Self-Scooter Riders as a Tool for Remote Destination Promotion in Ella, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Travelers use different modes of transportation to access destinations. Generally, the choice of transportation mode influenced by various factors such as travel time, cost, access facilities and so on. As such traveling by scooter is one of the famous modes of transportation in rocky areas like Ella in Badulla district of Sri Lanka. Further, Ella is one of the top-ranked tourist destinations in Sri Lanka for its natural beauty. Similarly, according to the geographical positioning of Ella, a great potential to promote self-driving scooters could be identified especially with regard to remote attraction promotion. During the remote destination vacations, travelers tend to rent out a suitable type of vehicle to make their tour itinerary more independent and worry-free. Based on the above background, this study particularly aims to examine the self-riding scooters’ potentials in promoting remote destinations around Ella. Study also attempts to identify the visitor profile and the top- ranked remote destination and current challenges to promote self-riding scooters in Ella remote destinations. Current study mainly adopted quantitative method to examine the phenomenon. Further, Ella, Sri Lanka was selected as the study area and data were collected distributing questionnaires among 160 scooty travelers while using purposive sampling technique. The questionnaires were included both closed-ended and open-ended questions to address the mentioned study objectives According to the findings of the study it is revealed that Kithal Ella ranked as one of the top-ranked remote destinations in Ella among scooty travelers. Further, findings suggest that demand for scooty tours is growing in Ella as many tourists in Ella are thrill and leisure seekers who are having high tendency to explore exotic, remote destinations. Current study findings would be useful for the national level policy making authorities, scholars and the tourism industry stakeholders including transport and accommodation providers, tour operators and so on in designing and promoting tour itineraries and tourist services.