Spatial evaluation of cultural tourism potential in Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka: GIS based weighted overlay analysis

Abstract

Cultural tourism is an important tool of socioeconomic development as well as the maintenance of historical heritage, especially in culturally heritage-rich few like the Anuradhapura District. The tourism potential of this region is not well explored despite its importance because of many drawbacks such as inappropriate infrastructure development, unplanned urbanization, and agricultural encroachment. This paper is an effort to assess the spatial suitability of Anuradhapura on cultural tourism development, which is done on a Geographical information Systems (GIS) platform. A Weighted Overlay Analysis (WOA) was developed to incorporate various spatial databases involving elevation, land use/Land cover (LULC), road accessibility, close to cultural heritages sites, and climatic situations. The layers were standardized and the weights of each layer were determined through literature research and expert based relevancy to suitability of tourism. District suitability was analyzed into four classes of both highly suitable, moderately suitable, low suitable and unsuitable. The results indicate that 27.42% of the land area (approximately 196,764 hectares) is highly suitable for cultural tourism, characterized by optimal accessibility, cultural density, and favorable environmental conditions. An additional 59.37% is moderately suitable, indicating areas with development potential under certain improvements, while 13.2% of the district is either low in suitability or unsuitable due to natural or infrastructural constraints. Validation against field observations and existing tourism hotspots showed a strong spatial correlation between predicted high-suitability zones and current visitor patterns. The study concludes that data-driven spatial planning is essential for sustainable tourism development in heritage regions. Recommendations include improving infrastructure and accessibility in high-potential zones, involving local communities in tourism activities, and applying geospatial tools for continuous monitoring and planning. This research presents an original and replicable GIS-based framework for cultural tourism suitability analysis, offering valuable insights for planners, policymakers, and conservationists in balancing development with heritage preservation.