Idea 98 of 500. Cluster 4: The experience economy
The April New Year in a village, open to visitors: the games, the sweets and the customs, explained by the families who keep them
The mechanism, from the book
An app that tells people what is happening tonight converts a day visit into a 2-night stay.
Every idea in cluster 4 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Ask 3 families in one village whether they would welcome a small group of visitors on the morning of the New Year, to play the games, share the sweets and hear what each custom means. Agree a fee per guest that goes to the families, write the day on one page, and offer 8 places through 2 guesthouses nearby. A full group, and a family willing to host again next year, is the proof.
- Who pays first
- A visitor in the country in April who wants to see the New Year inside a family, not watch it from a hotel lawn.
- What leaves today
- Visitors pass through the New Year without knowing it is happening, and the families who keep the customs earn nothing from a festival most visitors never see.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. FiveThe Most Photographed Rock in the World
What a day visit needs in order to become 2 nights
More from cluster 4
- 71Evening cultural performances on a fixed nightly schedule
- 72Moonlit storytelling: the legends, the kings, the histories
- 73Royal feast dinners recreating historical menus
- 74Costume and photography experiences
- 75Archaeology-themed treasure hunts for children
- 76Private guided tours led by historians and archaeologists
Idea 98 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.