Environmental Impact Assessments in Sri Lanka are fast losing their credibility due to poor quality in reporting standards. In this op-ed based on a recent CSF study, critical issues on social impact reporting contained in EIAs are flagged. The author calls for greater scrutiny by authorities, project promoters, and financial institutions.

A new Policy Brief by CSF warns that Sri Lanka’s renewed push to lease large tracts of land for tourism risks repeating past failures unless land allocation is grounded in ecological limits, infrastructure readiness, and community realities. The findings are especially timely as Sri Lanka positions the tourism sector as a key pillar of post-crisis recovery. While streamlined land leasing may appear efficient, CSF cautions that speed without preparedness risks eroding community trust and undermines long-term economic value.

Sri Lankan tourism authorities are planning on leasing 3,000 acres of state land across coastal regions for tourism investment, expecting to generate US$ 60Mn in investment. But experience from the Kalpitiya island leases hint at a larger problem with tourism land leases that need attention, to avoid repeating mistakes of the past.

A new CSF Policy Brief argues that private-public collaboration platforms in tourism must include members who can provide a more holistic and contemporary perspective of the industry. Plans for a new Act provide a good opportunity to rethink private sector representation in tourism bodies.

Sri Lanka will be hosting unprecedented numbers of tourists in the shortterm. National parks are a key tourist attraction, hosting rapidly increasing visitors since 2009. A new report by CSF, titled 'Getting the Price Right: Rationalizing Park Entry Fees and the Case of Yala National Park', makes the case for why we should take a closer look at how national park entry fees must be determined and revised. Through a review of the theory and practice of national park entry fee pricing, along with a historical analysis of Sri Lankan national park entry fee revisions, the report presents four policy considerations.

Tourism in Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads. While the industry is a crucial driver of economic recovery, it also places immense pressure on the country’s natural resources. This paradox—where tourism both depends on and threatens nature—requires urgent attention for long-term sustainability. CSF's new report 'Spotting the Problem' explores this intricate relationship through the lens of complexity theory, highlighting the case of overcrowding and safari misbehaviour in Yala National Park Block 1.

In 2024, the Centre for a Smart Future (CSF) conducted a research study on how local stakeholders perceive the interactions between tourism and nature in Maskeliya, Kalpitiya, and Yala National Park, with the objective of unpacking destination-level realities of how tourism activities are taking place in Sri Lanka’s nature-abundant tourism sites. This Background and Scoping Report provides details on the rationale and objectives of the study, and serves as a reference document for anyone who wants to know more about the methodologies used and the limitations encountered that shaped the findings and observations of the study.

Short-term and unsustainable plans for a tourism recovery, with narrow views on destination identity, can threaten the natural assets that Sri Lanka's tourism is branded on. On World Tourism Day 2024, we argue that its time for Sri Lanka to re-define tourism destination identities through an inclusive and imaginative approach. With examples from Kalpitiya and Yala, based on ongoing research, this article suggests the need to 'co-discover' destination identities with local stakeholders.

CSF Research Associate Senith Abeyanayake reflects on a recent engagement with tourism industry leaders for a panel on charting a nature-positive economic recovery for Sri Lanka's tourism. This is part of CSF's 'Perspectives Series' of articles.