Developing a Demographic Profile of Adventure Tourists Visiting Arugambay, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Adventure tourism is an alternative form of tourism which has a growing demand. Arugambay is one of the top ten surfing destinations in the world (Lonely Planet, 2010). Sri Lankan adventure tourist market is not well defined and adventure tour operators in Sri Lanka meet immense difficulties when attracting and handling adventure tourists. In order to develop the Sri Lankan adventure tourism market and to assist adventure tour operators, this research aims to contribute towards the current understanding of adventure tourists in Arugambay by compiling a demographic profile of such tourists. One hundred tourists participated in this survey. The results gained from the self-completing questionnaires indicated that majority of adventure tourists visiting Arugambay are Europeans belonging to 21 – 30 and 41 – 50 age groups. Most of these young, living together couples are experienced surfers, and are spending US $ 61 – 70 per day. Adventure tourists in Arugambay tend to be educated private sector employees who earn US $1001 – 3000 per month. This research further makes recommendations to the national tourism organization, adventure tour operating companies and to the hosts of Arugambay in promoting Arugambay as a successful adventure tourist destination. Finally, the study recognizes the need of further researches on every adventure tourism locations in Sri Lanka in order to promote Sri Lanka as an adventure tourism destination by understanding specific needs and wants of the identified target market.