Steve Waugh in Colombo

It was barely 7 in the morning at the St. John's Fish Market in Pettah and pandemonium reigned just as it does any other day. But if the market's customary traders and buyers thought it was just another day, it would soon change. A cab sporting the name of a popular 5-star hotel was wading through the veritable obstacle course the inner Pettah area offers and came to a stop opposite the fish market. Two foreign tourists accompanied by a local couple alighted and plunged right into chaos.

The market suddenly went into a frenzy, the already high-decibel noise ruptured in a voluminous burst. The age-old market had suddenly found a rare reason to disrupt its frantic pace of trading. "Steve Waugh, Steve Waugh...here!" A young trader exclaimed! Steve Waugh went to the St. John's Fish Market? Yes he did and by doing that the Australian legend offered Sri Lanka perhaps its biggest vote of confidence. His message to the world was clear. Peace has dawned on the emerald isle. The former Australian captain couldn't have picked a more poignant example than the place he chose for a casual early morning stroll. "Sri Lanka is a magical country with so much packed into a small island. It's a historic opportunity for Sri Lanka to make it really good," said the legend.

"It was over dinner the previous night that Steve Waugh and his colleague John Wood, Executive General Manager for global educational giant Navitas expressed their desire to drop in at the famous fish market and Steve managed to coerce me into wading through fishy water", says maverick brand guru Dinesh Watawana.

Steve Waugh was visiting Sri Lanka as a brand ambassador for Navitas which operates in Sri Lanka through ACBT. "Our quest is to offer more young people the opportunity to become global citizens by making higher education available to young people who would otherwise not have had that chance", said Waugh. The duo's visit offers renewed hope as the government attempts to attract the international investor community to help build a promising future for a country torn asunder by a protracted war. But war is now history. "Many countries seem to not accept that there is no war in Sri Lanka. Steve Waugh's casual stroll in Pettah, sans security, offers the most powerful message yet to the international community that a new sunrise has indeed greeted the island. It's time the tourists came", says Watawana, himself an ardent promoter of the country.

He masterminded the now famous KumbukRiver Eco Extraordinaire in Buttala which put Sri Lanka on the world map of tourism by winning the travel Oscar for the world's leading eco-lodge at the world travel awards.

The country must now leave no stone unturned in turning the country into a tourist's paradise.

As Steve Waugh recognizes Sri Lanka has such astonishing diversity all packed into a small island, Sri Lanka Tourism now needs to step out of the box and give tourism a new lease of life.

"I hope to discover the amazing diversity of your magical country whenever I get to comeback", says Waugh while offering to help Sri Lanka promote itself any way he can. The Australian legend's iconic status may hold future branding opportunities for Sri Lanka. "We have got to be on the ball and create these opportunities. We need to galvanize ourselves into action. The opportunity may not wait", cautions Watawana as Sri Lanka enters its most promising chapter in history. As for now, a casual rendezvous to a famous fish market tells all that all roads lead to the paradise isle.