Economic status of persons engaging in tourism industry after covid-19: a study based on Trincomalee district

Abstract

Tourism sector is globally considered as the key growing sector and one of the main foreign income sources for so many countries. In terms of foreign income, the tourism sector ranks second in Sri Lanka. In that respect, Trincomalee District, the research area, is a well-known place in the tourism industry. In this situation, the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the tourism sector. Based on that, this research aims to identify the economic situation of people who engaged in the tourism sector in Trincomalee district after the COVID-19 pandemic as the main objective. To achieve that objective, 198 people who engage in the tourism industry in Trincomalee district were selected as sample units, and data were collected based on primary data through a questionnaire. Furthermore, using SPSS software, data was analyzed descriptively and through multiple linear regression. As the finding of this research shows, it is verified that the total income, which is considered a dependent variable to identify the economic situation of people in the tourism sector, has been influenced by the following independent variables: loan, saving, other incomes, marketing facilities, arrivals of tourists, and profit. According to this research, it recommends the policy implementation of policies such as increasing the contribution of the private and public sectors to increase the standard of living of the people, connecting this with the tourism sector, making ways to maintain the tourist sites with a standard health facility to increase the demand of the tourism sector, developing infrastructure facilities with a health facility in hotels, and inspiring domestic tourists to visit tourist places.