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The Travel Foundation sustainable tourism work in Sri Lanka began in September 2005. Being the fourth largest foreign exchange earner and with a large number of direct and indirect jobs dependent upon it; tourism is one of the main pillars holding up the Sri Lankan economy.
  By supporting the revival of disappearing traditional crafts this project provides new livelihood skills and offers training in marketing and product development to help create inspiring new products. Our work helps safeguard income generation and provides an authentic craft experience for tourists.A newly established Tree Nursery is planting 28,000 trees to help revegetate after the Tsunami
 In 2007 the Travel Foundation, in conservational efforts, established a tree nursery in the Hiyare Rainforest to restore the rainforest, re-vegetate coast conservation areas, and provide trees with food, medicinal and economical value to re- settled tsunami affected families.  Trees for Life provides trees of food, medicinal and economic value to tsunami affected families and conducts environmental conservation awareness programmes for regional schools. It has established a number of community owned tree nurseries, creating income generation and employment through conservation. Most of the newly built houses have been constructed on cleared land and families resettled here now need shelter and basic food security. Coconut, Jak fruit, Mango and Rambuttan trees have been freely distributed to these families thanks to visitor donations.
10 village workshops run to guide local people on tree planting 10 community satellite nurseries have been set up with about 9,000 plants and seedlings
150 trees and plants have been given to schools to establish butterfly gardens  Approximately 1500 children have taken part in our school awareness programmes and a large number of women have participated in home gardening awareness training with gifts of several trees of their choice.Over 1,500 children have been educated in gardening skills
80 gardening workshops run for women, to help them grow plants and trees for food and medicine at home!  Tourists are invited to visit the tree nursery in the picturesque & peaceful lake and rainforest location of Hiyare. They can also explore the strikingly diverse flora & fauna, whilst on a nature trail or to take a rowing boat ride enjoying the breathtaking scenic beauty.126 trees have been planted by tourists!
Long term sustainable tourism initiatives
Responsible Tourism Partnership
The Travel Foundation has established the Responsible Tourism Partnership (RTP) in Sri Lanka with a steering committee comprising of key leaders of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, government and other organisations. The group has prioritised several issues affecting the future sustainability of tourism through the development of a programme of activities to be supported by The Travel Foundation. The RTP works closely with government agencies and other organisations bringing a multi- stakeholder approach to sustainable tourism development to the Island. The Travel Foundation has carried out a large number of regional workshops and seminars to educate and create awareness on sustainable tourism. LINC (Learning Involving and Nurturing Community)
LINC Project Beruwela works towards minimising hassle to tourists and creating opportunities for local communities to make a living from tourism by providing quality goods and services to tourists. The pilot project at Riverina Beach in Beruwela began in early 2007 and a long process of trust building, training and skill development targeting beach communities, hotel staff and management has already been implemented.
The project goals separated in to three main categories aims to
72 beach operators chose to join the Beruwela beach LINC project. In addition to six months continuous counseling of the BOs and hotel staff, one month comprehensive training was carried out covering personal grooming, introduction to Sri Lanka Tourism Industry and community tourism opportunities, service standards, cultural differences , know your customer, team work, outbound training, guiding techniques with special emphasis on nature, culture and adventure and bird watching, health and safety etc. They can be identified easily on the beach wearing Responsible Tourism/ Travel Foundation branded T shirts with their names.
 Best Experience Sri Lanka… A Guide for Responsible Travellers was developed to engage visitors in responsible tourism. This guide, a pocket size booklet containing light hearted cartoons, provides information on Sri Lankan lifestyles, social and cultural practices providing a higher level of sensitivity, understanding and comfort for the traveller. The guide is distributed to all visitors free of charge to enhance the enjoyment of their holiday in Sri Lanka.100,000 holidaymakers educated on how to make a positive difference during their visit to the island.
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T: 0117 9273049 • Registered Charity no: 1065924