World Heritage hub
Sinharaja, the rainforest
The resource is the biodiversity, and the spice gardens at its edge. The hub is the research station that hosts the world's universities, the guides trained in the forest, and the spice-garden stays.
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
13
The sea
An ocean eight 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
11
Cinnamon and the spice garden
The imitation out-earns the original. Vietnam earns more from cassia than Sri Lanka does from true cinnamon, because...
15 ideas, 221 to 235
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
21
Energy, water and waste at small scale
The sun shines on every roof and the island imports its fuel.
15 ideas, 411 to 42581 ideas that belong here
Every idea in the hub's clusters, plus any idea elsewhere in the list that names this place.
- 13Farm stays where the guest works a morning in the paddy or the spice gardenCluster 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
- 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 at every airport in the world where we have a shopCluster 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, where the peeling is the showCluster 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
- 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, which Japan and Korea buyCluster 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
- 258Boat-building in fibreglass and wood for the region, from the yards that already existCluster 13: The sea
- 259Coastal clean-up businesses paid by the hotels, with the plastic sold on for recyclingCluster 13: The sea
- 260Blue-whale watching from Mirissa and Trincomalee with a code of conduct and a limit on boatsCluster 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
- 265Lighthouse-keeper stays, since the lighthouses are there and emptyCluster 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
- 269Marine research stations that host foreign universities for a feeCluster 13: The sea
- 270Ferry and sea-plane services between the coastal towns, the way islands elsewhere connect their coastCluster 13: The sea
- 411Rooftop solar leasing for households, paid from the electricity billCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 412Solar-powered cold rooms for the fishing harbours and the farmsCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 413Biogas plants for the dairy and pig farms, with the gas sold locallyCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 414Rainwater-harvesting installation for the dry-zone villages and the hotelsCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 415Waste-collection and recycling businesses in the tourist towns, paid by the businesses they serveCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 416Composting of hotel and market waste into a branded soil productCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 417Plastic-recycling units making building products from the beach and river wasteCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 418Electric-vehicle charging networks along the tourist routes, ahead of the demandCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 419Battery-storage services for the guesthousesCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 420Solar water pumps for the smallholders, sold with a maintenance contractCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 421Energy audits and efficiency retrofits for the hotels, paid from the savingsCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 422Biomass pellets from the coconut and rice husks for the tea factories' driersCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 423Water-purification franchises for the districts where the wells are failingCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 424LED and efficient-lighting retrofits sold to the factories and the templesCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale
- 425Mini-grids for the islands off Jaffna and the villages the grid has not reachedCluster 21: Energy, water and waste at small scale