May 29, 2025, 12:06 pm | Read time: 7 minutes
Tourism in emerging countries? Why you should avoid mass tourism and not negotiate, reveals TV host and development aid worker Michael Kreitmeir in an interview with TRAVELBOOK.
Is it acceptable to travel to emerging countries like Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, or Mexico, where the population often doesn’t earn enough to meet basic needs? Or does this automatically constitute a form of social tourism? Can developing countries ever stand on their own if we make them dependent on us through tourism? I pondered this during my trip through Sri Lanka, because as much as I enjoyed getting to know the foreign culture, one thing was always with me: a guilty conscience.
Plastic waste at the most beautiful sights like “Little Adam’s Peak,” suffering street dogs, and red stains on the road–remnants of the betel nut, Sri Lanka’s number one recreational drug, which has effects similar to alcohol–all dampened my joy over the breathtaking landscape, wild animals, and Buddhist temples.
Fortunately, in Koslanda, I met former TV journalist and director Michael Kreitmeir, who came to Sri Lanka over 20 years ago to shoot a documentary. Today, he lives here and engages in large-scale development aid: His children’s village “Little Smile” includes a total of six orphanages, which he finances through several spice fields, tea plantations, a hotel, and a vacation home. I spoke with him about how we can make tourism in developing countries more sustainable.
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Dear Michael, you’ve been living in Sri Lanka for more than 20 years now. Could you briefly introduce yourself?
Michael Kreitmeir: “Of course. Well, first and foremost, I’m ‘the big dad’ to hundreds of girls and boys in our Little Smile children’s village in Koslanda. That’s my primary role today. And the second is–as a dad must do–to earn money. To finance our social projects, we have farms–spice farms. The best pepper in the world grows here! That’s not an exaggeration; it’s really true. And we also have this facility here for guests who want to experience Sri Lanka authentically. Part of the development projects is thus also financed through tourism.”
What was your first encounter with Sri Lanka like? How did you get to where you are now?
“I had various encounters with Sri Lanka; I actually come from journalism. I never intended to emigrate, but then an experience came along that was probably the trigger. At that time, I made a documentary about child soldiers in Jaffna. There was a civil war in Sri Lanka then. We found ten children–eight girls, two boys–and during this documentary, during the three weeks we filmed, all the children died, all were killed. I said to myself: ‘It can’t be that tourists travel to this country while such things happen!’ That’s why I wanted to create an integration project for children, orphans from the civil war, but also child soldiers. I wanted to bring everyone together, all religions, Jews, Hindus, Christians, represented here, to live together as one family in one place. That was the idea. That’s how I ended up here.”
How has tourism changed since you first came to Sri Lanka?
“Sri Lanka has been a tourist country for ages. Sri Lanka means ‘The Noble Shining’–that already promises the best. Compared to the early days of tourism, a lot has changed today due to the internet. People travel very differently now. Travel is largely determined by Google Maps and sites like Booking.com.
The unknown, the bit of adventure that used to be part of traveling, is lost. Today, people know exactly where they’re going, they plan more and thus limit themselves–people rob themselves of their adventures.”
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The second thing is, of course, the masses of tourists traveling today. Compared to the past, the number has increased tenfold, and the trend is rising. When I first traveled in Sri Lanka, mainly Germans were in Asia, a few Austrians, and occasionally Swiss. There was no one else. Today, India and China are very strong. And you have an incredible number of people going there, who have been misled by advertising. ‘You are all alone.’
Do you feel that tourists are sometimes disappointed when they arrive and find themselves in front of a crowded “Nine Arches Bridge” or the path up to “Little Adams Peak” lined with plastic waste?
“It’s actually quite simple. If you want to travel authentically, you shouldn’t go where the internet wants to lead you. That tip isn’t just for you. If you want to travel authentically, you have to find places you want to discover yourself.”
And what helps against plastic waste and the masses of tourism?
“Mass tourism is fundamentally not good for this country. Sri Lanka is such a beautiful country. Why not protect this country from the negative effects of mass tourism? For that, we admittedly have to make the country accessible to fewer people. Here in Koslanda, with our holiday facility ‘Spirit of Ceylon,’ we have created such a place. ‘Ceylon’ is the old name of Sri Lanka–the spirit of old Sri Lanka is to be revived here, which is why our guests are very limited in number–no more than 20 can stay here.”
At your place, the vacation home and hotel finance the orphanages of “Little Smile.” What role does tourism play for the locals here in general?
“Tourism is initially positive because it brings money to the locals. However, the money mainly flows to those who work in tourism. Another downside is that it changes people. There is a friendliness–a basic friendliness of the Sri Lankans and the Tamils–and there is a friendliness of money. For tourists, it’s very hard to distinguish which friendliness is which. But I believe the biggest problem is that tourism divides society between those who earn from tourism and those who don’t.”
Can you explain that in more detail?
“In tourism, even the Uber driver earns quite well, while others, like farmers, can’t keep up. In Sri Lanka, prices have tripled in two years, even for food. In my social facilities, I constantly see the plight of people who have nothing to eat.”
How can I, as a traveler, deal with this dilemma at home?
“Basically, when you go on vacation, you shouldn’t have a guilty conscience. I’m absolutely against that–but we should be more sensitive. It starts with the question of how you dress. I find it simply terrible when people walk around half-naked in villages with their butts exposed–people here are actually very modest. As tourists, we should behave and respect the foreign culture.
Another thing is our proportionality in consumption. I often see people drinking a beer that costs a worker’s daily wage. That’s quite normal, but when it comes to a carving or a sari they want to buy, they haggle and haggle. Then five euros for a sari is too much. For me, the balance is just not right.”
What does “sustainable tourism” look like to you?
“Sustainability is a word that everyone chants today. For us, sustainable means that not a single tree was cut down for this facility. We source our food from farmers and provide our guests with drinking water from glass bottles that come directly from the well. This way, we avoid plastic waste. With the stay, we continue to finance our social projects and are not dependent on donations. This means that through travel, disadvantaged children–especially women, especially girls who have been abused–are given a better life, allowing this country to continue to develop positively. ‘Sustainable tourism’ also means to me that you leave positive traces by getting involved as a person while traveling. People are curious about other people.”