(TAN): Sri Lanka Tourism is trying to leverage the country’s popular tourism destination, Sigiriya, being named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World by Bloomberg, to attract tourists and emerge from the slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, Sri Lanka Tourism said Sri Lanka is the only Asian country to make it onto the list.
Dating back to King Kashyapa in the fifth century AD, Sigiriya is the “perfect amalgam of human-made treasure and natural wonder” says Bloomberg. Nicknamed Lion Rock—a reference to the paws sculpted into the base of the 660-foot-tall stone—it includes elaborate cisterns and gardens, frescoed caves, and a winding stairway to the crowning citadel.
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Sri Lanka Tourism has strategically embarked on developing Sigiriya, a World Heritage site, into a sustainable destination under the National Sustainable Destination Certification (NSDC) initiative. Sustainable tourism is essential to protect natural, cultural, and environmental resources which are critical for the wellbeing of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. If these valuable resources are not sustained, Sri Lanka could see dwindling tourist number in the future.
In keeping with this initiative, single use plastic has been recently banned in Sri Lanka. While sustaining our resources this strategy will also provide locals more opportunities to practice ancient arts and crafts to cater to demand for sustainable materials, the tourism promotion body said.
