Measuring Tourists’ Satisfaction with Forest-Based Tourism Attractions in Sylhet: The Case of Lawachara National Park

Abstract

Lawachara National Park (LNP) has good potentials to develop as a valuable tourism product with its own uniqueness. This paper aims to identify factors that affect the satisfaction and loyalty intention of tourists to visit Lawachara National Park in Moulvibazar as their forest based tourism destination. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 138 tourists who visited Lawachara National Park. A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure the tourists’ satisfaction. Factors, intended for measuring tourists’ satisfaction, were divided into five main constructs: accessibility, hospitality, expenditure attraction and entertainment facilities and environmental factor. The findings of this study indicate that LNP has a strong position only in attraction whereas it is lacking in facility and services. A great majority of tourists are mesmerized by the captivating beauty of this park. On the other hand, they express their displeasure with such issues as lack of basic infrastructural facilities such as public toilet, washroom and toilet facilities, expensive accommodation, lack of recreational facilities, cleanliness of the park and shopping facilities. This study has implications for policy planners and private stakeholders to take necessary measures for developing and promoting Lawachara National Park as a forest-based tourism attraction in our country.

Keywords: Tourist satisfaction, Loyalty intention, Forest based tourism attractions, Lawachara National Park, Likert scale.