Abstract:
1. Introduction
Transportation and tourism have had a mutualistic relationship, and tuk-
tuks offer visitors an intuitive way to travel around, and their compact size
and flexibility make them suitable for navigating narrow traffic areas.
Based on the preliminary survey, even while visitors frequently express
pleasure with the services rendered by tuk-tuk drivers, there is still a
significant gap in research regarding the challenges these drivers
encounter in offering service to clients.
2. Research Methodology
This qualitative, exploratory case study enables tuk-tuk drivers of Bentota
to express subjective experiences and explore the challenges in the context
of a tourism-driven economy. A total of 13 tuk-tuk drivers in Bentota were
selected to reach data saturation using purposive sampling, and data was
collected through semi-structured interviews. The data were thematically
analyzed by coding and finding patterns to identify major challenges.
3. Findings and Discussion
This study explores operational, external, and financial challenges like
language barriers, road infrastructure problems, rising maintenance costs,
seasonality, and competition from ride-hailing apps interrupting daily
operations. Ride-hailing platforms and hotel rebranding, which gained
much strength after COVID-19, are riskier than the already existing
challenges. Some of the viable solutions suggested by tuk-tuk drivers in
overcoming their challenges. This is the damage to the image, both
regarding tourists' confidence in drivers. It displays the necessity for an
equal tourism landscape for all, and it is useful to the policymakers and the
communities for many beneficial lessons.
4. Conclusion and Implications
The study concludes by emphasizing that solving challenges faced by tuk-
tuk drivers is vital, both in terms of a sustainable livelihood and service
quality to the tourists. It is reassuring to see the openness of the drivers
regarding solutions like standardized communication, advocacy for
maintenance, and better partnerships with the hospitality sector. Long-
term implications of the solutions suggested, and assessment of changing
dynamics of the tuk-tuk services as the tourism industry evolves could be
further pursued in future research.
