Abstract:
Sri Lanka has a rich history as the world's flag bearer of Theravada Buddhism, dating
back millennia. Over the decades, tourism has seen continuous growth and
diversification to become one of the fastest-growing economic sectors in the world.
Tourism has grown and diversified steadily over the decades to become one of the
world's fastest-growing economic sectors. Since the end of the ethnic war in 2009, Sri
Lanka has attracted one million tourists. However, little attention is paid to religious
and cultural tourism in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the main problem for this study arises
from this scenario. The study was undertaken by objecting to identify potentials in
developing Buddhist tourism, to identify issues and challenges in developing Buddhist
Tourism in Sri Lanka. Primary Data were collected from tourism and cultural
administrative bodies, tourism service providers, and monastery Bhikkus in Sri Lanka
who are mature in the industry and especially engage with Buddhist tourism. The
sample includes two officers from Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Beuro, four officers
from Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, one officer from Central Cultural
Fund, the director of north-central provincial office, the president of Sri Lanka Institute
of National Tourist Guide Lecturer, two travel agencies specialize on promoting
Buddhist tourism, the president of Anuradhapura hotelier’s association, and two
monastery instructors. Data were collected by holding semi-structured in-depth
interviews. Convenience sampling was chosen as the sampling technique. As per the
findings, the researcher could identify four potentials: 1) promoting tangible and
intangible Buddhist resources, 2) building brand awareness, 3) building Buddhist
hotspots, 4) building experience-based activities for Buddhist tourists. The main key
issues and challenges derived from analysis are lack of language skillfulness, lack of
knowledgeable academic crew, government issues, and lack of awareness and lack of
marketing strategies. As per the findings of the study as for these critical issues, the
suggestions could be able to propose to get rid of them or minimize them as proper
government involvement, needs a comprehensive marketing effort with the help of key
institutions to attract the correct clients, offering language training programs and
processes that are appropriate for trainers and many more.
