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Post-tsunami ecotourism: Ranweli CEO in Australia
CEO/Director of Ranweli Holiday Village Chandra de Silva has been invited to deliver a keynote address at the Ecotourism Australia National Conference in Hobart, Tasmania.

He will speak on "Ecotourism and the road to recovery: The aftermath of the tsunami." Among the other keynote speakers will be world renowned botanist Prof. David Bellamy, several international experts on sustainable tourism and leading academics in this field.

Mr. de Silva has also been invited to deliver a lecture at the "Quality Ecotourism Symposium" by the Tourism Research Unit, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University.

He will use his hands-on experience in presenting a case study of “Ranweli Holiday Village: Transformation from beach tourism to quality ecotourism”.
Mr. de Silva was responsible for transforming Ranweli Holiday Village to an award-winning ecotourism facility, providing quality programmes on birding, nature walks and cycle tours to cultural and nature sites accompanied by qualified interpreters. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) has recognized Ranweli Holiday Village as one of the top 55 "Good Practices" enterprises in ecotourism around the world.

Ranweli is the first ecotourism resort in Sri Lanka to establish a department of eco facilities. This is managed by experienced ornithologists including botanists and zoologists who are university graduates trained as interpreters.
Mr. de Silva's pioneering work in ecotourism in Sri Lanka has been recognized internationally.

He was invited as a member of the National Geographical Society of the US panel of experts of Sustainable Tourism and Destination Stewardship in 2002, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS), UK for his contribution to travel and sustainable tourism in Sri Lanka.

Mr. de Silva is the founder president of the Ecotourism Society of Sri Lanka (ESSL) and a senior board member of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Washington D.C.

Mr. de Silva was invited in 2003 as a visiting lecturer at the Sri Jayawardenapura University to deliver a module of lectures in Sustainable Tourism with special emphasis on ecotourism, to B.Sc Special Degree students in Forestry and Environmental Science.

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