NAT-GEO TRAVELLER PICKS SRI LANKA AS A BEST PLACE TO VISIT IN 2012
National Geographic Traveler magazine has named Sri Lankaamong top six destinations for world travelers in 2012. It focused particularly on the island’s hill country, heritage sites, and pristine beaches.
The magazine, in its Nov/Dec issue, describes that Sri Lanka’s hill country features stunning scenery, tea plantations, and ancient Buddhist temples. “This mountainous, mist-draped realm has long been popular with backpackers and other adventurers for its tea plantations and rain forest preserves, known as the Central Highlands, which recently were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.”
The Magazine said in a review of its best of the world 2012 trips that Sri Lankais a resplendent isle. It said that the natural charms of this pear-shaped island in the Indian Ocean that nearly kisses the southeast tip of India, are indeed splendid. Sri Lanka tourism has grown impressively, with a 52 percent increase last year compared to 2009. Arrivals have topped an all-time high of 750,000 and the Government has targeted 2.5 million tourists by 2016. With those increases, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has outlined a plan to reach a 30,000 hotel-room capacity by 2015.
