Region extends from Kuchchaveli in the north to Pottuvil in the south. The main tourism zones in this region are Arugam Bay, Pasikudah, Trincomalee and Nilaveli. West Coast Resort Region: The West Coast Resort Region extends along Kalpitiya, Marawila and Waikkala areas. High Country Resort Region: Nuwara Eliya, Bandarawela and Maskeliya are included for the High Country Resort Region. Ancient Cities Resort Region: This region has five world heritage sites, namely Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Kandy, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya. Other regions include Habarana, Giritale, Matale and Victoria. Other Resort Regions: This includes Yala, Udawalawa, Wasgamuwa, Pinnawala, and Ratnapura, Knuckles Range area. Shared Tourism with India In the past, ferry services between India and Sri Lanka for tourists have been introduced and suspended repeatedly because of their low usage. The low usage of the old ferry services could be due to the high cost of the former services. As of now, the only way for tourists to access India from Sri Lanka is by air. In 2019 negotiations about ferry services between Colombo and Tuticorin and between Talaimannar and Rameshwaram began. There is also a proposal to operate a cruise/ferry service between Colombo and Kochi in Kerala. The Indian and Sri Lankan governments are working closely together to connect the two neighbouring countries better. The Sri Lankan minister of Tourism Development John Amaratunga indicated that ferry service will help tourists from both sides to travel at a very low cost. History When the government decided to develop the tourism sector as a separate sector of the country's economy by establishing the Ceylon Tourist Bureau in 1966, there were 18,969 foreign tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka. There was an upward trend of tourist arrivals until 1982, with the exception of 1971. Between 1976 and 1982, tourist arrivals had increased by 24% per year. The tourist traffic in 1982 showed that there was a remarkable growth in the number of tourists, with 407,230 arrivals. However, with the beginning of the civil war in 1983, the growth of tourist arrivals declined and stagnated to around 300,000 – 500,000 arrivals annually. The civil war that had lasted over 25 years ended in 2009 as LTTE separatists were defeated by government forces. In 2009 the tourist arrivals numbered 448,000, and in 2015, 1,798,380, showing over 300 percent growth in six years. There is a significant domestic tourist segment making excursions in Sri Lanka. In 2014 six million Sri