Abstract:
Tourism in Sri Lanka is a largely contributing to the economic and social
development of the country. This study is exploring the types of tourists
harassment faced by foreign tourists in Sri Lanka with special reference to
Western and Southern provinces. The study was conducted through a
qualitative approach and data were collected through both semi-structured
interviews and observation methods. The sample consisted of 53
participants representing people who were engaged in the tourism industry
in Sri Lanka. It included 34 foreign tourists, 2 tourists police officers, 6
service providers, 9 tourists guides and 2 vendors. Convenience and
purposive sampling methods were used to collect the data from August to
October 2019. The collected data were analyzed by using thematic analysis.
This study found that vendor harassment is the main type of harassment
though it is a minor reported harassment type according to the tourist
police reports. Further, service provider harassment, sexual harassment,
drug peddling, cheating and theft were identified respectively under this
study as harassment types. This study gives sound evidence that the
country needs to pay the attention to minimize the tourist harassment issue
and will explore the foundation to develop relevant policies to introduce to
the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.
