Abstract:
Tourism is a vital contributor to the economy of any nation, with it being a prime foreign income earner. The three decades war ended in May 2009 in Sri Lanka and it was a remarkable point in the development of the tourism industry in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country. Madhu Church is a place of devotion and rituals visited by Catholics, Hindus and Buddhists of Sri Lanka. Local and foreign investment is constantly flowing into the sector although religious and cultural tourism is not promoted as a special product of the industry. Hence, the purpose of the study was to identify the impacts of destination attributes to promote Madhu Church as a ritual tourism destination. Primary data collected by the author from 150 respondents including 75 of domestic and foreign tourists using judgmental sampling technique. And also, primary data was collected by using selfadministered questionnaire. Quantitative data analytical method was employed in analyzing the data. Data analysis was employed, using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Findings of the study revealed that, there is a strong positive relationship between the destination attributes and the promotion potential. And also, barring the available tourism packages, destination attraction, accessibility, amenities and activities done in the region strongly influence the promotion potential level.
