Tourism is an important economic sector in Sri Lanka, contributing over 12%
\nto the country\u2019s GDP and representing the third largest source of foreign
\nexchange. However, the Batticaloa district in the east of Sri Lanka is a tourist
\ndestination that is rapidly expanding. Accordingly, the purpose of the study is
\nto explore the suitability of the region to promote sustainable eco-tourism in
\nthe Batticaloa District. Data was gathered from multiple sources. Primary data
\nwas collected through interviews to identify the factors important for
\necotourism in the Batticaloa district. Global Positioning System (GPS) field
\nsurvey was conducted as the sample location to verify the location information.
\nUsing secondary source, spatial analysis was conducted with the help of
\nGeographic Information System (GIS) using the Multi-criteria decision-making
\nanalysis and Weighted Overlay Analysis technique to identify ecotourism zones.
\nThis study employs an integrated approach to ecotourism development,
\nidentifying ecotourism sites and creating a model to evaluate ecotourism
\nsustainability by combining regional criteria with the sub-criteria that are most
\nconducive to ecotourism. The study found that the ecotourism potential of the
\nBatticaloa district was to be the most suitable at 27.42 % of the total area, the
\nmoderate suitable at 59.37 %, suitable at 8.14 % and less suitable at 3.43%.
\nBut the area that not suitable for eco-tourism is only 1.64 % of the total area.
\nFinally, this study recommends the adoption of ecotourism strategies to
\npromote sustainable ecotourism development in the study area.
\nKeywords: Ecotourism, Economic Sector, Sustainable Development, GIS,
\nSpatial Analysis, Batticaloa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tourism is an important economic sector in Sri Lanka, contributing over 12% to the country\u2019s GDP and representing the third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":629,"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628\/revisions\/629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.res.cmb.ac.lk\/geography\/fareena.ruzaik\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}