Several days after its original announcement of suspension of flights during off-peak season, SriLankan Airlines retracted saying services to Rome, Milan and Moscow will continue uninterrupted. “SriLankan Airlines’ services to Rome, Milan and Moscow will remain uninterrupted as per the present schedule. The flight frequencies to these three destinations will also remain the same,”...

Deals worth $ 12.1 m under negotiation “An invaluable learning curve for Sri Lanka’s international trade scheme,” says Rishad The recently-concluded Expo 2012 was a successful event, coming after a lapse of 15 years. “Expo 2012 garnered confirmed orders to the value of US$ 66,090 and currently orders under negotiation amount to US$ 12,110,315. There ...

SriLankan Airlines yesterday announced certain capacity adjustments to its European route network, taking into consideration the rise in fuel and operational costs and economic indicators in the EU region. It said taking current travel trends into consideration, the airline will cancel flights to Zurich, Switzerland during the off-peak from 1 May to 26 June and ...

Expo 2012, organised by the Export Development Board, provided an ideal opportunity to Sri Lanka Tourism industry to promote its product to the international market. At the end of the event, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) had been able to achieve its targets successfully. The stall of the SLTPB was one of the eye ...

A new Air Services Agreement between Sri Lanka and the Russian Federation was signed at the Ministry of Transport of Russia in Moscow on 26 March. Sri Lankan Ambassador in the Russian Federation Udayanga Weeratunga signed the Agreement on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka while Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation ...

The Expo 2012 show that commenced yesterday highlights Sri Lanka’s export products across more than 20 sectors. “Expo 2012 is a viable platform for UAE to identify the export product portfolio of Sri Lanka. In fact, we did not know that Sri Lanka has such a huge export portfolio until today,” said Rashid Al Telaji, ...

Travel and tourism is set for a milestone year as the industry’s direct contribution to the global economy is expected to pass $2 trillion in GDP and 100 million jobs. According to research by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the global travel and tourism industry will grow by 2.8% in 2012, marginally faster ...

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 ...

Loss-making State-owned enterprises are nothing new in Sri Lanka. One of the better known ones is SriLankan Airlines, which was given to Emirates due to its inability to breakeven but was retaken by the present Government. Pros and cons of this move is history but cash-strapped and a midst losses, it appears that the Government ...

Today is 19 March 2012. The day and the month of March are significant in the lives of many people – some celebrating birthdays, some wedding anniversaries, while others nurse what is yet left over from the hangover of the three day drawn encounter that we experienced a week ago or the limited over Royal ...

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 of the year, a 21% increase from the period a year ago. ...

With just 12 days to go, Sri Lanka’s largest mega trade, investment and tourism promotion initiative ‘Expo 2012’ has attracted close to 1,200 people, exceeding the expected 1,000 mark, EDB Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said yesterday. Speaking to the Daily FT, he asserted that the number of participants had increased by 500 from last week, when ...

Dubai has further consolidated its position on the global tourism map with an impressive all-round performance in 2011 registering a 10 per cent growth in visitor numbers which soared to 9.3 million, said a senior official. The hotels and hotel apartments in Dubai have registered solid occupancy levels during the year besides posting an impressive ...

The first Government University of Australia that has set up in the country, the Ballarat University, staged an interesting evening last week under the banner ‘The Ballarat Debate,’ to a select club of professionals at the City Campus that discussed some interesting ideas on Sri Lanka’s economy. One of Sri Lanka’s award-winning marketers and former ...

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), the foremost business chamber in Sri Lanka, caters to the business needs of over 3,000 establishments through its direct and indirect membership.  The service needs of these organisations are met by the CCC in numerous ways. They include, introduction of local and overseas business links, facilitation of export/import procedures, ...

  By Cheranka Mendis The much anticipated HSBC Colombo Fashion Week is now all set to open three days of glamour and fashion related business to the local community starting 24 February. With fashion weeks around the world being identified as the most glamorous business meetings, HSBC CFW will aim at promoting and encouraging local ...

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 and how best they could be harnessed. Here ...

To focus on skills development, trade, investment, sustainable development and business excellence to sustain GDP growth rate of 8%Following is the address delivered by National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka President Asoka Hettigoda at the NCCSL’s 53rd Annual General Meeting Ayubowan, good evening. Let me extend a warm welcome to all of you to ...

Sri Lanka businesses and their leaders are optimistic of prospects for 2012 whilst they are also confident the country will progress in the New Year according to key findings of a CEOs survey done by MTI Market Research. “Despite concerns about the global economic outlook, Sri Lankan businesses seem confident that the local economy and ...

International tourist arrivals grew by 4.4% in 2011 to a total 980 million, up from 939 million in 2010, in a year characterised by a stalled global economic recovery, major political changes in the Middle East and North Africa and natural disasters in Japan. By region, Europe (+6%) was the best performer, while by sub ...

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 ...

Sri Lanka will be holding two fresh bilateral trade sessions today in Hyderabad – one with India and the other with the United Arab Emirates. The talks will be held at Andra Pradesh Hyderabad International Convention Centre in Hyderabad. Minister of Industry and Commerce Bathiudeen is currently in Hyderabad as a member of the Sri ...

World famous and leading carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) yesterday emphasised its optimism over prospects in Sri Lanka and renewed its longstanding commitment to promote the destination in addition to continuing with superior service. The reiteration of positivism was when SIA announced its new General Manager for Sri Lanka Aldrin Arumugam succeeding Melvin Ng, who will ...

International tourist arrivals grew by a healthy 4.5% in the first eight months of 2011 according to the latest data from UNWTO. Europe (+6%), surprisingly, showed the strongest growth amid continuing economic uncertainty. January-August 2011: Positive note despite increased uncertainty International tourist arrivals grew by 4.5% in the first eight months of 2011 to a ...

Another Royal visit took place in Sri Lanka recently with the arrival of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. They were here on a private visit which paved the way for them visit a few tourist attractions in Sri Lanka. Prince Michael was accompanied by Princess Michael during the tour in Sri Lanka. Among 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 that the figure reflects a 30.8% increase from the previous year. ...

By Sarath de Alwis Tracing my roots to traditional marketing times in aviation and tourism, I am awed by the enormous potential of modern technologies that bring new frontiers to our doorstep; drop new vistas virtually on our laptops. Then I am appalled to see what unfolds. Global opportunities are whisked away from our grasp ...

The Top 100 Nation Brands have been ranked by Brand Finance plc with the USA, Germany and China topping the report Eurozone crisis affects the Nation Brand vales of Greece, Ireland and Japan who are ranked as the Top 3 biggest Losers  Further chaos in Europe has seen the brand values of Spain, Austria, Italy ...

A survey conducted last week on the health of the Sri Lankan economy revealed that almost 64% said that the Government had done its task but only 43% had said that there had been growth in the economy. Whilst some can say that this data is strange, a similar set of information was shared at ...

Attacked woman reportedly denies rape; blames on being in wrong place at wrong time; Family to be flown in at Sri Lanka Tourism expense for care By Cheranka Mendis The Government yesterday reiterated those responsible for the killing of British tourist and causing injury to his Russian partner will be severely dealt with as per ...