Challenges and Marketing Strategies for Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs): Evidence from Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

Small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) significantly promote regional economic growth, alongside the development of tourism industry in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. This study investigates the barriers to SMTEs by applying a mixed-methods approach using quantitative data collected through surveys with 250 owners and managers across 85 SMTEs, and qualitative data through interviews. The study revealed the human resource gap, financial gap, and conflicting government policies were ranked as the most significant barriers to SMTE sustainability. With the human resource gap restricting workforce reliability, financial gap limiting funding access, and local regulations influence limited flexibility. Further barriers included inefficiencies in marketing, limited production techniques, and limited IT literacy that affected overall operational efficiency and undertaken digital transformation. The recommendations from this study aligned with development opportunities centered on financial assistance, skills development plans, technology, responsive government assistance for SMTEs and branding development strategy. The importance of SMTEs embracing contemporary challenges was necessary for them to meet sustainability expectations, standards and for quality of service delivery across evolvements. These collective studies will empower SMTEs towards sustainable service rates and GDP growth for Sri Lanka as a whole, while the possibilities are framed within the capacity of policymakers and entrepreneurs to develop a process aligning to the motivating.