Community Participation in Tourism Benefits Sharing Schemes of Sri Lanka: A Case Study of Arugam Bay Destination

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.