Documentary to promote Hambantota as a developing hub of tourism in Asia
View(s):A documentary has been prepared to profile the benefits of Hambantota and develop it as a tourism hub in Asia, its promoters said.
The concept was envisaged by Presidential award winner for tourism in 2009 – Ralph Gunawardane and initiated by a team including Ex Banker and tourism promoter Nishan Herath and prominent media personality D.M.W.Dissanayake under the guidance and advice of the Director General of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) Chandrapala Liyanage.
Veteran broadcaster Arun Dias Bandaranaike wrote the script and undertook the narration for the production. The documentary highlights the numerous plus points of Hambantota as a tourism destination par excellence in Asia.
“The documentary and the allied promotional tools mooted in the future including a collector’s edition coffee table book and a dedicated website will supplement the President and the government’s initiative and help the tourist board achieve its long term objectives and targets,” the promoters said in a media statement.
Mr. Gunawardane, an ex banker and tourism enthusiast, says he has been in the forefront of promoting Sri Lanka as a leisure venue par excellence.
He first took up the cause after the devastating tsunami of 2004 when he produced the documentary – “Sri Lanka the pearl of the Indian Ocean” with the support of the SLRC. Since then he has also produced “Sri Lanka a Land like no other” in 2008 which became the Tourist Board’s official documentary for 30 months and which eventually won him the Presidential award for tourism in 2009.