WILDLANKA International Symposium – 2017

“Climate Change and Conservation”

Proceedings of the Annual Session

(15th& 16thAugust, 2017)

ABSTRACTS

Published by
Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka

Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka (DWCSL)

WILDLANKA International Symposium – 2017
“Climate Change and Conservation”

ISSN : 2465 - 5619

Proceedings of the Annual Session

(15th&16th August, 2017)
Colombo, Sri Lanka

© 2017 August

Reference for Abstracts:

Name/s of Author/s (2107). Title of the abstract. Page #. Proceedings of the Annual Session of
Department of Wildlife Conservation, 15th and 16th August, 2017, Colombo.

The material in this document has been supplied by the authors and has been edited by the
DWCSL. The views expressed remain the responsibility of the named authors.
 REASONS FOR VISITOR DISSATISFACTION IN NATIONAL PARKS BASED
TOURISM IN SRI LANKA

T.G.S.L. PRAKASH1, 4, P.K.P. PERERA1, D. NEWSOME2, &.T.G.T. KUSUMINDA 3,4

1
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura,
Sri Lanka
2
School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
3
Department of Agricultural Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
4
Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle of Sri Lanka, No: 50/1, Paranakanda,
Enderamulla, Wattala, Sri Lanka

prakashtgsl@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

National Parks (NPs) based wildlife tourism is a significant component of Sri Lanka’s tourism
industry with foreign visitations accounting for the larger share of income of NPs. However,
current wildlife tourism practices based on NPs seem to be unsustainable, and cause bad tourism
experiences, especially in the case of foreign visitors. This study examined the major causes of
visitor dissatisfaction during wildlife tourism experiences at five highly visited NPs in Sri Lanka
using reviews posted in the travel website Trip Advisor. Analysis found 15 major causes of visitor
dissatisfaction with nearly 75% of negative reviews linking to park management related issues,
while the rest stressing on tour-operator related issues. Heavy traffic congestion inside NPs, lack
of opportunities to observe diverse wildlife, unreasonable entrance fees, poor implementation of
visitor guidelines/policies by the park management, park management’s lack of concern about
environment and wildlife, poor maintenance of nature trails and lack of quality personal
interpretation services were the key park management-related issues highlighted in negative
reviews. The major tour-operator related issues include reckless/poor driving by safari vehicle
drivers, poor condition of safari vehicles, expensive safari vehicle fees, and dishonest practices of
tour operators.

KEY WORDS: national parks, overcrowding, satisfaction, trip advisor, wildlife tourism