World Heritage hub
Kandy, the Temple of the Tooth
The resource is tea, brass, drums and the Perahera. The hub is the crafts and tea showcase on the lake, with the tasting room, the drum-maker and the brass foundry open to the visitor.
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. Every one of the five hundred belongs to at least one hub.
Sri Lanka House in Colombo, the model every hub is a regional edition of
The clusters this hub is built from
10
Tea, beyond the auction
The Colombo auction sells tea by the lot to a buyer who blends it under his own name. Every step after the auction is...
20 ideas, 201 to 220
2
Sell the making, not the object
The craft cannot be copied and the object can. In Europe people queue to watch glass being blown and then buy the glass.
25 ideas, 21 to 45
4
The experience economy
An app that tells people what is happening tonight converts a day visit into a 2-night stay.
30 ideas, 71 to 100
20
Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
Sri Lankans make the world's underwear to the world's standard, and the country has no fashion brand of its own that...
15 ideas, 396 to 41098 ideas that belong here
Every idea in the hub's clusters, plus any idea elsewhere in the list that names this place.
- 21Half-day cooking courses: two curries and riceCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 22Full-day courses: a five-course Sri Lankan menuCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 23Multi-day culinary residenciesCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 24Batik workshops where you take home what you madeCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 25Pottery workshops, your own signature on the baseCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 26Handloom weaving demonstrations and short coursesCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 27Mask carving workshopsCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 28Gem cutting demonstrations with certified purchaseCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 29Jewellery-making classesCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 30Tea blending workshops, and your own blend packed to take awayCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 31Cinnamon peeling demonstrations on working smallholdingsCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 32Coconut processing demonstrationsCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 33Spice blending, with a labelled jar of your own mixCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 34Clay-pot cooking classesCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 35Fresco and mural painting workshops with local artistsCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 36Traditional hair-oil and herbal preparation classesCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 37Wood carving classesCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 38Lacquerware workshopsCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 39Village kitchen lunches, cooked with the familyCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 40Grandmother's Kitchen: one dish, one district, one storyCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 41Brass and bronze casting in the Kandyan tradition, watched from pour to polishCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 42Dumbara mat weaving taught by the families who still do itCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 43Palm-leaf manuscript writing with a stylus, your name on an ola leaf to take homeCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 44Drum-making and a drumming lesson in one afternoonCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 45Toddy tapping at dawn, watched from the ground, with breakfast afterCluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
- 61Premium tea packaging and gift tins, sold anywhere, not only in KandyCluster 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
- 71Evening cultural performances on a fixed nightly scheduleCluster 4: The experience economy
- 72Moonlit storytelling: the legends, the kings, the historiesCluster 4: The experience economy
- 73Royal feast dinners recreating historical menusCluster 4: The experience economy
- 74Costume and photography experiencesCluster 4: The experience economy
- 75Archaeology-themed treasure hunts for childrenCluster 4: The experience economy
- 76Private guided tours led by historians and archaeologistsCluster 4: The experience economy
- 77Sunrise and sunset access toursCluster 4: The experience economy
- 78Photographers for hire at ticket offices, by the hourCluster 4: The experience economy
- 79Drone photography as a premium packageCluster 4: The experience economy
- 80Augmented reality tours of heritage sitesCluster 4: The experience economy
- 81Hot air balloon ridesCluster 4: The experience economy
- 82Horse and carriage village toursCluster 4: The experience economy
- 83Rock climbing instructionCluster 4: The experience economy
- 84Cycling tours through villagesCluster 4: The experience economy
- 85Birdwatching with expert guidesCluster 4: The experience economy
- 86Night safarisCluster 4: The experience economy
- 87Whale watching, properly regulatedCluster 4: The experience economy
- 88Outdoor cinema eveningsCluster 4: The experience economy
- 89Escape rooms and puzzle experiences built on local historyCluster 4: The experience economy
- 90Annual arts festivals, district by districtCluster 4: The experience economy
- 91The Kandy Esala Perahera sold as a week, with seats, explanation and the temple's protocol respectedCluster 4: The experience economy
- 92A "what's on tonight" service for each tourist town, printed and online, updated dailyCluster 4: The experience economy
- 93Train-journey packages on the hill line with a guide, a meal and a stop that is not EllaCluster 4: The experience economy
- 94Leopard-tracking days at Yala and Wilpattu with a limit on vehicles and a premium priceCluster 4: The experience economy
- 95Kayaking and paddle-boarding on the lagoons, with a naturalistCluster 4: The experience economy
- 96Cookery competitions for visitors, judged by a village panel, with the prize being dinnerCluster 4: The experience economy
- 97Cricket-match packages: a ticket, a seat with a local who explains it, and the after-partyCluster 4: The experience economy
- 98Stargazing nights at Sigiriya and the reservoirs with astronomers from the universitiesCluster 4: The experience economy
- 99Street-food walks in Colombo, Jaffna and Galle with a guide who knows every stall's historyCluster 4: The experience economy
- 100A festival calendar for the whole island published a year ahead, so a visitor can plan around itCluster 4: The experience economy
- 196Pilgrimage routes properly interpreted: Anuradhapura, Mihintale, the Sri Maha Bodhi, Kandy, Dambulla, with guides who know the history and not only the routeCluster 9: The offering nobody else can make
- 201Single-estate teas sold direct to consumers abroad by subscription, with the estate's storyCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 202A tea sommelier course in Nuwara Eliya, certified, for the hotel trade of the worldCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 203Tea tasting rooms in Kandy, Ella and Colombo run like wine barsCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 204Cold-brew and sparkling Ceylon tea in cans for the Gulf and AsiaCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 205Matcha-style ground green tea from the upcountry, for cafésCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 206Tea cosmetics: creams and serums with a named estate's extractCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 207A picking-and-processing day at a factory sold as an experience, with your own kilo at the endCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 208Tea-flavoured chocolates, ice creams and liqueurs made here rather than in EuropeCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 209The estate-workers' co-operative brand, where the pickers own the pack, sold to buyers who care who picked itCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 210Smallholder tea from the low country as a named origin, the way coffee has named regionsCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 211Blending workshops for Sri Lankans abroad in their own kitchens: a kit, a video, three estates in a boxCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 212Tea-bag manufacturing with compostable bags, since most of the world's are plasticCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 213A Ceylon tea museum with a shop that sells every estate, not one company'sCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 214Iced-tea concentrate for restaurants, made here, branded hereCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 215Tea-estate trail running and cycling events, with the estates as the courseCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 216Kombucha from Ceylon black tea, which the health shops of Europe already sell at ten times the tea's priceCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 217Tea leaf fertiliser and compost sold to the upcountry vegetable growersCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 218Tea-house franchising abroad: one format, Sri Lankan-owned, in the cities where Sri Lankans abroad liveCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 219Rare and aged Ceylon teas, sold at auction to collectors the way Pu-erh isCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 220A tea-quality laboratory certifying estate origin, so that "Ceylon" on a packet in Hamburg can be checkedCluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
- 228Cardamom, cloves and nutmeg from the Kandy hills as single-origin retail productsCluster 11: Cinnamon and the spice garden
- 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
- 394Jaffna and Kandy literary festivals to sit beside Galle'sCluster 19: Heritage, archives and film
- 396A Sri Lankan lingerie and swimwear brand, since the factories that make everyone else's are hereCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 397Sportswear brands using the technical fabric and the cutters that already existCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 398Batik and handloom in contemporary fashion, sold in London and Tokyo, not only at the airportCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 399A fashion school linked to the factories, so the designers do not have to leaveCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 400Surplus and off-cut businesses: the factories' waste as a design materialCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 401Furniture design in coconut timber, rubberwood and rattan, for exportCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 402Interior-design firms serving the villa and hotel owners, with the products sourced from this listCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 403Jewellery design in silver and the lesser gems, for the mid-market abroadCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 404Homeware brands: ceramics, linen, brass, made here, sold under one Sri Lankan nameCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 405Uniform and workwear manufacturing for the region's hotels and hospitalsCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 406Sustainable-fashion certification, since Brandix and MAS have the factories and the world wants the proofCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 407Costume and textile conservation for the temples and museumsCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 408A design fair in Colombo where the world's buyers come to the makers, once a yearCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 409Print and pattern studios licensing Sri Lankan motifs to the fabric mills of the worldCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 410Repair, alteration and tailoring services for the visitors, priced and done in a dayCluster 20: Design, fashion and the apparel spillover
- 478Kandy: the lake promenade with cafés and evening performances, not only the templeCluster 26: The cities, one idea each
- 497Returnee co-working houses in Colombo and Kandy, so that the first year is not spent aloneCluster 28: Coming home