IFC and NatGeo partner to promote geotourism in Eastern Province with EU, Norway support
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in partnership with the National Geographic and funded by the European Union and Norway unveiled its latest ‘Eastern Province Geotourism Online MapGuide’ yesterday aimed towards improving geotourism of Sri Lanka bringing the Eastern Province into limelight.
Geotourism as defined by the National Geographic is tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place, its environment, culture, aesthetics heritage and well-being of its residents.
The Eastern Province Geotourism MapGuide website, which happens to be one of the 22 geotourism programmes worldwide, highlights t he uniqueness of the Eastern Province by categorizing its heritage, culture, people, landscapes, etc., into three categories namely, places to go, things to do and where to stay, thus providing a comprehensive yet clear image of what the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka has to offer to tourists through obtaining views of the locals. “Everything from this website comes from people who live there because we want people to experience places most respected and recommended by locals,” said National Geographic Maps Division Director Tourism James Dion explaining the significance of voicing out locals’ opinions.
Sharing stories of local communities would help in finding authentic attractions and unique offerings, which as a result would boost the local economy, added IFC Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Adam Sack.
Dion further added t hat t he website will continue to evolve with new recommendations from people who live in the Eastern Province about places, events and all aspects of the area that need to be seen by the rest of the world in order to boost local economy in a responsible and a sustainable manner.
Sack in the meantime stressed on the importance of giving global awareness to the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. “Many of us here know how wonderful the tourism experience in the East cost of Sri Lanka is and this is increasingly being learnt and discovered by tourists from all over the world. Every time I travel to East there is something new to discover, there’s so much to see and to do.”
The website would be managed by Sri Lanka’s largest online travel company findmyfare.com under the supervision of a council comprising of representatives from the Sri Lanka Development Authority, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and other private sector tourism players.
However, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Paddy Withane while appreciating the positives of the project pointed out that carrying capacity would be a serious issue in the future due to increased travel by both foreigners and locals and measures must be taken to control this.