Tourism: a catalyst for ecosystems revival?
A science-based content series, launched to celebrate World Tourism Day 2022
In anticipation of World Tourism Day 2022, we've been "rethinking tourism". Through a series of articles spanning four tropical environments and ecosystems within, Chalana Perera and Sandunie Liyanagamage explore the untapped opportunity for truly regenerative tourism to emerge through nature-based solutions.
The four-part series demonstrates how restoring, reviving and regenerating oceans, mangroves, rainforests and mountain ecosystems is key to the long-term survival of vulnerable tourism economies.
RETRACE Hospitality collaborated with scientists, conservationists, environmental activists, forestry and sustainable tourism experts and change-makers including Dr. PB Terney Pradeep Kumara, Kanchana Weerakoon, Miguel Cunat, Dejan deZoysa, Jayantha Wijesingha, Dilsiri Welikala, Don Muditha Katuwawala and Shanjeevan Amalanathan.
About the authors
Sandunie Liyanagamage
Sandunie Liyanagamage is pursuing a Master of Environmental Management at Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment. Her Masters focuses on supporting organisations to implement environmentally sustainable business practices. She has worked with the EDF Oceans team on an initiative which aims to use the best available science and socioeconomic analysis to achieve consensus on which blue carbon interventions could serve as a basis for high quality carbon credits. She is a chemical engineer from Georgia Institute of Technology and an environmental consultant with 8 years of work experience on air quality and water quality compliance along with sustainability projects such as GHG quantification, materiality assessments, and sustainability reporting.
Chalana Perera
Chalana Perera is the founder of RETRACE™ Hospitality, a Sri Lanka-based client advisory service that specialises in regenerative hospitality and tourism development. Chalana began his career developing hotels in Europe for institutional investors and international brands including citizenM Hotels and YAYS. A graduate of Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, a certified Commercial Real Estate Developer from IFF London, and a certified Climate Reality Leader, Chalana was Sri Lanka’s first signatory to Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency and the Future of Tourism Coalition. He is a member of the Hospitality of the Future Think Tank and has spoken at industry events including MIPIM (France), ITB (Germany) and the Young Hoteliers Summit (Global).
