. and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) on ...

Sri Lanka Expo 2012 will kick off from 28 to 31 March at Sirimavo Bandaranayke Memorial Exhibition Centre of BMICH, under the theme ‘Partnering with the Hub of Asia.’ This event will be organised by the Export Development Board. Having foreseen the importance of Expo 2012 to promote Sri Lanka as a destination, Sri Lanka ...

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

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 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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

Business Monitor International (BMI) believes the outlook is still bright for Sri Lanka tourism and forecast a 55% rise in tourist arrivals to 1.42 million tourists over BMIs newly extended forecast period to 2016. The BMI, a London-based company, publishes specialist business information on global

Following is the address delivered by The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President Anura Lokuhetty at the National Conference on ‘The Role of the Business Community in Reconciliation’ organised by Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS):   Ladies and gentlemen, throughout the history of mankind, humankind has searched for ...

Signifying another milestone of the Post-War development in Sri Lanka, the Jaffna International Trade Fair 2012 has been declared open yesterday by Douglas Devananda, the Minister of Traditional Industries & Small Enterprise Development. The Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF), which is focused on marketing the opportunities in the virgin market of Jaffna peninsula to private ...

How the key industry progressed last yearBy Cheranka Mendis Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, which saw a 30.8% growth over the previous year in 2011, has been driven by key markets India, UK and Germany and is likely to be the foremost contributor in 2012 as well. Named as ‘Visit Sri Lanka year,’ 2011 saw the ...

Ends 2011 with record 855,975 arrivalsBy Cheranka Mendis The high-flying tourism industry closed the year with a record 855,975 arrivals, marking a rise of 100,000 from the original target for the year. Statistics revealed by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) yesterday noted

Reuters: South Africa’s Sun City resort will invest $ 800 million in a tourism project in Sri Lanka, the Gead of the State-run Tourism Board said on Friday. Sun City resort is run by South African gaming and hotels group Sun International Ltd. It will be the largest ever investment in the country’s leisure sector, ...

SriLankan Airlines spreads its wings to the Swiss city of Zurich today, the latest destination in the continuous expansion of its global route network. Zurich would be the 58th destination in SriLankan’s global route network which would then span 33 countries. The airline has in the past 11 months launched services to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kochi ...

Achieving another remarkable milestone in the country’s booming tourism industry, Sri Lanka Tourism welcomed the arrival of the record 800,000th tourist in 2011 at the Bandaranaike International Airport last evening. Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa and Managing Director Rumy

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, one of the world’s largest logistics providers, became an integral part of the South Asian Apparel Leadership Forum 2011. The prestigious forum where global and local apparel heavyweights gathered to discuss the future of Sri Lanka’s apparel industry was organised as a part of SL design festival. Hellmann, an international logistics giant ...

A 15-month long US$ 2.4 million worth Sri Lankan tourism promotion campaign funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was kicked off in Tokyo last week. The Ministry of Economic Development, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tokyo and the Nihon Keizai

International Consultants Chairman Ranjiv Goonawardena had kindly invited the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to participate by showcasing the great opportunity that Sri Lanka has to offer, at the Islamic Real Estate Finance (IREF) Summit and Gala Dinner Awards Ceremony of which it was a sponsor

Winner of Miss Sri Lanka 2011 Pageant Pushpika Sandamali De Silva from Polonnaruwa who went on to represent the country at the Miss World pageant held in London earlier this year will now be participating in Miss Tourism Queen International 2011 which is scheduled to be held in Xi’an, China on 27 December 2011. The ...

Cabraal says that reserves were built to weather demanding situation, calls on the non-banking sector to seek funds from capital markets and wants it to target 70% of GDP by 2016 By Uditha Jayasinghe Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal yesterday defended declining reserves, insisting that they were built up to be used in times ...