Abstract:
Sri Lanka is one of the best and popular heritage tourism destinations in the world.
Many of the heritage tourists admire the cultural and heritage values at destinations.
However, the adverse effects of tourism on cultural heritage sites are commonly
noted. Therefore, a systematic investigation is much needed to discover the
repercussions of heritage tourism and the associated laws and regulations to safeguard
the cultural heritage properties in Sri Lanka. The main aim of this study was to
determine the detrimental effects of tourism on cultural heritage and to assess the
state of regulations aimed at protecting cultural heritage properties. By adopting a
qualitative research approach, this study focuses on implementing laws governing the
conservation of tangible cultural heritage resources in Mihintale, one of Sri Lanka's
most important heritage sites. Face-to-face interviews with government officers at the
Mihintale archaeological site and the police station, participant observations, images
taken by the researcher, and examining the rules and regulations in Acts were among
the sources of data used in this research. Thematic, content, picture, and descriptive
analysis methodologies were used to analyze the data manually. According to the
findings, it was discovered that the applied Acts were effective in safeguarding
heritage properties, but the operationalization of the laws of the topic had flaws. The
findings provide a thorough understanding of the context legislation governing
tourism's effects on cultural heritage sites. It is also worth noting that the conservation
and preservation of significant cultural heritage resources are critical to promoting
sustainable heritage tourism.
