Travel experiences and behavioural intentions of the tourists: A study on eastern province of Sri Lanka

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and has become the fourth largest income earner of the Sri Lankan economy. After ending the thirty years old terrorism problem in 2009 the tourist arrival is increasing gradually and exceeded 1.5 million of tourist arrival in 2014. Also, the country has identified tourism as one of its economic development strategy and targeted to attract 2.5 millions of tourists by 2016. Since the tourist arrival is increasing gradually and also expecting more arrivals, it is necessary to pay attention to understand the behavioural and psychological aspects of the tourists precisely and accurately. The North and East parts of the country which were highly affected by the terrorism problem presently has become as popular tourism destinations. Therefore, it is important and necessary to identify the travel determinants, satisfaction and behavioural intentions of the tourists. This study attempts to recognize the travel experiences and behavioural intentions of the tourists who visit Eastern province of Sri Lanka. The study is conducted as a questionnaire survey using 384 respondents according to Krejcie and Morgan (1970). Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation analysis, Kruskal Wallis test, and regression analysis. The results indicate that all the determinants of travel experiences were positively correlated with the behavioural intention. And it is noticed that the tourists’ behavioural intention varies according to their occupation, where trade persons have higher positive behavioural intentions over other professions. The study also concludes that there is a linear relationship between the determinants of travel experiences and the behavioural intentions of the tourists; among them the highest impact is from the quality of tourist attractions. Hence in order to attract more tourists, the government should prioritize on improving quality levels of tourist attractions.