit the many national parks spreaded around Sri Lanka is constantly booming after establishing the peace in 2009. The Yala is the mostly visiting National park in Sri Lanka. There has only been a lesser number of research undertakings into the measure visitor satisfaction at National parks in Sri Lanka. With this in mind, the researcher set out to investigate and identify the visitor satisfaction at different attributes of the local National park and inspect their intention to revisit. Mix method was employed for the study and both Questionnaires survey and Interviews utilized for data gathering. The five variables used in the study were
6th International Conference in VIPSAR, Indore, India, 2017
In recent decade the attention & interest in green and environmentally friendly business practice... more In recent decade the attention & interest in green and environmentally friendly business practices increased dramatically. This trend is applicable to tourism and hospitality sector as well. Therefore, this study has taken an effort to reveal the prevailing sustainable tourism practices by Sri Lankan hoteliers. The theoretical background of the study defines related terms such as sustainability, sustainable tourism, and sustainable hospitality practices. The study has been carried out as a case study by employing the mixed method. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques & analysis tools were utilized to conclude the findings. The findings of the study revealed that hotel operators in Sri Lanka have been implementing various sustainable practices in their daily operations. Use of low energy lighting, Limited paper-based marketing and promotional materials, Purchase from local suppliers, Recruit and hire local people for job, Establish the green culture in the work place and Donate funds for green initiations were highlighted as most performing best practices among other sustainable practices. The study concludes by offering recommendations & showing avenues for future researchers.
ISER Conference, Bangkok, 2016
This study examines the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on company financial performanc... more This study examines the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on company financial performance. Corporate Social Responsibility is measured under three parameters named; CSR activities to environment, CSR activities to employees and CSR activities to community. Sample of this study consists with 15 listed financial companies in Colombo Stock Exchange. And study used the published annual reports for the period from 2011 to 2014. The association between corporate social responsibility and the company financial performance is measured using correlation analysis and impact is measured using regression analysis. The results indicated that Corporate Social Responsibility has a significant influence on company financial performance.
ISER Conference, Bangkok, 2016
Sri Lanka tourism has been growing with significance annual growth rate for past five years perio... more Sri Lanka tourism has been growing with significance annual growth rate for past five years period starting from 2010 and it has ensured that tourism will be the most impressive industry in future Sri Lankan economy. The government also has given priority tourism through their economic agenda. The government has initiated several tourism projects by targeting the prosperity of local community, but most of these projects haven't reached the said objective due to some exiting barriers from community perspective. This study has been conducted to identify these existing barriers in rural community in Arugambay destination. It was revealed that there are operational, structural and cultural barriers to community participation in the tourism businesses in many developing countries although they do not equally exist in every tourist destination. Further, while these limits tend to exhibit higher intensity and greater persistence in the developing world than in the developed world, they appear to be a reflection of prevailing socio-political, economic and cultural structure in many developing countries.The study used mix method to explore the existing limitations of local community to take part in tourism businesses. Data was collected from the local community of Arugam-Bay and conducted personal interviews and distributed questionnaires to gather required information. Results of this study depict that barriers to community participation exists at the destination and the most significance barriers were cultural barriers while some of the operational barriers also existing.
ISER Conference, Bangkok, 2016
This study focused on the local community participation in tourism development through benefits s... more This study focused on the local community participation in tourism development through benefits sharing schemes in Sri Lanka using a case study of Arugam-Bay destination. To investigate this research matter, the study inspected local community involvement in tourism benefits sharing schemes. To accomplish this task, the study is directed by the research objective: To evaluate the nature of community participation in tourism benefits sharing schemes. To achieve better understanding of the context of the research, the study utilized a case study approach, which offers: exploration at the community level to analyze the issue from the grass root level, where very few studies on this topic has been done. Participation of diverse stakeholders (Local government institutes, NGOs, Tourism entrepreneurs, members of community, and tourism professionals) and the use of quantitative method by using household questionnaire to effectively answer the main research question. Based on the results acquired from quantitative approach, this study concluded that there are enough spaces for local community to enjoy tourism related benefits in tourism development process. It further proved, local communities are mostly entertaining Economic benefits such as develop infrastructure facilities, create job opportunities for locals, increase household income and create market for local products while entertaining some other benefits such as makes community well-known, uplift the language skills of locals and environmental beautification.
Homestay is becoming popular among the tourists as an alternative tourism product which gives mor... more Homestay is becoming popular among the tourists as an alternative tourism product which gives more authentic experiences about the local culture of the visiting country. It is a form of tourism that is closely related to the nature, culture, customs and traditions of the local community. Homestay provides the tourists foods and lodging and also arrange different activities related to the local culture as a means of education, entertainment and experiences. The developing countries are specially interesting to diversity their tourism offerings through community participation to attract more tourists and deliver the benefits to the rural areas. Homestay is considered as an alternative strategy to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the rural areas. However, it is evidenced that there is no proper mechanism to develop the Homestay in Sri Lanka as a form of tourism product. Therefore, this paper is mainly to discuss the Difficulties and challenges associated with the Homestay development and operations. The study is carried out as a qualitative study using a variety of contact methods that consist of personal interviews, focused group discussions and document review. Two case studies were conducted at two home stay villages such as Padavigampola in Kegalle district and Seelogama in Ratnapura district. Homestay tourism, as a means of alternative tourism product, is not operating successfully in Sri Lanka due to certain difficulties and challenges i.e. misusing the concept, lack of youth participation, passive community initiations, lack of community leadership, lack of formal management system, lack of industry awareness, lack of facilities, lack of marketing & promotional skills, lack of networking, and communication problems were highlighted by community members. From the relevant authorities perspective, changing community attitude, political interference, slow implementation were highlighted as challenges for home-stay operations in Sri Lanka. However, homestay is a potential segment for Sri Lankan tourism. Therefore, the proper planning and management and the active involvement of all the key stakeholders are essential to develop the concept successfully. However, the government should play the key role actively and honestly.
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Papers by Namal Wijesundara