The hub that is not on the list yet
Trincomalee and the east
Trincomalee and the east, where the resource is the finest natural harbour in the Bay of Bengal, and the hub is the sea: sailing, diving, the wrecks and the whales.
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
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
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
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 485
25
Sport and the cricket economy
The country's best-known export is cricket, and little of the business around it is built at home.
10 ideas, 466 to 47572 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)
- 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
- 98The April New Year in a village, open to visitors: the games, the sweets and the customs, explained by the families who keep themCluster 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
- 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
- 328Foreign-degree colleges in the east and the north, since almost all of them sit in ColomboCluster 16: Education and the exam funnel
- 466Cricket academies for the children of Sri Lankans abroad and the world's, in the school holidaysCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 467Coaching exports: Sri Lankan coaches contracted to clubs abroad through one agencyCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 468Club-cricket tours: amateur teams from abroad playing Sri Lankan clubs on the domestic groundsCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 469Surf competitions on the east coast on the world calendarCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 470Marathon and trail-running events in the hills and the ancient cities, with the medal worth keepingCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 471Sports-physio and rehabilitation clinics serving the touring teams and the visitorsCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 472Equipment manufacturing: bats, balls and kit, which India does and we do notCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 473School-sport leagues sponsored by the businesses in this listCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 474Golf packages at the hill courses, priced for the Asian marketCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 475Rowing, kayaking and sailing clubs on the reservoirs and the harbours, open to visitorsCluster 25: Sport and the cricket economy
- 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