A far, green country once extra: The renaissance of Sri Lankan tourism

In Vinland Saga, they communicate of a faraway place, “a warm and fertile land, untouched by slave-raiders nor the flame of war” — the place even the weary would possibly discover peace. Tolkien wrote of the same “far, green country,” glimpsed on the sting of the world. As the airplane slipped under the clouds, I believed of each. Sri Lanka stretched out in shades of green that appeared to multiply the longer I seemed. A stunning unbroken sweep of deep, stressed, and infinite green, lower solely by the blue breath of the Indian Ocean and clouds brushing the horizon. From up right here, it felt like a land made for gentleness, although its soil has identified different issues.

The street from Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport to the town was lined with coconut palms swaying within the warmth, and painted by hand indicators for mangoes, crab curry, and guarantees of “cool beer” leaning by the roadside. Every from time to time, newer indicators in Mandarin pointed the way in which to shiny casinos. The brisk air wrapped round me, and someplace in it, I may really feel sense a fragile optimism.

For the higher half of a decade, Sri Lanka has lived by means of occasions that may take a look at any country’s spirit. The shattering violence of the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, the financial collapse of 2022, and the protests that swept by means of its streets with a drive not seen in generations, are some of the current occurrences within the country’s turbulent historical past. There have been days when gasoline queues curled for kilometres and nights when even candlelight felt like a luxurious. Tourism, the once a proud pillar of the financial system, appeared like a dream slipping additional away.

And but right here we’re, on the cusp of one thing resembling a renaissance. Sri Lanka is open once more, and has tales to share.

An internal chamber from the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo
| Photo Credit:
Ayaan Paul Chowdhury

The numbers inform half of the story. Tourist arrivals in 2024 surged previous the million mark by mid-year, with India main the way in which. Earnings from the sector crossed $1.5 billion in simply six months, an achievement that took almost all of the earlier yr to succeed in. The authorities has set its sights increased nonetheless, with 2.5 million arrivals and $4 billion in income by this yr’s finish, and twice that by 2026. It’s an enterprising plan that depends on customer enthusiasm and in addition the country’s skill to persuade the world it’s protected, steady, and well worth the journey.

Refhan Razeen, General Manager of Shangri-La Hambantota, sees the shifts within the business up shut. “It’s deeply rewarding,” he says of being half of Sri Lanka’s resurgence. “We have seen first-hand the strength of our people and the spirit of our guests, many of whom returned not just out of loyalty, but love. We are helping write a brighter chapter for the island we call home.”

It was towards this era of rebuilding that Shangri-La invited me to remain at its two Sri Lankan properties — the city-front Colombo resort and the southern coast’s Hambantota Golf Resort & Spa. On paper, they’re siblings. Both unmistakably Shangri-La of their service philosophy, and each dedicated to a regular of consolation and care that has made the model a byword for Asian hospitality. But in apply they felt world’s aside.

Colombo’s property is an element of One Galle Face, the capital’s shiny promenade of skyscrapers, constructed the place the Old Army Headquarters once stood. From the upper flooring, the Indian Ocean glimmers past the brand new Port City — a stretch of reclaimed land formed by Chinese cranes and capital. Its marinas are neatly drawn, and its boulevards are improbably large, as a small growth dreaming of a Dubai-on-the-Indian-Ocean future. Down on the bottom, the lavatory indicators are in Mandarin and English. In a spot the place two native tongues have lengthy jostled for house, neither makes an look. Further south in Hambantota, one other Chinese-built port waits within the harbour.

The view of the Galle Face as seen from the brand new Port City marina in Colombo
| Photo Credit:
Ayaan Paul Chowdhury

Refhan prefers to see these adjustments as alternatives. After all, Shangri-La, is not any stranger to the thought of bridging the traditions and modernities of the East and the West. Founded in Hong Kong, it now finds itself in Sri Lanka, searching over ports and skylines formed by the identical nation whose identify it carries in its DNA. “We don’t position ourselves through geopolitics,” Refhan says, “but through the universal values of service, respect, and community.”

In Colombo, company step into polished marble and floor-to-ceiling home windows that catch the ocean. Business travellers in fits share the foyer with wedding ceremony events, the scent of jasmine from the Chi spa drifting in from someplace above. From the sea-facing rooms, the harbour feels alive. Ships drifting out and in, the sunshine altering hour by hour, as if the view is portray itself anew every time you look.

Mornings start with the sort of breakfast at Central that would preserve you fortunately seated for hours: hoppers and sambols, eggs for days, fruits lower so neatly they appear like artwork, and an assortment of Indian breakfast necessities. By sunset, and the air loosens. Tiki Bar leans into the lazy breezes and a terrific ensemble of reside jazz, with an arrack cocktail sweating in each hand. Later, at Capital Bar & Grill, I discovered what could be the most effective whiskey bitter I’ve ever tasted… ok that I went again for seconds. And then, admittedly, thirds.

The view of the upcoming Port City and harbour from the sea-facing rooms at Shangri-La Colombo
| Photo Credit:
Ayaan Paul Chowdhury

Three hours south alongside the brand new expressway, Hambantota strikes to a completely totally different tempo. Where Colombo was extra cosmopolitan and plugged in, Hambantota is immersive, and formed by nature and the southern coast’s simple sprawl. Set on 58 hectares alongside a 1.2-kilometre seashore, this beautiful property seems like a non-public property. The horizon appears unbroken by something however the sea and the air carries salt and frangipani. The property is an ecosystem of its personal, with an 18-hole golf course, an artisanal village the place woodcarvers work in open huts, three swimming swimming pools, and a spa scented with Ayurvedic oils.

My time right here had a manner of unfolding with out a lot planning. The grounds are so huge and winding you can wander for hours with out retracing your steps.  I in some way discovered myself on the archery vary one afternoon, and even on a trapeze earlier than dinner. At evening, the temper adjustments. One night, I walked the shoreline beneath a full moon so brilliant it appeared to set the ocean aglow, with the sound of the waves carrying far into the stillness. Another led to some cheeky drama of being sternly instructed off by a cussed firangi for laughing too loudly within the small hours — although it felt unattainable to not in a spot that makes you are feeling this unguarded.

A hen’s-eye view of Shangri-La Hambantota
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“Resilience is a practice,” Refhan says when requested how luxurious survives in a spot that has confronted a lot uncertainty. “Shangri-La’s five-star promise is built not on opulence, but on authenticity, care, and service from the heart. What emerged from the crises was a deeper, more meaningful kind of luxury rooted in connection, and not just aesthetics.”

That connection appears to run deep. In Hambantota, employees recall returning company by identify, in wedding ceremony events who come again for anniversaries, and households who e book the identical suite every year. India now leads as Sri Lanka’s largest supply market. From January to early July this yr, almost two lakh Indian travellers crossed the quick stretch of water that separates the 2 international locations, drawn by cultural familiarity and quick flight time. Refhan credit this to “understanding” greater than advertising. “Indian travellers are diverse, discerning, and emotionally connected to Sri Lanka. We curate experiences that reflect that through destination weddings, multigenerational travel, as well as wellness, gastronomy, and family-focused stays.”

Of course, the renaissance is fragile. The financial system, although now not in freefall, continues to be beneath the burden of an IMF programme. Public providers nonetheless pressure beneath the burden of austerity measures, and the recollections of 2022’s shortages stay contemporary. Alongside, Chinese funding continues to ship infrastructure on a scale few others may match, however in the identical breath, it leaves room for questions on what’s owed, and to whom. Still, there’s a shared understanding right here that tourism can herald income shortly, rebuild confidence, and put individuals again to work.

Yet it’s unattainable to disregard the indicators of life. At Colombo’s Galle Face Green, households picnic beneath the solar, distributors promote kottu roti and isso wade, and kids fly kites towards a skyline that’s, once once more, rising. In Hambantota, company cycle previous rice paddies on their technique to the lagoon, or head out within the wee hours to a leopard safari at Yala.

The Colombo Galle Face skyline at sundown, as seen from the Lotus Tower
| Photo Credit:
Ayaan Paul Chowdhury

The Sri Lankan push for tourism is bold, however it carries the intimacy of one thing rebuilt by hand. It’s within the small gestures of the cool towel and lime drink at check-in. It’s within the easy kindness of the earnest housekeeper who left me a handwritten notice wishing me nicely and a superb evening’s sleep. It’s in our Yala safari information, whose eyes lit up with a childlike gleam on the mere chance of recognizing a leopard, even after making the journey over a thousand occasions previously decade. It’s within the shy chef who taught us to make hoppers from scratch, affected person and mild by means of our failed makes an attempt, till we lastly managed one which held its form. Throughout my keep in Sri Lanka, none of these little, significant particulars felt inauthentic. “What stands out is sincerity,” Refhan says. “Guests feel seen, valued, and cared for in deeply human ways.”

It’s tempting to name this a comeback, however that may recommend a return to one thing acquainted. What’s taking form in Sri Lanka feels totally different. More like a gradual turning metamorphoses towards a tourism that attracts from the intimate, human textures of its individuals.

Sri Lanka continues to be discovering its steadiness between previous and future, and between dependence and self-reliance. For the traveller, that search is an element of the draw. It’s not a country polished into certainty, however one nonetheless within the act of changing into. Or, as Refhan places it, “Sri Lanka is blooming.”

This author was in Sri Lanka on the invitation of Shangri-La