Number of the records: 1
Assessing Geosites for Geotourism Development: Case Studies from the Southern Part of Sri Lanka
- 1.
SYSNO ASEP 0549482 Document Type J - Journal Article R&D Document Type Journal Article Subsidiary J Článek ve WOS Title Assessing Geosites for Geotourism Development: Case Studies from the Southern Part of Sri Lanka Author(s) Sumanapala, D. (AU)
Kubalíková, Lucie (UGN-S) ORCID
Wolf, I. D. (AU)Number of authors 3 Article number 85 Source Title Geoheritage. - : Springer - ISSN 1867-2477
Roč. 13, č. 4 (2021)Number of pages 11 s. Publication form Online - E Language eng - English Country DE - Germany Keywords geotourism ; geodiversity ; assessment methods and criteria ; sustainable tourism ; sustainable development ; Sri Lanka Subject RIV DO - Wilderness Conservation OECD category Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7) Method of publishing Limited access Institutional support UGN-S - RVO:68145535 UT WOS 000693702800001 EID SCOPUS 85114437893 DOI 10.1007/s12371-021-00608-1 Annotation Although Sri Lanka is known for its many geodiverse attractions, it has not fully recognized and capitalized on its potential to promote geotourism. This study evaluates the potential of two geotourism case study areas, Ussangoda and the Kudawella blowhole, in the southern part of the island which is well frequented by tourists. We provide a blueprint on how to assess the development potential of geotourism sites by employing three types of analyses: Firstly, we estimated the numerical value of various characteristics of the sites important for the development for geotourism, including their scientific, tourism, and conservation values along with the value added by other (non-geotourism) features. Secondly a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis was performed which builds on the results from the numerical evaluation but provides a more in-depth narrative evaluation. Thirdly, the SWOT analysis can be extended and used to generate a threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths (TOWS) matrix which identifies the relationships between these factors and enables to select strategies by providing a succinct tabular overview as the basis for tourism development strategies. We exemplified this multi-step analysis on the Ussangoda and Kudawella blowhole and identified that both sites harbor significant potential as geotourism sites. A private-public partnership between communities and local authorities, as well as universities should be considered to develop geotourism in Sri Lanka. Workplace Institute of Geonics Contact Lucie Gurková, lucie.gurkova@ugn.cas.cz, Tel.: 596 979 354 Year of Publishing 2022 Electronic address https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12371-021-00608-1
Number of the records: 1