World Heritage hub
Polonnaruwa, the medieval capital
The resource is rice and the great reservoirs that grew it. The hub is the heritage-rice brand, the floating cabanas on the tanks, and the ancient irrigation explained by the engineers who still run it.
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
14
Farm to shelf
The smallholder sells raw to a collector at the gate and the collector sells to a packer who puts his own name on it....
25 ideas, 271 to 295
1
Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
If Sri Lanka earned what the Maldives earns per visitor, the visitors it already has would bring in $2.4 billion a year...
20 ideas, 1 to 20
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 10075 ideas that belong here
Every idea in the hub's clusters, plus any idea elsewhere in the list that names this place.
- 1Boutique eco-lodges with heritage viewsCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 2Luxury treehouse stays in forest marginsCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 3Glamping with proper service, at sites with noneCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 4Heritage homestays in family housesCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 5Floating cabanas on the ancient reservoirsCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 6Forest holiday villages on the Center Parcs model: lodges among the trees, a covered pool, bikes and a lake, so a family stays a week, not a nightCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 7Restored colonial estates as private villasCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 8Budget lodging built to the same standard of welcome as the expensive tierCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 9Villa management services for absentee ownersCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 10Private pool and garden maintenance businesses serving the aboveCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 11Tea-estate bungalow stays with the working factory as the attraction, not the view aloneCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 12Lighthouse and railway-station conversions on the coast and in the hillsCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 13Farm stays where the guest works a morning in the paddy or the spice gardenCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 14A 7-night circuit product sold as one booking: hills, ancient cities, coast, with transfersCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 15Long-stay monthly rates for remote workers, with desks, power backup and fibre guaranteedCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 16Family-suite lodges near the parks, built for three generations travelling togetherCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 17Surf lodges at Arugam Bay and Weligama run to the standard of Bali, with lessons and board hireCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 18Dark-sky stays in the dry zone, with a telescope and a guide who knows the southern skyCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 19Wedding-week villas: the ceremony, the guests and the honeymoon in one placeCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 20A guesthouse rating scheme run by the guesthouses themselves, with published inspectionsCluster 1: Stay longer (the $2.4 billion gap)
- 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
- 271A farmers' co-operative dairy in the hill country selling cheese and yoghurt under its own brandCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 272Buffalo-milk mozzarella and ghee for the hotels and for exportCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 273Fruit and vegetable drying: mango, pineapple, papaya, jackfruit and okra as premium snacks and soup mixes for Europe and the GulfCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 274Frozen tropical fruit pulp for the smoothie chains of the worldCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 275Heritage rice varieties grown under contract and sold at ten times the commodity priceCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 276Organic certification services for smallholder groups, shared so the cost is bearableCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 277Mushroom farms supplying the hotels, since most are still importedCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 278Cut flowers and foliage for the Gulf and Europe, from the cool hills, the way Kenya does itCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 279Orchid nurseries for export, which Singapore built from nothingCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 280Seed banks and seed businesses for the heritage vegetables and grainsCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 281Honey from the dry zone, single-origin, tested and brandedCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 282Egg and poultry co-operatives with a cold chain, so the price does not collapse in the seasonCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 283Goat and sheep dairy in the north, where the animals already areCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 284Vegetable box schemes for Colombo households, direct from a named farmCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 285Drip-irrigation installation and maintenance businesses for the dry zoneCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 286Cashew-processing units in Puttalam owned by the growers, not by the tradersCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 287Kithul tapping co-operatives with a shared processing plant and a brandCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 288Tamarind, lime and ginger pastes for the restaurant trade abroadCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 289Agricultural drone services: spraying, mapping and counting, sold per acreCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 290Cold stores at the district level, rented by the palletCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 291A wholesale market app that shows the day's prices, so the farmer stops selling blindCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 292Palmyrah products from the north: toddy, jaggery, fibre, fruit, the whole tree the way the coconut is a whole nutCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 293Farm-machinery hire pools, so that a two-acre farmer can afford a harvester for a dayCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 294Wood-apple, passion fruit, jackfruit and jamun as jellies, jams and fruit leathers in jars, the way Britain sells marmaladeCluster 14: Farm to shelf
- 295Home gardens turned into a supply chain for one hotel, with a contract and a priceCluster 14: Farm to shelf