Abstract:
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute to the socio-economic development of
a country through generating employment and income and also reducing poverty and
inequality. The tourism industry is a fast-growing industry in the world and most of the
businesses related to the tourism industry are SMEs. Apart from that, women’s business
participation has been increasing not only at the global level but also at the local level as
well. The current study attempted to examine the factors affecting on the performance of
SMEs with special reference to women-owned tourism SMEs in Galle district. The study
empirically tested five factors affecting the performance of women-owned tourism SMEs.
The factors included individual characteristics, motivation and goals, resources,
entrepreneurial orientation, and environment factors. Data were collected from 100
women entrepreneurs who were engaged in tourism-related SMEs in Galle district. The
data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient, and multiple linear
regressions. This study identified four challenges (lack of adequate funding, inability to
separate the business capital, lack of crucial infrastructural facilities, and lack of proper
business and management skills/knowledge) faced by women entrepreneurs descriptively.
The study concludes that the entrepreneur’s personal qualities directly influence the
success of an entrepreneur and there is a positive relationship with enterprise performance
as well. The results also emphasize that the five factors are positively affecting the
performance of the women-owned tourism SMEs. The study recommends to women
entrepreneurs and tourism SMEs to incorporate such factors and also policymaker and
other interest parties to consider these facts when developing policy strategies on tourismrelated SMEs and women entrepreneurs.
Keywords: Women entrepreneur, Tourism SMEs, Performance factors, Enterprise
performance
