What Affects Support for Wetland Tourism? A Case Study from Sri Lanka

István Egresi,Amila Withanage,Ştefan Dezsi,Bianca Sorina Răcăşan,Buddhika Maduraperruma,Supun Lahiru Prakash,Aruna Weerasingha

doi:10.3390/su13168802

István Egresi, Amila Withanage + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168802

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Abstract

Development of sustainable tourism is not possible without the support and involvement of the local community. Thus, it would be beneficial to understand how residents perceive tourism development. This study investigates the main factors that influence residents’ support for tourism development in the context of wetland tourism. The study was conducted in one of the most extensive wetland areas in Sri Lanka, situated not far from the capital, Colombo. The main instrument for data collection was a survey applied both to residents living inside the Muthurajawela Wetland and to residents living outside but in the proximity of the wetland. The data collected were subsequently processed, evaluated, and explained using SPSS 26. Besides descriptive statistics, a binomial logistic regression was employed to understand which factors influence residents’ attitudes toward future tourism development. The study found that six factors could predict support for tourism development: gender, age, employment (connected or not to tourism), residence (inside or outside the wetland), interaction with tourists, and satisfaction with the current level of tourism development. The results were then discussed in the context of the extant literature and limitations were acknowledged.

Highlights

Wetland tourism is a type of tourism that is dependent on a natural element preserved in a quasi-natural state [1], wetlands could be manmade [2]
In terms of the location of their residence, the respondents were almost evenly divided between those who lived within the wetland and those who resided outside the wetland area
More than three-quarters of the residents perceive that the benefits from tourism development exceed the costs, and over 56% of them are satisfied with the current level of tourism development

Summary

Introduction

Wetland tourism is a type of tourism that is dependent on a natural element preserved in a quasi-natural state [1], wetlands could be manmade [2]. Interest in wetland tourism has grown recently [3], especially in Asia, where these areas are visited by millions of tourists annually [4,5]. Four wetland areas in South Korea received more than 21 million visitors between 2007 and 2012 [6]. Wetland parks are important destinations especially for domestic tourists and city dwellers [7]. According to the Ramsar Convention, wetlands could be defined as “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters” [8]. The definition is somewhat ambiguous as there are many different interpretations of the elements that make up the definition. There are many different types of wetlands.

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