By B. Upul N. Peiris (bunpeiris.com)

In the backdrop of Total Holiday Experience (THE) Sri Lanka Holidays, the underdeveloped island of Sri Lanka is the least promoted Asian tourist destination of the world. Arthur C. Clarke once described Sri Lanka “India without hassle”

Explaining the comparison to India

Firstly, Sri Lanka is an Eastern Destination anchored to 2550 years of unbroken recorded history, with seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including whole ancient cities of outstanding value to humanity. Here is an ancient Island with more than a couple of millennium of historical & cultural affinity, love & hate with the Indian sub continent- fons et origo (the source & origin).

Secondly, the islands being small (65,525 sq. km) without vast distances to travel one could easily get to the attractions, important sites within few hours drive. That is a luxury that wouldn’t be afforded in India given the geographical size of the subcontinent. To say that again, in Sri Lanka, there is no hassle at all in relation to distances from any of the numerous tourist attractions of the island to the other, no matter the diversity of the attractions: Beach, Soft Adventure, Cultural, Nature, Wild life, Bird life, Marine, Golf, Eco Luxury Hotels & Botanical Gardens or Unique.

Supplementing the quick-fire slogan

Neither in the lands of their (i.e. of the Indo-Aryan settlers) origin nor in South India did there develop an irrigation system of the magnitude or the complexity of that which the Sinhalese afterwards constructed in Ceylon; nothing comparable & contemporaneous (i.e.1st century A. D. - 12th centaury A. D.) with the ancient dam, canal & tank system of Ceylon, mingling the water of rivers flowing in different directions is known in continental India"
(A Short Account of the History of Irrigation Works, C. W. Nicholas, JRASCB 1960, 43-69)

It is well-known fact that for hardly any part of the continent of India is there such an uninterrupted historical tradition as for the island of Ceylon. This tradition up to the year A.D.362 is contained in the two Pali chronicles, the Dipavansa & the Mahavansa, but the Mahavansa was continued later on up to the eighteenth century, by the diverse authors at diverse times, so that now it comprises the whole history of the island, from the first immigration of the Aryans under Vijaya till the arrival of English.

Prof. Wilhelm Geiger, Munich, August 1932

Least promoted Asian tourist destination of the world.

For decades India has been among the top ten travel destinations of the world. The fact Sri Lanka has never been anywhere near the top ten, could only be construed as pathetic promotion of the island as a tourist destination during the period since independence in 1948 to date. The failure in promotion has been at once a crime & sin of the combination of indifference of successive governments of Sri Lanka, rigidity of bureaucracy of the state, lack of imagination of the citizens & lack of orchestrated effort by the private sector engaged in the business of tourism & hospitality.

Sri Lanka is nothing less than the Total Holiday Experience

Top Ten Aspects of a Total Holiday Experience

1. Aspect of sanctuary
2. Aspect of comfort
3. Aspect of diversity of terrain
4. Aspect of diversified climate & cultivation
5. Aspect of diversity of ecological system
6. Aspect of biodiversity
7. Aspect of conservation of water
8. Aspect of conservation of wildlife
9. Aspect of conservation of enriching culture
10. Aspect of unique attractions