South Asian Journal of Management

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What have they heard? Pre-visit Image of Sri Lanka as a Tourist Destination


Affiliations
1 Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, 10250, Sri Lanka
2 Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayawaedenapura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda-10250, Sri Lanka
     

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Nearly a decade has passed since the end of the civil-conflict which prevailed for 30-long years in Sri Lanka. Despite the evocative dark patches, tourism industry made a significant contribution to rebuild this nation during this period. However, efforts to answer even the most basic questions including, “How do tourists view Sri Lanka as a tourist destination?”, have been noticeably inadequate. This paper thus, aims to explore the pre-visit destination image held by tourists regarding Sri Lanka and the role played by information sources in forming such a pre-visit image. Having conducted 25 semi-structured interviews with overseas tourists, who have not gained any travel exposure in Sri Lanka, the findings, derived from a thematic analysis, suggested that the respondents have a favourable pre-visit image, overall, towards the country. While word-of-mouth has been influential in forming such a favourable image, the government-maintained information sources were viewed in a supportive capacity.

Keywords

Destination Image, Post-Conflict Recovery, Pre-Visit Image, Sri Lanka, Wordof- Mouth Communication.
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  • What have they heard? Pre-visit Image of Sri Lanka as a Tourist Destination

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Authors

Sajith Siriwardana
Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, 10250, Sri Lanka
J. W. Dushan Chaminda
Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, 10250, Sri Lanka
Dilan T. Rathnayake
Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayawaedenapura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda-10250, Sri Lanka

Abstract


Nearly a decade has passed since the end of the civil-conflict which prevailed for 30-long years in Sri Lanka. Despite the evocative dark patches, tourism industry made a significant contribution to rebuild this nation during this period. However, efforts to answer even the most basic questions including, “How do tourists view Sri Lanka as a tourist destination?”, have been noticeably inadequate. This paper thus, aims to explore the pre-visit destination image held by tourists regarding Sri Lanka and the role played by information sources in forming such a pre-visit image. Having conducted 25 semi-structured interviews with overseas tourists, who have not gained any travel exposure in Sri Lanka, the findings, derived from a thematic analysis, suggested that the respondents have a favourable pre-visit image, overall, towards the country. While word-of-mouth has been influential in forming such a favourable image, the government-maintained information sources were viewed in a supportive capacity.

Keywords


Destination Image, Post-Conflict Recovery, Pre-Visit Image, Sri Lanka, Wordof- Mouth Communication.

References