Abstract:
This study aims to find the social impacts of tourism in the Panama region of Sri Lanka by using
quantitative method. The area of this study is Panama region of Sri Lanka in the South Eastern
coastal belt of Sri Lanka. The Panama region is composed of five areas such as Arugambay,
Kudakalliya, Jalaldeen Square, Kottukal, and Panama. The data have been collected by using the
Five Likert Scale questionnaire for the analysis in year 2016/2017. The sample size is 530 out of
population of 10,548 at 5 percent for the quantitative analysis. The tools to analyze the data are
Reliability Analysis, Factor Analysis, Correlation, Multiple Regression, Co-linearity Statistics,
Residual Analysis using SPSS 20.0. The dependent variable is Total Effect of tourism. Pride for
Residence, Better Utility Services, Infrastructural Facilities, Living Standard, Entertainment,
Interactions with Foreign Tourists are identified and used as the independent variables of the
positive social impacts. As per the test of regression, all the independent variables are positively
related with the dependent variable and statistically significant. As per the correlation analysis, the
strength of positive linear association ship, the significance, and the direction of the independent
and dependent variables confirm all the positive social impacts. The most influencing factor of
the positive social impacts of tourism is Entertainment.
