Sri Lanka has been placed in a strategic position as one of the major tourist attractions in the world boasting of its rich religious cultural diversity since antiquity. The end of a protracted civil war and extremist religious movements has bounced back the tourist industry and the consequent rapid expansion of tourist infrastructure in the island.The resultant rich cultural heritage of the island has been woven around ethnic origins, religious practices, and historical architecture. The Muslims who settled in Sri Lanka in the 7th century A,D. established a characteristic way of life and a distinctive form of Islamic culture which is unique to Sri Lanka, This isolated characteristic of a hybrid culture is hardly visible at global level. The importance of the multi-cultural dimensions of the Sri Lankan society should be valued and enhanced in the sphere of global tourism as local and foreign investment flowing into the sector is not directed towards promoting religious and cultural tourism. The objective of this paper is to examine the potential of religious and cultural tourism in Sri Lanka to strengthen the economic capacity of the country, paying special attention to the island’s resource heritage and its cultural diversity.The necessary information for the article is gathered from secondary sources such as journal articles, book chapters and published data. Such secondary data is supplementrd through primary sources of information extracted from field observations, interviews with key infotmants and the community leaders. A Mixed method is used to analyze the collected information.
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