How Tourism and Nature Interact: Studying Perceptions in Three Sites in Sri Lanka

By Senith Abeyanayake

FEBRUARY 19, 2025 | Nature, Climate and the Economy

In 2024, the Centre for a Smart Future (CSF) conducted a research study on how local stakeholders perceive the interactions between tourism and nature in Maskeliya, Kalpitiya, and Yala National Park, with the objective of unpacking destination-level realities of how tourism activities are taking place in Sri Lanka’s nature-abundant tourism sites. Accompanying the series of forthcoming publications containing our findings from this work is a Background and Scoping Report that provides details on the rationale, objectives, and methodologies used for this study. The report titled ‘How Tourism and Nature Interact: Studying Perceptions in Three Sites in Sri Lanka’ does not contain research findings, but instead serves as a reference document for anyone who wants to know more about the methodologies used and the limitations encountered that shaped the findings and observations of the study. The document helps a reader understand the background context when engaging with the research outputs produced by this study (such as reports, policy briefs, blog articles, and presentations).

Read the Background and Scoping report here.

CSF

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CSF embarks on a new research project on nature and tourism in Sri Lanka

CSF is setting out to study the dynamics shaping a possible tourism recovery path that is just by nature, and study stakeholder perceptions around the barriers for, and opportunities to drive, a more nature-positive tourism sector.

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Spotting the Problem: Understanding Complexities in Tourism and Nature in Yala National Park

Tourism in Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads. While the industry is a crucial driver of economic recovery, it also places immense pressure on the country’s natural resources. This paradox—where tourism both depends on and threatens nature—requires urgent attention for long-term sustainability. CSF's new report 'Spotting the Problem' explores this intricate relationship through the lens of complexity theory, highlighting the case of overcrowding and safari misbehaviour in Yala National Park Block 1.

illustration of tourists travelling in safari jeeps in a national park viewing wildlife.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

Re-defining Destination Identities for Sustainable Tourism in Sri Lanka

Short-term and unsustainable plans for a tourism recovery, with narrow views on destination identity, can threaten the natural assets that Sri Lanka's tourism is branded on. On World Tourism Day 2024, we argue that its time for Sri Lanka to re-define tourism destination identities through an inclusive and imaginative approach. With examples from Kalpitiya and Yala, based on ongoing research, this article suggests the need to 'co-discover' destination identities with local stakeholders.