Having visited a couple of Weligama hotels yesterday, we headed for Mirissa this morning ahead of a conference with 20 Marissa hotel owners.  What a contrast.  The beach was clean and busy with tourists, the beach bars were bustling and the surf was up.
We spent the morning surfing (again, strictly research) then headed back to Jagabay for our meeting.  From early impressions, there appears a definite gulf between Mirissa and Weligama.  Whether through neglect or mistake, Weligama is the poor relation to Galle and Mirissa on the south coast and has some catching up to do if it is going to compete in the future.  It is this topic that we are aiming to address in our summative assignment. In the afternoon, we had a meeting with 20 Marissa hotel owners. They are proud of beach since they clean the beach every day in order to keep it clean. However, except for the beautiful beach and visitor’s reputation, other issues such as relationship with the government and infrastructure seem to be same as those of Weligama.  We are seeking further aspects of tourism in South West area during the rest of the week.