Usage of Railway Trails in experiencing Sri Lankan culture: A sustainable tourism product development proposal for Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka as a developing nation focuses on economic development through tourism. In this regard numerous tourism products are introduced with various tourism concepts. Cultural tourism as a prominent example in Sri Lanka tourism, has a vast variety of products in catering to different clientele. When it comes to different forms of tourist activities and the tourist flow inside the country, different categories can be identified in usage of transportation. Considering this situation, this specific research attempts to develop railway cultural tour with different items of diverse culture in Sri Lanka. This product will be based on Sustainable Tourism concept and will focus on community development, cultural interaction, tourist satisfaction, tourism diversification which leads to national economic development. The specific research is based on qualitative research methodology where a randomly sampled questionnaire survey carried out for pilot investigation of tourist expectations and a library research and statistical information was taken into account as secondary information. An itinerary based on railway trail and the supporting facilities have been proposed as a cultural tourism product which is capable of catering numerous tourist expectations.