Abstract:
ABSTRACT
Tourism is a multidimensional phenomenon and it has many activities in a community or region with
ecological, economic, social and cultural effects which require planning and coordination. On the
other hand, for effective sustainable tourism, careful planning, adaptation of the principles of
sustainability and the implications of plans are required to gain maximum economic benefits and
tourist satisfaction, while managing the natural resources of the destination. Hence sustainable coastal
tourism plays an important role in the tourism industry for innovative approaches. Special attention
has been given by authorities in tourism industry in uplifting sustainable coastal tourism. In this study
special attention has been given on the potential for developing sustainable coastal tourism in the
Hikkaduwa area of Sri Lanka from government perspectives. They are government offices who work
in southern province tourism related organizations. In this research purposive sampling is use as
sampling technique. Primary data were collected through semi instructed interviews with government
officers in southern province. Through our interviews researcher grasped the idea that government
offices are in high appreciation of adopting sustainable coastal tourism in their area. That is
Hikkaduwa. They believe through adopting new approaches will become their area popular for
tourism. In this study the emphases has been given on the importance of introducing new policies and
practices to develop sustainable coastal tourism in Hikkaduwa area which will be benefited for both
hoteliers, local people and other stakeholders.
Key words – Sustainable tourism, Coastal Tourism, Potentials, Challenges, Government perspectives
