Despite seeing tourism as the backbone of its economy, Sri Lanka encountered a severe economic crisis when the travel and tourism industry experienced a significant setback.
The 2020 global coronavirus pandemic and the 2019 Easter attack in Sri Lanka had a significant effect on the country's tourism sector.
Specifically, during the Corona pandemic, Sri Lanka's tourism business had completely collapsed.
These factors caused Sri Lanka to experience a severe economic crisis unlike anything it had ever experienced.
Tourist entry into Sri Lanka has been entirely halted by the country's economic crises, gasoline shortage, traffic jams, power outages, and price increases, among other issues.
The Sri Lankan government is now promoting tourism through a number of initiatives. Currently, there is a lot of work being done to encourage cinema tourism in particular.
A significant effort is being made in Sri Lanka to use movie productions as a source of revenue.
The Sri Lankan government is specifically making efforts to facilitate the operations of Indian film crews filming in Sri Lanka.
In the past, there weren't many Indian cinema shoots in Sri Lanka, however now days, there are noticeably more shootings.
The filming of 800 was a huge success in Sri Lanka during the height of the country's economic crisis.
Later, a movie starring the well-known Malayalam actor Mammootty was also successfully shot in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan film tourist sector thereafter began to trend in the right direction.
The Managing Director of Aingaran Media Solutions Pvt Ltd, Nataraja Karthik, gave BBC Tamil an explanation of why Sri Lanka is the center of Indian movies.
Traveling to the United States and the United Kingdom for the purpose of filming Indian films was strictly prohibited during the Corona regime. Restrictions were not as harsh in Sri Lanka, though. There were also LPL games for the local T20 league in Sri Lanka. We had an Indian shoot as soon as the Covid virus spread. There was an economic crisis following that, he claimed.
The travel and tourism sector was severely impacted by this crisis. He claimed that plans had been made for the filming of 800 to take place during that time and that attempts had been made to reschedule the filming of 800 due to the economic downturn.
During the shoot, 180 technicians and 65–70 Indian artists participated. Seventy days of filming. The issue of how to carry out the shootings during the financial crisis came up.
Nataraja Karthik, however, asserted that he followed all necessary procedures to successfully finish the filming.
He mentions that since this successful shot took place in the midst of the economic crisis, Indian cinema has looked to Sri Lanka, and he claims plans are in place to organize several film shootings in the country after the crisis passes.
"The news began spreading in Indian cinema as many technical artists, including Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi, were shooting for 800," stated Nataraja Karthik. Following that, Indian cinema's trust in Sri Lanka grew."
He went on to say, "We had private conversations with Harin Fernando when he took over as Minister of Tourism. Following that, we went to all of the Indian states' film production firms and had direct discussions with them. We explained to them that Sri Lanka is a great place to make a movie. Their confidence grew since the Tourism Minister was also involved, he said.
At the same time, Nataraja Karthik stated that a lot of people had started traveling to Sri Lanka since everyone wanted to be kind to the country on that particular day.
He claims that because of the war, political unrest, COVID, economic downturn, and other issues, Indian cinema has not given Sri Lanka much attention and is consequently unsure of where to shoot.
"Since we stated this clearly, Sri Lanka has been the focus of Indian film. It is only recently that the Indian film industry has become aware of these areas for filming," he continued.
Sri Lanka is currently the site of numerous Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam film shoots, and it is rumored that the Bollywood film industry will begin visiting the country in the near future.
He also points out that because Sri Lanka is situated in such close proximity to other states in India, it has the potential to meet its needs at a relatively inexpensive cost.
As a result, he also emphasizes how the Indian cinema industry has started to infiltrate Sri Lanka.
When touring Sri Lanka, Indian performers receive personal protection, and the Ministry of Tourism is the only entity that makes accommodations.
VIP security was provided, particularly for celebrities like Mammootty and Prabhu Deva who came to Sri Lanka for filming.
Consequently, they began posting more information about Sri Lanka on their social media profiles after becoming content with the enhanced protection and benefits granted to celebrities visiting the country.
The recordings' social media upload, according to Nataraja Karthik, has reinforced Indian cinema's faith in Sri Lanka.
Cabinet has approved the "Single Window System" project that the Ministry of Tourism has presented. Permission to shoot a movie in Sri Lanka for two weeks will be granted through this project.
The Ministry of Tourism will get 30 to 40 licenses if they are needed for filming in theaters. We are keeping an eye on the film industry, particularly in Russia and Spain, as this collaboration is evident," Nataraja Karthik stated.
He claims that efforts have been made to introduce Sri Lanka to the Hollywood film business.
Nataraja Karthik notes that the film industry has now taken over as the primary driver of Sri Lanka's tourism business.
This has two benefits to it. In terms of economics, one hundred tourists arrive. They remain for ten days. In comparison to regular visitors, the film industry's revenue will increase by at least five times if 100 film technicians arrive in Sri Lanka and stay for ten days, he claimed.
Fees for vehicles, buildings, artists, etc., fees for Sri Lankan technicians, fees for filming locations, fees for the hotel business, and costs for technical equipment utilized in Sri Lanka are among the sources of revenue.
The cinema sector faces other expenses in addition to meals, transportation, and lodging, although the average tourist simply pays for these three things. As a result, according to Nataraja Karthik, cinema tourism generates significant revenue for Sri Lanka.
Since actor Vijay has founded a political party, Nataraja Karthik notes that there might be adjustments to the actor's itinerary for his travel to Sri Lanka, but he is unable to comment at this time.
In the near future, actors like Salman Khan and Vijay will travel to Sri Lanka. The film tourism sector in Sri Lanka is being served by a specific committee. We use the actors who visit Sri Lanka to promote us on social media when they post about us there. Therefore, it will be worth more in the future than the income in the millions of rupees "explained Harin Fernando.