Starter Kit. Idea 270 of 500. Cluster 13
Ferry and sea-plane services between the coastal towns, the way islands elsewhere connect their coast
The mechanism, from the book
An ocean eight times the size of the land, and a fishing fleet that sells its catch on the beach. The Maldives built a tourism industry on water Sri Lanka has more of.
The first step
Choose two coastal towns with a slow road between them and time the trip by bus and by car. Then ask guesthouse and hotel owners in both towns whether their guests would pay for a boat, what they would pay, and how many a week. A clear yes at a stated price from the owners, set against the road time, shows whether a trial run with a hired boat is worth doing.
- Who pays first
- A traveller moving along the coast between two towns, who will pay more for a fast crossing than for a long day on the road.
- What leaves today
- Visitors spend holiday days on the road or skip the far coast, so towns that the sea could connect earn nothing from them.
Ask first
- Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Ask what a passenger ferry needs to use a harbour or jetty.
- Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. Ask whether a ferry for visitors must register as a tourism service.
Check before you spend
Whether the boat or plane is licensed for passengers, which landing places may be used, and what insurance covers every seat.
Find out these three numbers
- How long does the trip take today by road?
- What would a passenger pay to save that time?
- How many passengers a day travel between the two towns?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.