Intelo Networks (Pvt) Ltd., has developed the first ever digital Tourist Information Kiosks (TIKs) launched recently by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau under the aegis of Ministry of Economic Development. To identify the locations of the Tourist Information Kiosks, Intelo has planned

By Uditha Jayasinghe Showcasing the need for vigilance, over 1,500 foreigners who remained illegally in the country after their visas expired were detected within the first two months of 2012, a top immigration official said yesterday. Controller General of Immigration and Emigration Commissioner for Registration of Persons of Indian Origin W. Perera told the Daily ...

With the vast growth in tourism, the need for technological advancement in the tourism industry has also increased immensely and to fulfil this present need, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Development has taken a step forward, together with Intelo Networks

By Cheranka Mendis Tourism in the South Asian sub region will be collectively promoted with Buddhism and ecotourism circuits at the lead during the next five years through a road map designed by the five-member South Asia Sub Region Tourism Working Group (TWG). Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa launches the South Asia sub regional tourism ...

The topic of Sustainable Tourism will be featured at the Global Compact Network Ceylon’s quarterly Sustainability Knowledge Hub, to be held on Thursday, 29 March. At 6 p.m., the Auditorium of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute will open its doors to an eminent panel of speakers which includes Six Senses Resorts and Spas founding Chairman and ...

By Cheranka Mendis Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose 27% to 83,549 in February from a year earlier, continuing the growth momentum established in 2010. Data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority yesterday showed arrivals topping 169,423 during the first two months

My column today is an attempt to focus our attention on a few less spoken or untold developments that may have a profound influence on how we carve our way through in creating a desirable social, economic and political future for mankind on this only planet of ours. While I will not specifically touch on ...

Ajantha Perera takes the position of Director of Sales and Marketing at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo of the John Keells Hotels Group. Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo is currently ranked the Best Five Star City Hotel by Sri Lanka Tourism. Perera joins the hotel with a wealth of experience spanning

The Sri Lanka China Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will organise a seminar on ‘Capitalising on Sri Lanka’s Potential for Chinese Customers’ on 19 March at the Ground floor auditorium of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce from 2:30 p.m. onwards. The seminar will focus on Sri Lanka’s potential for Chinese customers in ...

Signifying the unbreakable link between the industry of tourism and culinary arts, Bocuse d’Or World Champion 2009 Chef Geir Skeie showed up in Sri Lanka on 12 Monday at the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourist Hotel Management, where he shared his cooking expertise with the local Hotel School Students. The World Cham-pion chef arrived in ...

Veteran hotelier Prema Cooray was inducted to the Hall of Fame of the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) last week on the sidelines of the ITB 2012 in Berlin. The induction of Cooray was done during the annual international awards ceremony of PATWA held at the ITB, the world’s biggest travel fair and is ...

Sri Lanka is putting on a better show at this year’s edition of the annual International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin. Considered to be the largest global event of the travel industry, ITB 2012 has on show 53 travel/hotel companies including hoteliers, travel agents and other organisations that provide tourism related services. The Sri Lankan ...

Rs. 185 million BOT project provides eco-friendly waste water treatment infrastructure for National Holiday Resort on east coastPlans to revive tourism in the picturesque Passikudah bay on Sri Lanka’s east coast reached a milestone on 6 March, with the commissioning of a hi-tech central sewage and waste water treatment plant for the proposed National Holiday ...

Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa addressed the members of The Council for Business with Britain (CBB) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce recently. He highlighted the vision of President Mahinda Rajapaksa for the tourism industry, the world’s largest service industry

Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo said this week it will now on host special events at 8° On The Lake, providing discerning diners the opportunity to enjoy the hotel’s newest experience. The floating venue was officially opened on 19 December 2011 by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.   During its first stage of operations, 8° On The Lake functioned ...

Safety and food hygiene of Colombo eating houses quite poor, says CMC’s Chief Medical Officer By Cheranka Mendis Even though Colombo has over 750 eating houses (from five-star hotels to roadside ‘bath kades’), only 290 obtained trade licenses last year, CMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said. Speaking at the Indexpo food and management ...

McQuire Rens & Jones (Pvt) Ltd. together with Hotel Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo yet again organised one of their flagship events, ‘The Breakfast Meeting’. This is the fourth in the series where such breakfast meetings are held every other month for chairmen, managing directors and CEOs. Attendance at these events is by invitation. The past breakfast ...

Switch-Asia ‘Greening Sri Lanka Hotels’ project makes progressBy Cheranka Mendis Sri Lanka Tourism will soon introduce a ‘Green Accreditation Scheme’ for hotels which would classify hotels under its green initiatives, Switch Asia Project Director Srilal Miththapala said. The scheme

Laugfs Leisure Ltd., a fully own subsidiary of the Laugfs Gas Plc in its strive to become  one of the dominant  players in the hospitality industry has acquired Mag Consultants and Agents Pvt Ltd., (MCAPL) and its assets, comprising 1 5 acres of prime sea front beach property at Waskaduwa Kalutara with an investment of ...

Yala is the undisputed home of the Sri Lankan leopard, the star attraction of the Yala National Park. With Sri Lanka claiming the highest density of leopard in Yala within 140 kilometres, the newest phenomenon in these illusive cats is the rapidly growing population, which has naturally seen them venture out of the park and ...

The Daily FT spoke to the Immediate Past President of Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and Chairman and Managing Director of Conniassance de Ceylan Ltd., on the state of post-war Sri Lanka tourism industry, the progress and key challenges as well as future prospects

By Cheranka Mendis Sri Lanka Tourism has got off to a good start in 2012 with January arrivals reaching a record 85,874, up by 15.7% over the corresponding month of last year. For the month of January the largest arrivals from a single country came from neighbouring India which records 14, 615

In tandem with the private sector rush to harness the post-war tourism rebound, the Government this week joined the trend by kicking off its own Rs. 300 million resort in Anuradhapura, though targeting domestic tourists. Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa on the sidelines of Deyata Kirula laid the foundation stone for a tourist resort ...

The Colombo City Tour, Sri Lanka’s first-ever open deck sightseeing tour which is a venture of Sri Lanka Tourism and Ebert Silva Holidays, celebrated its second anniversary on 28 January 2012. To mark this event, the Colombo City Tour team carried out a special CSR project for 100 children

Following is the ‘Zheng He’ oration delivered by Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa last Tuesday at the Auditorium of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management ( Hotel School) 78 Galle Road, Colombo 3 The tourism industry in Sri Lanka has reached a stage

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, along with the officials of the Sri Lanka Port Authority, welcomed the Carnival PLC luxury cruise liner ‘Arcadia’ with 2,100 tourists onboard yesterday at the Colombo Harbour. The local excursion tour operator Gemini Tours and Travels

We often hear the word ‘crisis’ mentioned in discussion, speeches, orations, in poetry, fiction, articles, cartoons, within corporate board rooms, on strategic plan presentations, broadcasts, narrowcasts, etc. The word assumes even greater weight depending on what adjective is placed before it, such as global crisis, European debt crisis, financial crisis, real estate crisis or a ...

At a ceremony on January 30, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) helped launch Sri Lanka’s first “Tourism Roadside Signage Guidelines.”  USAID, the U.S. Government’s development arm, simultaneously released a manual, “Start Your Tourism Business,” designed to assist hospitality sector entrepreneurs.  Both publications, develo...

Following are excerpts from an interview with former President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and currently Managing Director Aitken Spence Travels Ltd. Gehan Perera Q: The private sector, line ministries and the regulatory bodies involved in tourism agree that the time is right for a long-term strategic plan for Sri ...

‘Sancharaka Udawa’, a one day meeting for all tourism related service providers was held yesterday at the Ceylon Continental Hotel with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa as Chief Guest. The main objective of this forum is to provide opportunities for those less exposed to mainstream tourism; creating a platform for small and medium service providers ...