Abstract:
Tourist satisfaction with destinations is one of the essential driving elements in the
tourism industry's development, since satisfied tourists are more likely to revisit scenic
spots and satisfy tourists’ travel advice attracts new visits to the spots. However, there is
a lack of research related to the investigation of tourist satisfaction of Chinese tourists,
the second largest source of visitors in Sri Lanka, and corresponding specified measures
to attract more tourists, proposed by sorting out statistics obtained in the investigation.
Therefore, this study attempted to measure the importance and performance of Sri
Lankan destination attributes by employing Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA)
method, in order to explore Chinese arrivals’ tourist satisfaction and identify the main
influencing factors, then, identifying the primary areas for improvement within the
country’s tourism sector. The study was carried out as mixed-method research. The
researcher used stratified random sampling followed by the simple random sampling
method. The researcher used the simple random sampling method and selected 100
from the population as the sample size. Relevant primary and secondary data were
collected through questionnaires, interviews, annual statistical reports and other
literature on the subject with the concentration to answer the research questions. The
survey of 100 Chinese tourists showed that transportation, accommodation and 9 factors
including 24 projects, influenced the tourist satisfaction strongly. According to the IPA
index, transportation smoothness, professional staff quality and 10 projects were
identified as the weakness of influencing factors. The IPA grid indicated that transportation smoothness, the Chinese language level and 5 projects fell into the
‘Concentrate Here’ quadrant, requiring immediate managerial intervention. Overall, the
findings show that the Chinese tourists were very satisfied with hospitality and Sri
Lanka’s natural beautiful environment vital to attracting more visitors. This research
will provide a model and reference for further research or study on tourists from other
countries to Sri Lanka.