Why don’t we have travel arrangements? We can arrange it. You can go to Lumbini, and the next flight can bring you to Buddhagaya. See those places, and the next flight can bring you to Colombo, so you can visit the Temple of the Tooth and the Bo-tree. We need to arrange our connectivity in such a way.
Why not climb up to the base camp and then come down to an island in the Maldives? These are the unique holidays that no one else can offer. We can think of so many other holiday options. Look at all the different dance forms we have.
The various dancers in different regions. This is the potential we have to attract millions of tourists every year to our region. Why not utilize it? And this is my idea, that BIMSTEC should be one big tourist area. We can also showcase Biryani and other cuisines.
Look at cricket. When we were small, everything was decided at the MCC. Today, cricket is identified with India. If we have achieved such a big success in cricket, why can’t we come together and make tourism equally successful?
Let’s go upmarket and charge more. It means our rural people will have a better income. Let’s all work towards it. Let’s think about it. Maybe all of you here from the Sri Lankan industry and from India can learn something. There’s something we can learn from the Maldives, and we can talk to Nepal. Let’s look at it and develop a thriving tourist industry. A place where millions of people visit our region, making it prosperous for the people in our countries.”