Category: Tourism

Local civil aviation laws are being tweaked to make it easier for adventure aviation sports like gliding and para-jumping to take to the skies.Local civil aviation laws are being tweaked to make it easier for adventure aviation sports like gliding and para-jumping to take to the skies. Aviation sports have long been restricted by security […]

UK based entrepreneurs Global Lanka Holdings opened its flagship hotel in the heart of the city, but says the new 100 m buffer zone could hold up Rs.1.5 bn in future investment. UK based entrepreneurs Global Lanka Holdings opened its flagship hotel in the heart of the city, but says the new 100 m buffer […]

Tourist arrivals in February saw a 16 percent slump over last year at 36,000, as visiting relief workers go home and holiday makers’ trickle back.Tourist arrivals in February saw a 16 percent slump over last year at 36,000, as visiting relief workers go home and holiday makers’ trickle back. India continued to drive the numbers […]

The Ceylinco Group will tap US financial markets for 70 percent of its proposed US$ 50 mn initial investment to build the 250 room Hyatt Regency Colombo.The Ceylinco Group will tap US financial markets for 70 percent of its proposed US$ 50 mn initial investment to build the 250 room Hyatt Regency Colombo. The Sri […]

Local hotels are eligible for a one-year import duty waiver, starting March 1, for tsunami reconstruction, says Ministry of Tourism. Local hotels are eligible for a one-year import duty waiver, starting March 1, for tsunami reconstruction, says Ministry of Tourism. “The Finance Ministry agreed to grant an import duty waiver for the hotels for one […]

A group of Austrian and German victims of the Asian tsunami disaster are to file a lawsuit demanding that Thailand, a French hotel chain and US forecasters prove they reacted adequately to the disaster, their lawyers said Tuesday.A group of Austrian and German victims of the Asian tsunami disaster are to file a lawsuit demanding […]

Tourist flows to the tsunami struck Paradise Isle are drying up and the tourism authorities are considering revising 2005 targets.Tourist flows to the tsunami struck Paradise Isle are drying up and the tourism authorities are considering revising 2005 targets. January is normally part of the winter tourism peak but January 2005 saw only 38,000 visitors […]

Government lifts import duties temporarily on reconstruction material and vehicles for tsunami damaged tourism companies.Government lifts import duties temporarily on reconstruction material and vehicles for tsunami damaged tourism companies. Hotels damaged by the tsunami can import reconstruction material free of all import duties, said the Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday. “Cabinet has approved, on principle, […]

The World Tourism Organisation says Sri Lanka could have minimized tsunami damage along its coast, if it had followed years’ old WTO building guidelines. The World Tourism Organisation says Sri Lanka could have minimized tsunami damage along its coast, if it had followed years’ old WTO building guidelines. The WTO had completed a Tourism Infrastructure […]

New hotel projects – that were approved before the tsunami- must re-apply for a building licence if they fall within the latest ‘no-building’ zone.New hotel projects – that were approved before the tsunami- must re-apply for a building licence if they fall within the latest ‘no-building’ zone. “People with licences obtained previous to the tsunami […]

Tourist arrivals could dip 20 percent from over 560,000 expected this year, even as the industry throws together a package of incentives to jumpstart hotels hit by tidal waves.Tourist arrivals could dip 20 percent from over 560,000 expected this year, even as the industry throws together a package of incentives to jumpstart hotels hit by […]

A tsunami that wrecked Sri Lanka’s coast in peak tourist season is having its better fallouts, pushing through delayed reform plans while the sector bounces back.A tsunami that wrecked Sri Lanka’s coast in peak tourist season is having its better fallouts, pushing through delayed reform plans while the sector bounces back. The Tourism Ministry said […]