Abstract:
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
accomplish this task, the study was 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 such as Local government institutes, NGOs, Tourism entrepreneurs, members
of community, and tourism professionals helped to cover wider aspect of said matter. The
study utilized both quantitative & Qualitative method by using household questionnaire
survey & direct interviews to effectively answer the main research question. Based on the
results acquired from mixed 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 rather than
Socio-cultural & Environmental 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.
