RESEARCH ARTICLE

COMMERCIAL SAFARI JEEP DRIVER’S PERSPECTIVES ON MITIGATION OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN THE RUHUNU NATIONAL PARK (YALA), SRI LANKA

Abstract

Sri Lanka is a popular destination among tourists from all over the world and National parks in the country which harbor a rich biodiversity play a key role in this regard. The Ruhunu (Yala) National Park (NP) is the most visited NP in Sri Lanka with thousands of tourists; both local and foreign, visiting the park annually. The popularity of the NP has led to over-visitation and a decline in the visitor experience. Heavy traffic congestion is identified as one of the major reasons leading to tourist dissatisfaction while also adversely affecting the conservation of wildlife. Therefore, this study attempted to examine the views of commercial safari jeep driven on traffic congestion and seek their proposals to mitigate the problem in order to ensure the sustainable development of tourism, with a better visitor experience and the conservation of wildlife in the NP. Seventy-three safari jeep driven were randomly selected for the study and data collection was done through a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire survey. The respondents accepted that there is heavy traffic congestion inside the NP regardless of their age, service experience, education level, type of tourists served, whether they have been punished for the offenses related to the traffic rules in the NP, and the frequency of punishments. They have suggested 16 possible mitigation measures to control heavy traffic congestion.. After an in-depth evaluation of the feasibility of the recommendations including consulting experts, with a mutual understanding of other stakeholders, the authors propose rapid implementation of the feasible measures to ensure both tourist satisfaction and the conservation of wildlife.

Keywords: ecotourism, overcrowding, satisfaction, wildlife conservation, wildlife tourism

How to Cite: Aththanayaka,A.M.C.P,Siyasinghe,D.P,Prakash,T.G.S.L, (2019). COMMERCIAL SAFARI JEEP DRIVER’S PERSPECTIVES ON MITIGATION OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN THE RUHUNU NATIONAL PARK (YALA), SRI LANKA.WILDLANKA, 7(2):Pages 059-064

Published On:2019-09-30

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