WHAT MAKES WILDLIFE TOURISTS HAPPY AND WHAT DISAPPOINTS THEM? LEARNING FROM REVIEWS POSTED ON TRIPADVISOR
Wildlife tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors worldwide and has been increasingly used to promote tourism in certain countries. With 26 national parks and 61 wildlife reserves covering 13% of its land surface area, Sri Lanka has a great potential to become one of the world’s hotspot...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Editura Universităţii din Oradea
2019-01-01
|
| Series: | Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://gtg.webhost.uoradea.ro/PDF/GTG-1-2019/gtg.24109-346.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818310270886346752 |
|---|---|
| author | István EGRESI Thambiliya Godage Supun Lahiru PRAKASH |
| author_facet | István EGRESI Thambiliya Godage Supun Lahiru PRAKASH |
| author_sort | István EGRESI |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wildlife tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors worldwide and has been increasingly used to promote tourism in certain countries. With 26 national parks and 61 wildlife reserves covering 13% of its land surface area, Sri Lanka has a great potential to become one of the world’s hotspots for wildlife tourism. However, in order to ensure a sustainable development of this sector it is essential to evaluate tourists’ level of satisfaction with their experience. This research examined the main factors contributing to tourist satisfaction / dissatisfaction in Sri Lanka’s most visited national park. QDA Miner and Wordstat software were used for the qualitative content analysis and coding of reviews posted by international tourists on TripAdvisor. The research revealed that the great majority of visitors were satisfied with their visit at Yala National Park. However, this overall assessment masks a highly uneven visitor experience which was understood only after qualitatively analyzing the content of the visitors’ comments. The study found that satisfaction/dissatisfaction of visitors depends on three main factors: the number and diversity of animals, the number of vehicles and tourists and the knowledge and skills of guides and drivers. These findings have a number of managerial implications which are highlighted at the end of the study. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T07:43:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aa341e0d38114b3fa0aec30c15a6c5d8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2065-0817 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T07:43:24Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Editura Universităţii din Oradea |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites |
| spelling | doaj.art-aa341e0d38114b3fa0aec30c15a6c5d82022-12-21T23:54:55ZengEditura Universităţii din OradeaGeo Journal of Tourism and Geosites2065-08172019-01-0124110211710.30892/gtg.24109-346WHAT MAKES WILDLIFE TOURISTS HAPPY AND WHAT DISAPPOINTS THEM? LEARNING FROM REVIEWS POSTED ON TRIPADVISORIstván EGRESI0Thambiliya Godage Supun Lahiru PRAKASH11. Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton DucThang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 2. Faculty of Environment and Labour Safety, Ton DucThang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam1. Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka; 2. Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle of Sri Lanka, No 50/1, Paranakanda, Wattala, Sri LankaWildlife tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors worldwide and has been increasingly used to promote tourism in certain countries. With 26 national parks and 61 wildlife reserves covering 13% of its land surface area, Sri Lanka has a great potential to become one of the world’s hotspots for wildlife tourism. However, in order to ensure a sustainable development of this sector it is essential to evaluate tourists’ level of satisfaction with their experience. This research examined the main factors contributing to tourist satisfaction / dissatisfaction in Sri Lanka’s most visited national park. QDA Miner and Wordstat software were used for the qualitative content analysis and coding of reviews posted by international tourists on TripAdvisor. The research revealed that the great majority of visitors were satisfied with their visit at Yala National Park. However, this overall assessment masks a highly uneven visitor experience which was understood only after qualitatively analyzing the content of the visitors’ comments. The study found that satisfaction/dissatisfaction of visitors depends on three main factors: the number and diversity of animals, the number of vehicles and tourists and the knowledge and skills of guides and drivers. These findings have a number of managerial implications which are highlighted at the end of the study.http://gtg.webhost.uoradea.ro/PDF/GTG-1-2019/gtg.24109-346.pdfwildlife tourismsafari tourismtourist satisfactionuser-generated content (UGC)TripAdvisorSri Lanka |
| spellingShingle | István EGRESI Thambiliya Godage Supun Lahiru PRAKASH WHAT MAKES WILDLIFE TOURISTS HAPPY AND WHAT DISAPPOINTS THEM? LEARNING FROM REVIEWS POSTED ON TRIPADVISOR Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites wildlife tourism safari tourism tourist satisfaction user-generated content (UGC) TripAdvisor Sri Lanka |
| title | WHAT MAKES WILDLIFE TOURISTS HAPPY AND WHAT DISAPPOINTS THEM? LEARNING FROM REVIEWS POSTED ON TRIPADVISOR |
| title_full | WHAT MAKES WILDLIFE TOURISTS HAPPY AND WHAT DISAPPOINTS THEM? LEARNING FROM REVIEWS POSTED ON TRIPADVISOR |
| title_fullStr | WHAT MAKES WILDLIFE TOURISTS HAPPY AND WHAT DISAPPOINTS THEM? LEARNING FROM REVIEWS POSTED ON TRIPADVISOR |
| title_full_unstemmed | WHAT MAKES WILDLIFE TOURISTS HAPPY AND WHAT DISAPPOINTS THEM? LEARNING FROM REVIEWS POSTED ON TRIPADVISOR |
| title_short | WHAT MAKES WILDLIFE TOURISTS HAPPY AND WHAT DISAPPOINTS THEM? LEARNING FROM REVIEWS POSTED ON TRIPADVISOR |
| title_sort | what makes wildlife tourists happy and what disappoints them learning from reviews posted on tripadvisor |
| topic | wildlife tourism safari tourism tourist satisfaction user-generated content (UGC) TripAdvisor Sri Lanka |
| url | http://gtg.webhost.uoradea.ro/PDF/GTG-1-2019/gtg.24109-346.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT istvanegresi whatmakeswildlifetouristshappyandwhatdisappointsthemlearningfromreviewspostedontripadvisor AT thambiliyagodagesupunlahiruprakash whatmakeswildlifetouristshappyandwhatdisappointsthemlearningfromreviewspostedontripadvisor |