World Heritage hub
Galle, the Fort
The resource is the cinnamon of the south-west, the sea, and the gems of Ratnapura a few hours inland. The hub is the cinnamon and gem house inside the Fort.
Why a hub
The country funnels its visitors through a handful of small heritage cores, most of them in the Cultural Triangle. That funnel is the problem when the cores are turnstiles. It is the answer when each core becomes a hub: the place where the region's own resource is grown, made, shown and sold, with a making-house at the gate where the visitor watches the work and buys it from the hands that did it. Sri Lanka House in Colombo is the model; these are the regional editions. A hub is also the one place in its region where the rules are visibly kept: clean, priced, and honest, with a complaints line that answers. Most of the five hundred belong to at least one hub; the rest are the services and the national chains that any hub can call on.
Sri Lanka House in Colombo, the model every hub is a regional edition of
The clusters this hub is built from
11
Cinnamon and the spice garden
The imitation out-earns the original. Vietnam earns more from cassia than Sri Lanka does from true cinnamon by selling...
15 ideas, 221 to 235
12
The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
The sapphire is mined here and cut here, and its value is certified in Basel or Lucerne and turned into money in...
15 ideas, 236 to 250
13
The sea
An ocean 8 times the size of the land, and a fishing fleet that sells its catch on the beach. The Maldives built a...
20 ideas, 251 to 270
19
Heritage, archives and film
8 World Heritage Sites and 2,300 years of records, and the country's story is told to the world by other people.
15 ideas, 381 to 395
26
The cities, one idea each
Every city has one thing it could be known for, and most are not yet known for it.
10 ideas, 476 to 48580 ideas that belong here
Every idea in the hub's clusters, plus any idea elsewhere in the list that names this place.
- 17Surf lodges at Arugam Bay and Weligama run to the standard of Bali, with lessons and board hireCluster 1: Stay longer, spend more (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 65Beeralu lace from the south coast, on scarves, skirts, tops and table linen, made and sold in Galle to its visitors, as the island of Burano near Venice does with its own laceCluster 3: Souvenirs that are actually from here
- 70A children's picture book of Sigiriya, Kandy or Galle in five languages, sold at the siteCluster 3: Souvenirs that are actually from here
- 99Street-food walks in Colombo, Jaffna and Galle with a guide who knows every stall's historyCluster 4: The experience economy
- 221Cinnamon quills in retail packs with the grade printed, since almost no consumer knows the grades existCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 222Cinnamon sticks as a branded gift, tied and boxed, sold in every airport shop in the world that will stock themCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 223Cinnamon-leaf and bark oils bottled for the aromatherapy trade under a Sri Lankan nameCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 224Cinnamon-infused honey, sugar and salt as a rangeCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 225A "true cinnamon" education campaign run by producers, aimed at bakers and chefs abroadCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 226Cinnamon farm stays in the south-west, a week on a working smallholding through the harvest and the dryingCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 227Peeler training schools, since the skill is disappearing and it is the whole valueCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 228Cardamom, cloves and nutmeg from the Kandy hills as single-origin retail productsCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 229A spice-trail tourism route from Galle to Matale with tastings, mapped and marketed as one productCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 230Curry-powder blends roasted and ground here, with the district recipe named on the tinCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 231Spice subscriptions for home cooks abroad: a different district each monthCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 232Turmeric from Sri Lanka tested and labelled for curcumin content, which is what the health market pays forCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 233Pepper vines on every coconut estate as a second crop, with a buyer contracted in advanceCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 234A cinnamon exchange: published daily prices by grade, so the smallholder knows what his bale is worthCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 235Cinnamon by-products, the chips and the featherings, into oil and powder instead of wasteCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 236A gem laboratory in Colombo to the standard of the Swiss ones, with a foreign partner if it must, so the origin report is issued where the stone was minedCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 237Jewellery design studios employing the young designers who now leave for Bangkok and DubaiCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 238A Ratnapura mine visit sold as a day, with a licensed dealer and a laboratory report on anything you buyCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 239Gem-cutting apprenticeships, paid, with the graduates employed by the studios aboveCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 240A Ceylon sapphire brand for engagement rings, sold online to Sri Lankans abroad and beyond, with the stone's story traced from pit to fingerCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 241Auction days in Colombo for the trade, with international buyers flown in, the way Geneva does it twice a yearCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 242Moonstone from Meetiyagoda as a named origin, sold on the name of the mine and its blue sheenCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 243Gem and jewellery insurance and insured shipping, so that a buyer abroad can pay safelyCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 244Ethical-mining certification for the small pits, so that the story sells the stoneCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 245Museum-grade replicas of the Star of India and the Logan Sapphire, sold with their true storyCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 246Short gemmology courses for foreign buyers and jewellers, taught in Ratnapura with real stones and a microscopeCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 247Gem-cutting machinery service and repair, since every cutter's tools are importedCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 248Gem photography and grading videos for online sales, a service to the small dealersCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 249A published price index for Ceylon sapphires by size and grade, so the miner knows what he is sellingCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 250Garnet, spinel and the lesser stones marketed as a range, since they are mined anyway and thrown into parcelsCluster 12: The gem chain, from Ratnapura to the certificate
- 251Sailing charters and a yacht marina at Galle or Trincomalee, with the crew trained hereCluster 13: The sea
- 252Diving schools at the wrecks of Trincomalee and the reefs of the east, certified to international standardCluster 13: The sea
- 253Sport fishing charters with catch-and-release, sold to the Gulf and EuropeCluster 13: The sea
- 254Sea-cucumber and seaweed farming in the northern lagoons, for the buyers in Hong Kong and SingaporeCluster 13: The sea
- 255Tuna graded, loined and vacuum-packed at the harbour for the sashimi market, not sold wholeCluster 13: The sea
- 256Crab and prawn from the lagoons as a branded chilled export, with the lagoon's nameCluster 13: The sea
- 257Dried fish and Maldive fish for Sri Lankans abroad, packed to a food-safety standardCluster 13: The sea
- 258Boats for export: the boatyards already on the coast building fishing boats and launches for the countries around the Indian Ocean, not only for the home fleetCluster 13: The sea
- 259Coastal clean-up businesses paid by the hotels, with the plastic sold on for recyclingCluster 13: The sea
- 260Ornamental-fish breeding for the world's aquarium trade, raised in tanks rather than taken from the reefCluster 13: The sea
- 261Beach-hut cafés run to a standard, licensed, with the sanitation that the beaches lackCluster 13: The sea
- 262Surfboard shaping and repair workshops on the east and south coastsCluster 13: The sea
- 263Snorkelling reef guides trained in marine biology, at Pigeon Island and HikkaduwaCluster 13: The sea
- 264Fish-market tours at Negombo at dawn with breakfast after, the way Tokyo sold TsukijiCluster 13: The sea
- 265Stays in old lighthouse keepers' cottages, leased from the Ports Authority where it no longer needs themCluster 13: The sea
- 266Mangrove nurseries selling seedlings to the hotels and the state for coastal protectionCluster 13: The sea
- 267Ice plants at every fishing harbour run as a service, so the catch does not spoil before the saleCluster 13: The sea
- 268Fish-leather and fish-skin products from the waste of the processing plantsCluster 13: The sea
- 269The wind, the salt pans and the flamingos as one coastal business: kitesurfing schools and camps in the windy months, walks through the salt pans where the flamingos feed in winter, and stays sold for both seasons, wherever the coast has the wind and the wetlandsCluster 13: The sea
- 270Ferry and sea-plane services between the coastal towns, the way islands elsewhere connect their coastCluster 13: The sea
- 296Remote-work hubs in Kandy, Galle and Jaffna with fibre, power and a lawyer who knows the taxCluster 15: Software, services and the remote desk
- 381A film-location service: crews, permits, fixers and locations, sold to the studios of India and EuropeCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 382Documentary production about the island's own stories, sold to the streaming platformsCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 383A museum shop worthy of the museum, at the National Museum, at Anuradhapura, at GalleCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 384Digitisation of the palm-leaf manuscripts and colonial archives as a paid service to the libraries of the worldCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 385Architecture tours of Bawa's buildings with the houses opened by their ownersCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 386Heritage-building restoration firms with the skills to work on the forts and the villasCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 387A guide to everything in Sri Lanka, indexed and kept current: the places, the maps, the hotels, the courses, the makers, the trails and the seasons, published region by region, each volume written and sold from its hubCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 388Audio guides for every major site in 10 languages, sold by downloadCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 389A publishing house for Sri Lankan history in English, since the good books are out of printCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 390Heritage craftsmanship training: lime plaster, timber, tile, the trades the old buildings needCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 391Photography archives of the island, licensed to the publishers and the film-makersCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 392The Ceylon Railway as a heritage line, with the carriages restored and the stations keptCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 393Colombo walking tours through the Pettah, the Fort and Slave IslandCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 394Jaffna and Kandy literary festivals to sit beside Galle'sCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 395A national portrait project: the Sri Lankans who built things, photographed and exhibited, then sold as a bookCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 476Colombo: a night market on the Galle Face Green run to a standard, every weekendCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 477Colombo: the Pettah as a managed market street, cleaned, lit and sold to visitors as the best bazaar in AsiaCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 478Kandy: the lake promenade with cafés and evening performances, not only the templeCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 479Galle: the coral coast, the gardens of Hikkaduwa and the reef under Rumassala, where a visitor or a Sri Lankan abroad becomes a coral mum or a coral dad, with a coral in their name, the way people name a star, and a photograph of it every year as it growsCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 480Jaffna: the food the rest of the island does not have, odiyal kool, the crab curry and everything the palmyrah gives, cooked where it comes from and shown off to the world as a cuisine of its ownCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 481Trincomalee: the summer beach town, sold for the months when the south-west coast has its monsoonCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 482Negombo: the first and last evening of every visit, 15 minutes from the airport, with the fleet coming in to the beach, the churches and the lagoon sold as the island's welcome and its send-offCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 483Nuwara Eliya: a cool-climate wellness and tea town, not a faded hill stationCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 484Anuradhapura: a pilgrim city with lodging, food and interpretation to match its sacrednessCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 485Hambantota: an industrial estate for the processors in this listCluster 26: The cities, one idea each