TikaWeeks #38/2025: Sri Lanka update
Posted by John on 17th September 2025
Tourism is a massive sector accounting for 10% of the global economy and 10% of jobs, with over 50% held by women. One of the things that most characterises the tourism industry is that 80-90% of businesses are SMEs (small to medium-sized enterprises), like Tikalanka, with some region’s tourism entirely driven by SMEs, which is in stark contrast to the IT industry, for instance, which is dominated by a few global giants.
Tourism is also a fabulous supporter of nature – visitors to protected areas generate US$600bn annually, which is a 60 times return on investment to the US$10bn spent on protection – and acts as a catalyst for infrastructure development (roads, healthcare facilities, internet connectivity) in developing countries.
Significantly, the tourism industry as a whole showed little or no interest in sustainability 25 years ago, but now the sector is at the forefront of many important debates, including climate change and over-tourism, and it seems to be making decent progress in some of these areas. Like Responsible Travel, Tikalanka is pleased to be a pioneer of responsible and sustainable tourism and a catalyst for change.
Electrification of travel will have an enormous impact on climate change. Obviously, tourism’s greatest single factor contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is flying, however electric aircraft for more than island hopping are currently a distant dream. Nevertheless, there are many other contributing factors to climate change that we can influence including food manufacture, transport and heating. Eating a plant-based diet has a significant impact on your individual GHG emissions, and the electrification of transport and heating will further significantly reduce GHG emissions in travel.
At the present time, electrification of travel in Sri Lanka is limited to solar panels for energy and hot water production since the electrification of transport is in its infancy, or more accurately, its foetal stage! There are a few hybrid electric vehicles on the island, and a handful of fully electric cars around Colombo, but no charging stations nor infrastructure yet. Nonetheless, we are able to offer accommodation in Sri Lanka that is either partially or completely powered by renewable energy, so please contact us for details.
Accessible travel is becoming increasingly popular, especially with an ageing population. Many of our repeat customers are returning to us years later with less mobility than on previous trips and are requesting another holiday to suit. We are also arranging holidays for wheelchair users and blind travellers. If you would like an accessible tailor-made holiday to Sri Lanka, please feel free to contact us to discuss your requirements.
Categories: Accommodation, Flights, News, Sri Lanka, Sustainability, Travel tips
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