The eleventh session of the Faculty Working Paper Series was held on January 27, 2022, through the Virtual platform. The presentation was made by Ms. S. Yogendran from the Department of Management Studies on the title, “A Study on the Experience of Rural Entrepreneurs’ Competitiveness during the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Phenomenological Study”. The paper was reviewed by Ms. R. M. C. Kumari from the Department of Management Studies. The event was graced by the Dean of the Faculty, Heads of the Departments, and the Academic Staff members. The brief abstract of the paper is given as follows. “The hotel sector of Sri Lanka has been identified as a prominent revenue-generating source to the nation and has long dreamt of a place among the world’s top holiday destinations. But unfortunately, the pandemic put those hopes on hold. Tourism is one of the major industries affected badly by the COVID-19 outbreak which influenced its entrepreneurs. Therefore, this study aimed to uncover the experience of rural tourism entrepreneurs in sustaining their competitiveness during the outbreak. Hence, this study uncovered the gravity of issues encountered by rural entrepreneurs which are absent in aggregate numbers of macro-level studies. These issues are also relevant to their total entrepreneurial network. However, their passionate nature in crafting creative strategies to deal with these issues is noteworthy.”
