Visual landscape characteristics and tourists’ satisfaction: a study with reference to Nuwara-Eliya, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The power of the landscape to draw tourists seeking spectacle has a long tradition and landscapes are prone to the tourism industry. Sri Lanka is well-known as a popular tourist destination, because of the country's unique natural landscape characteristics. Even though the country's landscape is the main tourist attraction, there is no proper identification of the major characteristics that attract tourists and what meets their satisfaction in a landscape. With aiming that, the primary purpose of this study was to understand the impact of the visual landscape characteristics on the tourists’ satisfaction and the study was conducted in Nuwara-Eliya urban context. Study referred to various visual landscape characters and their quality by a visual landscape quality assessment which focuses on visual landscape qualities derived from visual concepts related to the field of study. The study highlights the inherent features of visual concept and the significance of the visual landscape characteristics of selected landscapes based on a theoretical framework, which can benefit in design improvising in such landscapes. The finding revealed that the visual characters of landscapes are a subjective measure taken by individuals based on their perception and the link between tourism and the visual landscape is unbreakable and vital to the tourism industry.