Transperancy and authenticity of tailor made ecotourist sites and block chain innovation to upgrade the value chain

Abstract

Sri Lanka, The island is renowned for its rich diversity of natural resources, cultures, traditions and especially the great hospitality of the people. Eco-tourism, one of the promising sub sector of the tourism industry which claims for significant returns to the domestic economy essentially need governance mechanism to cater the demands of diverse global customers while preserving the nature and cultural heritage. This article focused to find out the transparency in tailor made eco tourism value chain, find out the problems and issues encounter by the travelers and propose block chain as smart innovative tool to upgrade transparency authenticity and traceability of eco tourism value chain. Primary data, both qualitative and quantitative, collected through online data collection tools and in-depth interviews via telephone. First, registered eco tourism destinations were considered for the study and the sample composed of 35 wild life, 17 adventure, and 21 agro tourism locations. Mode of reservation, mode of payment, mode of prior experience, facility available, ratings and customer views were researched. Service providers facilitate a variety of nature, eco and adventure based activities across the island with experience guides and facilitators. About 12-20 tailor made packages offered by the service providers and accommodation, food, transport and other logistics vary widely. Individual service providing agencies operate separately, poor fragile networks among value chain members, information asymmetry, logistic issues in remote destinations, and gap between standard and customize site arrangements were recorded as common problems. Service providers are expecting convenient, economical and trust worthy network which will bridge the existing operational barriers of the sector. Smooth chain connection and decentralize chain management of block chain will help to improve the chain transparency and authenticity while enhancing tourism experience, rewarding sustainable behavior, ensuring benefits for local communities, and minimizing privacy concerns.