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

Recent Selected Publications

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.
b) Non- Indexed Peer Reviewed Journal
Articles
• Authors, title, journal name, year
• Volume, issue, pages
• DOI or URL

c) Conference Papers/abstracts
• Title, conference name
• Location and year
I agree to publish this information on the UCR website

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
I agree to publish this information on the UCR website
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).

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