Abstract:
The Hatton region in Sri Lanka has been identified as a tourist destination among
domestic and foreign pilgrims and tourists, which has abundant tourism resources
but has not yet been discovered as a separate area for tourism development.
Culinary tourism presents fresh prospects for communities to seamlessly blend
tourism with local food systems, thereby fostering economic growth, meeting the
rising appetite for high-quality culinary experiences, and enriching the cultural
heritage of the region. This research aims to analyze the key challenges and
potential opportunities of tourism development in the Hatton region. The
qualitative research approach was employed, and direct in-depth interviews were
conducted with a sample of twenty tourism service operators, including divisional
authentic food producers, food vendors, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development
Authority, tea estate owners, and the divisional secretariat office in Hatton, a
tourist destination. Thematic analysis was adopted to achieve the research
objectives, using Nvivo version 11 for statistical data analysis of the study. The
findings of the research highlight community willingness to involve in tourism
operation, skillful residents making foods related to Indian Tamil and Sinhala
mixed culture, natural and cultural tourist attractions related to Tamil and Sinhala
culture as potential opportunities. Furthermore, a lack of community awareness
and motivation on tourism, lack of government involvement, middle-income
community lifestyle, and social media-addicted, unemployed young generation
have been identified as challenges to developing culinary tourism in Hatton. The
data was gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic period and economic crises,
which limited the number of respondents expected to be interviewed. The study
recommends that Sri Lankan policymakers promote tourism awareness programs,
culinary trails, collaboration of local food vendors and government, quality
assurance, and hygiene standards for the tourism development in the Hatton
region, not only as a pilgrim destination but also as a destination of culinary
vividness utilizing the “Culinary Tourism” concept.
