Ravi Rajapaksha
Ravi Rajapaksha (born 27 August 1996 as Rajapaksha Kankanamage Ravippriya Dileep Sandakalum Rajapaksha)[1] is a Sri Lankan entrepreneur, travel influencer, investor, author and digital nomad who is known for his travel Instagram, entrepreneurial pursuits and philanthropy.[2] He is the founder of many successful brands, including Nextenco, a digital marketing firm that helps build digital brands for high-profile clients. Rajapaksha is well-known for his coaching, where he helps brands, small businesses, influencers, and other professionals achieve social media success.[3]
Early life and education
Ravi Rajapaksha was born in Matale, Sri Lanka. He is the son of R.K Saminda Rajapaksha, who was a revered Sri Lankan businessman.[4] Rajapaksha’s early studies were at St Thomas’ College, Matale, where he studied advanced level[5] Rajapaksah was heavily involved with sports and other extra-curricular activities during his schooling. He was the captain of his school football team and played as a Forwarder, winning multiple all-island championship awards. He later played for his school rugby team and showed plenty of promise in his athletic pursuits. Growing up, Rajapaksha was inspired by the nearby surroundings of Kandalama, which is renowned for its booming tourism industry and ancient sites. Rajapaksha began his career within the tourism industry at a young age and discovered a unique passion for natural tourism escapes. This paved the foundation of his career as an entrepreneur. Currently, Rajapaksha lives in Dambulla and has aspirations to pursue his higher education abroad as he travels. He continues to begin new entrepreneurial and philanthropical pursuits regularly.
Career
Once Rajapaksha realized that tourism was his passion, he travelled throughout Sri Lanka and explored Sri Lanka’s famous tourism sites. He began working as a tour guide, which helped him to learn about the tourism industry in-depth. He discovered what tourism offerings were lacking in Sri Lanka and decided to found his own tourism company, ‘Sri Lanka Elephant Safari.' Sri Lanka Elephant Safari introduces tourists to the natural beauty of Sri Lanka and provides an up-close tour experience with Sri Lanka’s elephant population. Rajapaksha began by running the tours himself, and the popularity of this endeavour allowed him to expand his team. Here, he discovered social media and how he could use it to grow his business exponentially. Rajapaksha began experimenting with social media during the pandemic and taught himself how to use social media to grow his business. He raised his Instagram account to over 50,000 followers during the pandemic and helped to keep the world interested in Sri Lankan tourism alive during this time. He used the methods he learned from growing his own Instagram account to author the popular book ‘How to Gain Profits on Instagram for Small Business,’ which shares how to grow your business on Instagram and create engaging content that sells. His next business adventure following this is his digital marketing firm, Nextenco, which has helped many businesses to grow by getting them published in internationally renowned publications. Nowadays, Ravi Rajapaksha likes to coach others and help them achieve their social media goals. He is a mentor for many influencers, businesses and other professionals and has helped many high-profile clients succeed on social media. Rajapaksha has a strong belief in assisting others to follow his path and provides many free resources and guidance to help other motivated entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. Rajapaksha spends most of his free time travelling and shares his explorations with his followers via Instagram. He is most known for his creative photoshoots, videography and filters, which more than 10 million people have used. He is a successful Sri Lankan Instagram influencer and has worked with brands to drive successful collaborations. Rajapaksha isn’t just business-oriented. He is a highly passionate philanthropist. A lover of all things nature, Rajapaksha has done a lot of charity work and has helped with coastal rehabilitation and saving the elephants. One of his guiding beliefs is, “Our primary goal is to protect the environment; otherwise, we will not be who we are today because if we are unable to control environmental pollution and degradation, it will be the downfall of the tourism industry.” He lives by this ethos and incorporates environmental management and sustainability into all of his entrepreneurial pursuits. Currently, Rajapaksha isn’t travelling as much due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, he’s using this time to conduct market research and plans to aid people who are struggling due to the pandemic to source vital goods and services to maintain and improve their quality of life.
References
- ↑ "Learn about Ravi Rajapaksha" (in en). https://infofamouspeople.com/famous/ravi-rajapaksha.htm.
- ↑ "Ravi Rajapaksha - Influencer marketing expert @ Instagram - Crunchbase Person Profile" (in en). https://www.crunchbase.com/person/ravi-rajapaksha.
- ↑ Desk, Outlook Web (2022-01-13). "The Golden Age Of Tourism: How Ravi Rajapaksha Created His Travel Empire." (in en). https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/outlook-spotlight-the-golden-age-of-tourism-how-ravi-rajapaksha-created-his-travel-empire/403974.
- ↑ "Ravippriya Rajapaksha" (in en). https://en.everybodywiki.com/Ravippriya_Rajapaksha.
- ↑ Desk, Digital (2021-05-20). "Ravi reveals the chemistry of making money from Instagram » News Live TV » Entertainment" (in en-US). https://newslivetv.com/ravi-reveals-the-chemistry-of-making-money-from-instagram/.
