Category: Tourism

Apr 08, 2014 (LBO) – Citrus Leisure Plc, which opened a 150-room resort in Waskaduwa, on Sri Lanka’s South Western coast is planning another two resorts on the Western and Southern coasts, officials said. The hotel has 250 employees and says in-house training will help keep service levels high as demand for tourism sector workers […]

Apr 06, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose 17.5 percent to 133,048 in March 2014 from a year earlier backed by strong growth from Eastern Europe, East Asia and India, official data showed. Newly emerging Poland extended gains rising 67.2 percent to 1,903. In the first quarter Poland had generated 6,354 visitors up […]

Mar 28, 2014 (LBO) – US based Best Western, is planning a 700-room strong chain partnering with Sri Lanka’s Elyon Hotels as the island draws more visitors after the end of a 30-year civil war, officials said. The firm is expecting regional travellers to make bulk of its bookings in Sri Lanka. “After the war […]

Mar 22, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s hotels have seen a good winter season with high occupancy levels, backed by stable pricing and strong arrivals from Western Europe, Russia and China, officials said.“Occupancies have increased really,” Jayantissa Kehelpannala, head of Sri Lanka’s tourist hotels association said. “Sometimes it is very difficult to even get a […]

Mar 20, 2014 (LBO) – A hotel supplies exhibition in Sri Lanka and an international hoteliers’ conference in June will showcase the latest energy saving technology and also help draw talent to the fast growing industry, officials said.The three day Hotel Show 2014, billed as the largest such event is South Asia is to kick […]

Mar 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Lanka Orix Leasing Company Plc said it had sold a 70 percent stake in LOLC Leisure, a hotel company, to Browns Investments Plc, a related company, for 2.8 billion rupees. In a separate transaction dated prior to the exit, LOLC Leisure was buying back shares from both LOLC […]

Mar 19, 2014 (LBO) – A beach festival in Bentota in Southwestern Sri Lanka will kick off next week targeting water sports lovers and tourists, particularly those from Russia and Ukraine, officials said. The Bentota Beach Festival will start on March 21. It is organized by the Hawkeyes, the sports arm of Sri Lanka’s Military […]

Mar 14, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose 24.5 percent to 141,878 in February 2014 from a year earlier, with India, Russia and China leading gains, the state tourism promotion office said. Late last year Sri Lanka suddenly reported higher tourist arrivals and revised upwards data from earlier months amid growing uncertainty about […]

Mar 12, 2014 (LBO) – Malaysia is seeking more visitors from Sri Lanka and an expansion of weekly flights, amid a ten-fold hike in visa fees that has made travel to the country more expensive.“But we are looking into public comments, agencies comments and also the service level of facilitator if we are to make […]

Feb 26, 2014 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines said it will fly to Vietnam and expand destinations to Malaysia and Australia through a new code share deal with Malaysian Airlines. Mohamed Fazeel, SriLankan’s head of commercial operations said the new code share will increase traffic between Sri Lanka and Australasia, which had high tourist traffic […]

Feb 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will launch a “comprehensive mega tourism promotional campaign” to boost arrivals including from newly developing markets, starting this year, information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said. However there has been strong growth in the lower end of the sector with internet based bookings giving more affordable accommodation with pricing closer […]

Feb 19, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers had approved investment concessions for three integrated resort projects which appear to limit income tax cuts to gaming, according to public notices published. The concession are then approved by the cabinet and tabled in parliament. The tax concession for gaming ran into controversy, with opposition […]