WELCOME TO SRI LANKA ECOTOURISM FOUNDATION

Presidential Awards for Travel and Tourism Sri Lanka-2010

‘Formal Recognition of Excellence in Tourism Industry in Sri Lanka’

‘I hope this important award would certainly help me to support further the poor communities, in sharing the tourism income, who are living around the tourism generating areas of Sri Lanka’

Palitha has been actively contributing to the development of tourism in Sri Lanka in many ways spanning  over 32 years. He is the founder President of Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF), the pioneer ‘National Ecotourism Society of Sri Lanka’ that was established in 1998. During past thirteen years he pioneered in promoting Community Based Ecotourism in Sri Lanka and worked hand in hand with other like-minded organizations in Sri Lanka, South and South East Asia, promoting Community Based Tourism Projects and poverty alleviation programmes through tourism. He also introduced the Concepts of ‘Community Ecolodges’ and ‘Community Camping’ to Sri Lanka Tourism. These programmes were initiated to promote community tourism and uplifting of the life-styles of the poor communities in tourism generating areas in Sri Lanka. Community Camping and Community Ecolodges are the vital tools to ensure tangible alternative income to the communities through tourism.

Palitha is a well known teacher, trainer and researcher in Ecotourism and during past years he has travelled extensively in many parts of the world promoting ecotourism as an International Presenter. Recognizing the Applicant’s untiring efforts in promoting CBEs in Sri Lanka, he has been invited to share his experience at global forums on ‘Community Based Tourism’ held in Far East, Australia, Japan, India and several other countries. In taking part of those forums he has been able to bring a vast knowledge and experience to further build up of CBE concept in Sri Lanka. In recognizing and appreciating of his services rendered to the ecotourism field in Sri Lanka and internationally, he has been appointed as an Advisory Board Member of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), the largest and most important ecotourism world body in 2010. Recently, appreciating of his services rendered to the ecotourism field in South Asian Region, he has been appointed as the Head of South Asia Chapter of ‘The Region’, a regional tourism organization based in Central Asia, an initiative of Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. ‘The Region ‘was launched with the hope to develop ecotourism and sustainable tourism in the region.  

The Concepts developed and the activities initiated and implemented in Ecotourism by Palitha would go a longway in supporting Sri Lanka tourism, because, Ecotourists are higher spenders than ‘ordinary’ mass tourists. High spending, nature-loving, responsible tourists are undoubtedly an attractive option for governments looking for ways of earning foreign exchange through tourism.

Palitha’s dedication for the cause of poverty alliviation through ecotourism for the poor communites in Sri Lanka is important, because, Ecotourism is often seen by the poor communities as one of the few alternative livelihoods which are open to them. Communities whose people are living in poverty, invariably find their young people migrating to urban centers, because of the decline in traditional industries such as agriculture and fishing. Ecotourism can prevent this urban drift and provide them with an essential alternative income. Ecotourism could act as a catalyst to mitigate the community setbacks and to assure economic justification to the communities living around protected and natural areas.

Over the past years and to the date, Palitha has been dedicated to promote CBEs in various areas in Sri Lanka to ensure the community gets a tangible share of tourism income, alleviating poverty in tourism generating areas and thereby encouraging the community to support environmental and biodiversity conservation.

“Ecotourism: Make a World of Difference”

‘Ecotourism; Make a World of Difference’, Workshop and Symposium is being held in ‘Seoul Palace’, Republic of Korea from 3rd to 10th July, 2011. This event has jointly been organized by Asia-Pacific Tourism Association (APTA), Ecotourism Korea (EK), Tourism Sciences Society of Korea (TOSOK) and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Yeongju City Government, Suncheon City Government and The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) In the past few dacades Korea has experienced an unprecedented level of economic growth. Korea is the 10th largest energy consumer in the world, with 97% of its energy consumption coming from imported energy sources. Therefore, the Korean Government embraced the new National Vision of Low Carbon, Green Growth. The Korean Government has mapped out 17 new national growth engines and ecotourism is one of them. With the central government’s strong supports, many local governments, conservation organizations, and tour operators see ecotourism as one of the important sectors with the greatest potential for linking conservation to economic development. As Ecotourism Korea puts it, ‘the ecotourism promoters and activists in Korea have little experience in the ecotourism business, specifically marketing.In this sense ecotourism products and services often fail the market test. And some of them use ecotourism in a wrong way. There is therefore the need to inject some expertise in the many projects that build effective strategies on ecotourism development. The Objective of this event is to provide with input and insight into the ecotourism reality so that the tourism projects can become a successful tool for bringing together conservation and economic benefits’ Sri Lanka is being represented at this event by Palitha Gurusinghe, President, Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF) and the Board member of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). He is one of the Key Note Spaeakers for the Symposium to deliver a Presentation on ‘How to Develop an Ecotourism Business Plan’. In his Presentation, Palitha will enlighten the Ecotourism activists and trainees working in the model ecotourism sites in Korea, ‘on better understanding of the risks and opportunities of developing ecotourism products, create awareness of the importance of conservation and enhance the institutional capacity of the ecotourism activists and trainees to design proper ecotourism marketing tools so that the ecotourism product in Korea will become economically and socially sustainable’ Among the other prominent speakers lined up for the event are, Professer, Kelly Bricker, Chairman of The International Ecotourism Society, Masaru Takayma, Board member TIES and the CEO, Japan Ecolodge Association, Dr. Jong-gil Je, Vice-President, Ecotourism Korea, Dr. Kyung-sik Woo, Professor, Kangwon National University, Republic of Korea

 

 

VISION

“ To make Sri Lanka one of the most sought after ecotourism destination in the world and to built a professional ecotourism network, which serves as a model for ecotourism in the Asia and pacific Regions ”

MISSION

“Ecotourism in Sri Lanka to be used as a tool to conserve the environment, to assure maximum economic benefits to the host community, preserve age-old cultural heritage, provide in-depth information about Sri Lanka and to satisfy the needs of both national and international Ecotourists visiting genuine eco sites in the island”

Goals

“Focus of Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation is the social and 'economic development of rural communities in Sri Lanka, through Community Based Ecotourism Enterprises (CBEs). From its inception, SLEF has worked hard to introduce and implement poverty alleviation programs through ecotourism. To realize this objective, SLEF provides support services and motivates local communities to participate in Community Based Ecotourism and environmental conservation projects.
The Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF) focuses in reducing poverty in the tourism generating areas of Sri Lanka, contribute to economic growth, increase employment, and promote the conservation of the natural, cultural heritage sites. The specific objective of SLEF is to promote sustainable tourism in Sri Lanka and position the same as one of the best ecotourism destination in the South Asia through infrastructure improvements, community and private sector participation, and regional cooperation. The SLEF is trying hard to improve infrastructure to promote ecotourism, promote pro-poor, community-based sustainable tourism in rural areas, and strengthen of regional cooperation. SLEF believes ecotourism could mitigate environmental degradation, develop human resources, and promote cooperation between private and public sectors in Sri Lanka ”

Focus

“The long term goals of Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF) are :

• To place Sri Lanka as an outstanding destination on the world ecotourism map

• To trigger the transition of Sri Lanka's tourism industry from the traditional "sun, sea and sand" based mass tourism to nature based tourism, with an emphasis on ecotourism
• To play a pivotal role in facilitating ecological preservation and community benefits, by educating communities, tour operators and ecotourists to contribute to the preservation of biodiversity.”

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