Entrepreneurs Motivation for Selecting Homestay Businesses: Special Reference to Ella, Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan tourism industry is one of the key important sectors to develop within the country. Ella is one of the destinations which has recently become popularized with its attractive and unique geographical features, chilling climate, and authentic local lifestyle. Homestay accommodation is playing a major role in fulfilling an excess demand for accommodation in Ella and it is contributing to the economy of small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs). The main objective of this study is analyzing push and pull motivation factors of entrepreneurs to select homestay business in Ella. Primary data has collected from fifty homestay entrepreneurs and researcher used semi-structured questionnaire to collect data. Confirmatory factor analysis has been used to analyze the data. The study revealed that, to generate additional income is the primary push factor which is pushing entrepreneurship by negative external factors. Enjoyable things to do in the homestay accommodation business can be identified as main pull factor which is attracting entrepreneurs to homestay businesses. Apart from that, this study identified some issues and challenges which entrepreneurs have to face when they are doing homestay businesses such as lack of security, lack of facilities, competition with unregistered homestay operators, lack of service orientation, difficult to maintain the standards, not enough training to manage homestays, language barriers, lack of cross-cultural understanding, lack of brand image and marketing activities, lack of accessibility for transportation and communication, and lack of monitoring from the ministry and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). Basically, this study reveals the reasons of entrepreneurs to start homestay businesses in Ella, Sri Lanka. Relevant authorized parties can be involved and analyze the challenges and issues of homestay entrepreneurs and required to give solutions for them as well. Finally, this study suggests innovative practices for homestay entrepreneurs to face identified challenges and problems and become more unique business in the industry.