Former Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa today (19) said there was huge potential in the youth tourism market and that Sri Lanka should strategize to reap the full benefits from it. Rajapaksa was addressing an event organised by Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO). He said based on UNWTO research the youth tourism market consisted of approximately 370 million tourists and was valued at staggering $ 400 billion. He said even though the research was done before the pandemic, the data gives an idea as to how much potential the market holds. He said following the opening up of the domestic tourism is China more than 60% of travel inquiries were received from travelers under the age of 30. "McKinsey & Company in its research study has revealed that the elderly community are most vulnerable during Covid," he said suggesting there would be a sharp decrease in elderly travellers. He said it was time for Sri Lanka's tourism industry to re-think, re-structure and reach new markets while offering something new post pandemic. He said promoting 'environmental tourism' through the concepts such as clean ocean, clean air, a clean coast can be something different to offer post pandemic.