Sri Lanka has launched a new Marine Tourism Roadmap that emphasizes a balanced approach between conservation and economic development, promoting eco-friendly activities such as diving, snorkeling, ship wreck diving and marine wildlife watching. These activities are designed to support local livelihoods while safeguarding Sri Lanka’s rich marine biodiversity, particularly coral reefs, marine mammals, and fragile coastal habitats that face increasing environmental pressure.
Sri Lanka’s ocean territory is nearly seven times larger than its landmass, highlighting the vast, untapped opportunities for marine-based tourism. The roadmap presents both short-term and long-term implementation strategies, aiming to develop sustainable marine tourism infrastructure, enhance visitor experiences, and ensure the protection and resilience of marine ecosystems in the years ahead.
The strategy, created with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under its technical assistance program Supporting Tourism Resilience, lays the groundwork for a new chapter in tourism and the nation’s blue economy.
The strategy outlines two categories of coastal destinations: areas covering Kalpitiya through Galle to Trincomalee, which possess established marine tourism industries; and areas covering Mannar, Jaffna and the North-Eastern coastal belt, which are recognized for their emerging tourism potential. The roadmap itself was the result of collaboration among stakeholders covering coastal areas of Negombo, Kalpitiya, Mannar, Jaffna, Mullativu, Trincomalee and Galle and also the Steering committee members representing 18 key marine related public and private sector institutions including Presidential Secretariat, Ministry of Tourism and the SLTDA. This unified approach ensured that the document reflects the diverse perspectives of stakeholders directly involved in marine and coastal tourism development.
The final validation of the Roadmap was done by the Marine Tourism Steering Committee, which included representatives from key marine related public and private sector institutions.
SLTDA’s Chairman, Mr. Buddhika Hewawasam underscored the importance of collective action in achieving the goals and objective of the Marine Tourism Roadmap. He further noted that success will depend on effective coordination between the government, private sector, local communities, and environmental agencies
Hon . Deputy Minister handing over the official launch of the Marine Tourism Road map to Mr . Buddhika Hewawasam , Chairman SLTDA
