Pradeepamali, H. M. J.Ranasinghe, J.P.R.C.2019-05-302019-05-3020199789550481255http://erepo.lib.uwu.ac.lk/bitstream/handle/123456789/762/467.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=ySustaining 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.enTourism ManagementHospitality ManagementHuman Resource DevelopmentOther