Abstract:
ABSTRACT
Railway tourism as a niche market in Sri Lanka tourism has a huge potential to promote
among the tourists both local and foreign. In Sri Lanka, 03 major railway lines are being
operating as one of the modes of transportation in island. Namely, there are main line
from Colombo to Badulla, northern line from Polgahawela to Kankasanthurei and
coastal line from Colombo to Beliatta. Along the way of all three railway lines, many
of tourist attractions can be easily accessed where tourists may gain valuable experience
within their budgets. During the COVID 19 pandemic, international tourist arrivals to
the country plummeted destroying entire industry. At present, industry requires a
resilience from all the possible ways to uplift the industry. Among those, domestic
tourism has been prioritized, where railway tourism can be easily promoted. Admit to
this study mainly aims to identify the factors which shape the domestic tourists’ buying
behaviour on railway tourism in Sri Lanka while discussing promotional strategies for
railway tourism in the future. The study used both quantitative and qualitative
approaches. A sample of 200 domestic tourists and 05 station masters to collect primary
data. Mainly regression analysis and content analysis methods are used for accomplish
to objectives of the study. The findings highlight that development of the shaping
factors positively related with buying behaviour of railway tourism (tourist attractions,
railway amenities, Reliability of the service, Safety and security and other ancillary
service). Further, this research recommended some strategies such as development of
infrastructure and ancillary services, promoting railway activities and enhancing the
awareness about railway tourism to promote railway tourism in Sri Lanka. Moreover,
future studies can carry out about developing railway tourism industry among
international tourists and researchers can be carry out the SWOT analysis on railway
tourism industry in Sri Lanka.
Keywords: Railway tourism, Buying behaviour, Domestic travellers, Niche market
