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 ...

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 ...

Below is an interview with Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleke published in the French Diplomatic Review – La Lettre Diplomatique (The Diplomatic Letter) Two years after the end of a three decades conflict, the lifting of the emergency rule in late August 2011 confirmed the beginning of a new era for Sri Lanka. With the recent discovery of ...

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 ...

Special communiqué listing actions taken issued to travel and hotel trade as a confidence building measure Working closely with the defence authorities to ensure greater protection for tourists in possible vulnerable areas Both tourism and law enforcement authorities have thus far successfully handled the unfortunate gruesome attack on a tourist couple in Tangalle over the ...

Sri Lanka has been named among the top emerging travel destinations in the world. The global travel and tourism industry identified Sri Lankaas part of a group of emerging countries with potential as attractive holiday destinations behind the so-called BRICS nations. Sri Lanka was named as it is re-emerging after the civil war, investing in ...

The World Travel Market 2011 report has highlighted Sri Lanka among five other nations which have future growth potential. According to the WTM latest report Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Argentina has been earmarked as new emerging countries behind BRIC nations Brazil, Russia, India

The World Travel Market 2011 Industry Report released on Monday has included Sri Lanka among a group of countries which are second best for tourism in terms of attraction and growth whilst BRICs have been rated the best. The grouping carries the acronym SLIMMA with WTM experts choosing SL of Sri Lanka for it. Others ...

One of the world’s leading oil companies, Russia’s oil giant Gazprom will send a a group of technical specialists to Sri Lanka to explore gas drilling in the off the northwest coast of the country, government media reported. Gazprom has expressed its intention to join the gas drilling

Following is the speech delivered by Deputy Minister of Technology and Research Faizer Mustapha at the SLIM Brand Excellence awards held early this week What better time than this to discuss your theme, ‘Impossible is Nothing’? We’ve done it! You may ask what I mean by this statement. We fought the ruthless LTTE and defeated ...

In the latest figures available, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) last week reported that the preliminary figures for international visitor arrivals into Asia/Pacific destinations1 for July 2011 show a year-on-year increase of 7%. Director of the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre John Koldowski PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre notes that the growth rate has become more ...

Justice and fair-play is paramount Justice and fair-play are of paramount importance to all members of the world family consisting of 193 nations expecting justice and fair-play equally. It is the principle on which the United Nations was established in place of the less-effective League of Nations, in order to settle differences among nations based ...

Industry expects modest growth but no boom expectationsby Cheranka Mendis The tourism industry is looking at a 10-15% increase during the coming winter season although there will be no sell-out as earlier expected, according to industry experts. The season, which usually amounts to the highest number of arrivals each year, was initially expected to bring ...

Sri Lankan Airlines has begun flights to Moscow as it expands its network and increases the number of planes in the fleet.  The first flight to the Russian capital was on September 17, a twice-weekly scheduled service between Katunayake International Airport and Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. The island’s national carrier has been expanding steadily over the ...

By Cheranka Mendis Tapping into the high-end tourism market Russia would help boost tourism numbers in large volumes and drive the industry to surpass the expected arrivals of 750,000 by the end of the year to over 800,000. SriLankan Airlines yesterday made its first direct flight to Moscow

Despite crises in most world markets, the Government yesterday remained upbeat on prospects for Sri Lanka’s exports which have grown by 35% so far to reach $ 5 billion giving optimism that end 2011 figure would top $ 10 billion. “On the back of 21% growth in exports in 2010, current year’s exports have grown ...

Now Sri Lanka is enjoying the dividends of peace. The growth of the tourism sector can be witnessed. This is more important for economic growth since the country always depends on garments as well as traditional exports like tea. Especially for products like garments, we have to import the materials from overseas. So the net ...

By Marianne David Warm, welcoming and exuding good cheer, the Cinnamon Lakeside’s newest General Manager Denis Gruhier perfectly fits into the best qualities the hospitable hotel is well-known for and his affirmation of Sri Lanka’s optimistic post-war outlook for tourism in particular and the country in general is welcoming news indeed. Having joined the Lakeside ...

Combined publicity programme The Government’s plan to formulate a combined publicity programme to build a unified brand for Sri Lanka tourism is well timed and one of the brilliant steps taken in the right direction. It is noted that the project is to be named Tourism Promotion Programme (TPP). Currently Sri Lanka is at the ...

A high level delegation from Russian oil and natural gas giant Gazprom led by its Director General Gulev Valeriy this week met Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa at his office in order to discuss investment opportunities, especially in the oil exploration in the Mannar and Cauvery Basin, natural gas market as well as tourism ...

“What hurts me is that the panel has failed to recognize the immense steps the government has taken to bring peace and reconciliation, matched with development, to the north and north-east of the country that not too long ago was controlled with an armed fist by the LTTE states Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.Within the first 12 months of the war ending we even re-settled over 350,00 displac...

The world tourism secretary of the United Nations has said that Sri Lanka is the emerging country in Asia. Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization Dr. Taleb Rifai has said that the measures adopted in Sri Lanka have been lauded by the World Tourism Organization. Tourists are drawn towards the scenic beauty as ...

The Secretary General of World Tourism Organization has said that Sri Lanka is the emerging country in Asia. Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization Dr. Taleb Rifai has said that the measures adopted in Sri Lanka have been lauded by the World Tourism Organization. Tourists are drawn towards the scenic beauty and as ...

by M.D. Nalapat That old habits die hard is clear from the way in which the functionaries of the European Union seek to influence the developing economies on the best way to manage their nations. And woe betide those leaders...

INTRODUCTION The Friday Forum is an informal gathering of public spirited persons committed to contributing to the future development of Sri Lanka within a framework of democracy, pluralism and social justice. The Forum brings together a diversity of expertise and...

By K. Ratnayake Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s trip to New York and speech at the UN General Assembly last week had two main purposes: to cover up for war crimes committed during the country’s civil war and to appeal...