Impact of tourism on built environment with special reference to Hikkaduwa and Bentota

Abstract

The physical form character and shape of any human settlement or town is dependent on its economic activity, resources, the citizen's occupation, culture etc. (Human settlement and towns and their physical form are influenced by the activities and culture of its citizens) those are the reasons for villages, towns and settlements to be described as fishing villages, agricultural settlements, industrial form etc. each with its own character of physical form and built environment. Hikkaduwa on the south west coast of Sri lanka can perhaps be identified as the single largest town in Sri lanka which has been influenced by tourism as an industry and Hikkaduwa may have been a coastal fishing village originally. Arrival of tourism at Hikkaduwa is not limited to the so-called star class hotels along the beaches it has on one hand contributed to the changing physical form and urban character, while on the other hand ,has involved the citizens to the extent of their becoming part and parcel of the industry itself. This has resulted indevelopment of many service industries, such as restaurants, handicrafts and jewelry, batiks and guest houses in addition to the arising of beach boys and girls of beach boys and girls. The arrival of tourism at Bentota is not affected like at Hikkaduwa. It is mostly limited to star class hotels and developed as a planned tourist resort with its location in the south coast. Originally the Bentota was identified as a fishing village. But with tourism , its physical form and charactor changed in a planned manner. If one studies the effect of the tourist industry on the physical form or built environment of a villageor town there is no better example than Hikkaduwa and Bentota in Sri lanka. Therefore Ihave chosen Hikkaduwa and Bentota as the base of my study.