Revitalizing Local Identity through Community-Based Tourism in Sri Lanka: Lessons from Korea’s Tour Dure Model

Community-based tourism (CBT) offers a path toward inclusive, culturally grounded, and sustainable tourism development. Yet in Sri Lanka, CBT remains fragmented and underleveraged due to gaps in governance, education, and entrepreneurial support. This paper examines how Sri Lanka can strengthen CBT by drawing on adaptable practices from South Korea’s Tour Dure model. We highlight three core enablers: practice-oriented tourism education, inclusive entrepreneurship, and locally coordinated governance. We develop actionable strategies for local communities, micro-entrepreneurs, and policymakers, including the use of Producers as locally embedded intermediaries, inclusive training and funding programs for rural and women entrepreneurs, and support for community-owned tourism experiences based on local cultural, ecological, and everyday-life resources. By adapting these practices, Sri Lanka can build more resilient tourism ecosystems that empower local communities, preserve cultural heritage, retain more value locally, and promote more equitable participation in tourism value creation beyond mainstream attractions.