Starter Kit. Idea 93 of 500. Cluster 4
Train-journey packages on the hill line with a guide, a meal and a stop that is not Ella
The mechanism, from the book
An app that tells people what is happening tonight converts a day visit into a 2-night stay.
The first step
Ride the hill line yourself and pick one station that is not Ella where a stop is worthwhile: a walk, a tea shop, a waterfall. Draft a day package with a guide, a meal and that stop, then sell it to guests at three guesthouses. The first full booking is the proof.
- Who pays first
- Visitors who have heard about the hill train and want the ride made easy, with a guide and a meal.
- What leaves today
- Visitors ride the train and crowd into the same town; a different stop spreads the spending and adds a night.
Ask first
- Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. Ask whether selling train packages with a guide needs registration as a tour operator.
Check before you spend
How reserved seats can be booked for groups, that the guide is licensed, and that the stop chosen can feed and host visitors.
Find out these three numbers
- What will visitors pay for a guided train day with a meal?
- How many seats can be reliably booked for groups?
- Which stations other than Ella have something to offer?
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.