Paper Title
Community Participation in Tourism Benefits Sharing Schemes of Sri Lanka: A Case Study of Arugam Bay Destination

Abstract
This study focused on the local community participation in tourism development through benefits sharing schemes in Sri Lanka using a case study of Arugam-Bay destination. To investigate this research matter, the study inspected local community involvement in tourism benefits sharing schemes. To accomplish this task, the study is directed by the research objective: To evaluate the nature of community participation in tourism benefits sharing schemes. To achieve better understanding of the context of the research, the study utilized a case study approach, which offers: exploration at the community level to analyze the issue from the grass root level, where very few studies on this topic has been done. Participation of diverse stakeholders (Local government institutes, NGOs, Tourism entrepreneurs, members of community, and tourism professionals) and the use of quantitative method by using household questionnaire to effectively answer the main research question. Based on the results acquired from quantitative approach, this study concluded that there are enough spaces for local community to enjoy tourism related benefits in tourism development process. It further proved, local communities are mostly entertaining Economic benefits such as develop infrastructure facilities, create job opportunities for locals, increase household income and create market for local products while entertaining some other benefits such as makes community well-known, uplift the language skills of locals and environmental beautification. Keywords� Community Participation, Sharing Tourism Benefits, Tourism Development.