Browsing by Author "Pradeepamali, H. M. J."

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    Sustaining Resident Support for Tourism Through Empowerment: an Inquiry Based on Resident Empowerment Through Tourism Scale
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2018) Pradeepamali, H. M. J.
    Researches on resident attitude towards tourism are most ubiquitous topics to be specified in tourism research. In the context of this area, although empowerment aspects as a crucial factor in depicting resident attitude, few researchers have been conducted quantitatively with establish scale models to operationalize empowerment across different communities in Sri Lanka. In response to this gap, above study focuses in predicting the validity of resident empowerment through tourism scale (RETS) in demonstrating, how empowerment predict residents support for tourism in the context of Kalipinya. In approaching this, theoretical contributions related with resident attitude as a blend of both Social Exchange Theory (SET) with Webber's theory of formal and substantive rationality (WFSR) has been utilized as a framework for the study. It guided the development of hypothesis that found, the extent of significant relationship between the positive and negative perceptions that resulted through empowerment influence in order to support tourism development with a forward analysis of Structural Equation Model. The results demonstrated that, residents in Kalpitiya context, Sri Lanka are more influenced by, personal economic benefits along with non-economic factors of pride and self-esteem enhanced by psychological empowerment and capability to raise a voice boosting political empowerment, among other scales which influenced on positive impacts, emphasizing the fact that, if to empower a group of residents with its benefits diversely to an extent, more favorably the resident will support tourism development in a destination. Keywords: Empowerment, Resident Attitude toward Tourism, Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale (RETS), Kalpitiya Context
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    Sustaining Resident Support for Tourism through Empowerment: An Inquiry Based on Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2019) Pradeepamali, H. M. J.; Ranasinghe, J.P.R.C.
    Sustaining resident support is critical for successful tourist destinations. Researching resident attitudes towards tourism is the base to initiate a destination’s development. Though, empowerment is decisive in attitude, quantitative researches that employ standardized scales to operationalize empowerment across diverse communities show a dearth in Sri Lankan context. This study utilizes Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale (RETS) to model empowerment’s role in sustaining residents’ support for tourism in the light of Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Weber's theory of Formal and Substantive Rationality (WFSR). It predicts the validity and reliability of RETS model, in demonstrating how empowerment predict the overall support for Tourism Development through impacts they view in positive and negative dimensions. Kalpitiya, a fast developing tourist destination in the Island was found a fertile ground to test the proposed model. A randomly drawn sample of 300 residents was used to collect primary data through a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using Structural Equation Model approach in Smart PLS. Findings show that residents are influenced by personal economic benefits and pride, self-esteem heightened by psychological empowerment. Capability of raising a voice boosts political empowerment and influences on positive impacts leading to residents’ support for tourism development. It emphasizes the fact that formal and informal approaches of empowerment can exert a great influence on the general support of residents towards tourism. Paper argues that SET merely insufficient to explain residents’ behaviour towards tourism while WFSR appears as a broader approach. This study contributes to strength the formal and substantive rationality factor interpretation that inherent in the complex process of modelling residents’ attitudes toward tourism development.