Research Interests

• Event Management
• Event Studies
• Event Tourism
• Heritage Tourism
• Regenerative Events & Tourism

Ongoing Research Themes

• New Trends of Events Industry and Festival
• Tourism in Sri Lanka, Heritage Event Tourism in
• South Asia, Heritagization of Events, Role of
• Events and Tourism in Heritage Making

Indexed Journal Articles

Indika, M.K.A. (2026). Religious Events and Performances for Tourism, In Religious Heritage and Tourism in South Asia. Timothy, D. & Shinde, K. (eds.). Routledge. (In press)

Indika, M.K.A. (2026). Invisible Burden of Festival Tourism & Buddhist Religious Events: Challenges and Prospects, 2026. In Handbook on Festivals, Culture and Responsible Tourism: Journeys to Sustainability. Ramkissoon, H., Sharma, S. & Kumar, N. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing. (In Press)

Indika, M.K.A. (2025). Cultural Tourism beyond Staged Authenticity: Experiencing Everyday Village Life in Sri Lanka. In Meaningful Tourism: Strategies and Meaningful Development.  Tyagi, P.K. , Nadda, V. & Singh, A.K. (eds.). Emerald.

Indika, M.K.A. (2024). Heritagization of weddings: a case study of Sinhala-Buddhist Community in Sri Lanka, Asia Pacific International Event Management Journal, 3 (1).

Reasons for Higher Level of Tourists’ Satisfaction on Ayurveda Health Resorts in Sri Lanka, 2024. Paper presented at the 26th International Conference: Tourism and rural space in national and international context, organized by the Romanian Academy, Romania.

Indika, M.K.A. (2023). Engaging with ‘Homeland of Buddha’: Outbound Buddhist pilgrimage tourism from Sri Lanka to India and Nepal. In Management and Practices of Pilgrimage  Tourism and Hospitality. Gupta, S., Aragon, L. C., Kumar, P., Madhurima, & Ramasamy, R. (eds.). IGI Global.

Indika, M. K.A. (2023). Tourists’ Satisfaction and Authentic Elements of Folk Life Experience: A Case Study. Paper presented at 4th International Conference on Intangible Cultural Heritage, organized by University of Sri Jayewardenapura.

Indika, M.K.A. & Amarakoon, A. (2022). Technological Adaptation for a Crisis: Prospects, Challenges and Future of Virtual Events. In New Challenges, Emerging Practices and Global  Outlook in Service Management. Tyagi, P.K., Singh, M., Tyagi, P. & Raheja, K. (eds.). Shineeks Publishers.

Indika, M.K.A. & Gunasekera, N. (2021). Success Factors in Managing of International Conferences in Sri Lanka. Asia Pacific International Event Management Journal, 2 (1), 73 – 84.

Indika, M.K.A. (2021). Impact of Covid-19 and Business Revival Strategies of Event Industry in Sri Lanka. In Varying Dynamics of Business: Revival and Reformation. Singh, M., Tyagi, P.K., Singh, A.K. & Mukherjee, M. (eds.). Bharti Publications.

Indika, M.K.A. (2021). Tourists’ Perception on Facilities and Re-visitation: a Study of Cultural Heritage Tourism at Sigiriya World Heritage Site, International Journal of Asian Economic Light, 9 (2).

Indika, M.K.A. & Gunasekera, N. (2021). Impact of Technical Determinants on Success of International Conventions, International Journal of Global Economic Light (JGEL), 7 (1).

Event Tourism in Sri Lanka: An Overview, 2021. Toureview, 1

Teaching Expertise

• Fundamentals of Event Management
• Manage implementation process of the Event
• Event Leadership and Communication
• Marketing planning for event
• Event proposals
• Human Resource Management in Events
• Heritage/cultural Tourism
• Cultural Resource Management

Curriculum Contributions

Resource Person of Events Management – A/L Vocational Stream Curriculum Development
National Institute of Education,
Maharagama.

Resource Person for A/L Event Management Teacher Training at The South Asian Centre for Teacher Development,
Meepe & National Institute of Education, Maharagama.

Projects Completed

Organizer/Coordinator of the Short Course in Financing for Business Startups conducted by a Bulgarian Expert for UCR students.

Panorama Art Concert and Rude 1st Edition (Supervision)

Projects Ongoing

Chief Organizer and Moderator the UCR Global Leisure Webinar Series with participation of 24 international experts in leisure from 24 countries as guest speakers at 13 versions up to January (2026).

Organizer of Beyond the Horizon: UCR Management Guest Lecture Series with participation of international experts in Events management and Tourism (3 versions up to January 2026).

Professional Experience

Awards & Honors

1st scholar obtained a distinction for an Event Management course offered by Asia Pacific Institute of Event Management, Leeds, UK.

Gampaha District 1st in Arts stream at GCE Advance Level Exam in the relevant year.

Full Scholarship offered by Asia Pacific Institute of Event Management, Leeds, UK to follow Certified Event Planner, Certified Event Manager & Certified Event Educator Courses.

Full Scholarship offered by Cornell University, USA (Funded by The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – GIZ, Germany) to Follow Sustainable Tourism Destination Management Course of the University.

Professional Memberships

Professional Member, Asia Pacific Institute of Event Management, UK.

Reviewer, Cogent Art & Humanities, Taylor & Francis. (Scopus & Wos)

Workshops & Training

Chair, organizer & main speaker of the webinar on Heritage Festival Tourism and Cultural Economy in Sri Lanka as an ancillary event of Tourism and Rural Space 27th International Conference (hybrid – 29 -31 May 2025) Vatra Dornei, Romania, Organized by Romanian Academy & Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Invited speech on ‘Sustainable transformation of heritage festival tourism in South Asia’ at the 7 days National/International Workshop on the occasion of World Tourism Day 2025, organized by Dept. of Tourism Management, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, India.

Invited speech on ‘Sri Lankan Buddhist Festivals and Rituals as Tourism Events and Products’ at  Buddhists Heritage and Tourism Symposium – 2023 organized by Institute of Tourism, Belgium (Invited by Prof. Kiran Shinde, La Trobe University, Australia)

A special guest lecture on ‘Event industry revival strategies from Covid-19 crisis’ at CEE-ZEE webinar series, organized by C Z Patel College of Business & Management. Charutar Vidya Mandal University, Gujarat, India.

Guest lecture for the students of senior NCOS’ refresher course II at military intelligence corps regimental center, Colombo.

Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education, Staff Development Center, University of Sri Jayawardenapura.

TVET for Sustainable Development (Online in Country Program in Sri Lanka), Conducted by Colombo Plan Staff College, Philippines.

Professional Development Training Programme – ‘Team Endeavour’, conducted by Academy of Adventure at AOA base camp, Belihuloya.

Skills & Expertise

• Event Planning
• Event Management
• Tour Planning & Coordination
• Research Design
• Curriculum development