Category: Tourism

Feb 15, 2013 (LBO) – A top Sri Lankan resort operator which also has overseas operations has again called for tourism authorities to have strong destination promotion in line with regional competitors. Aitken Spence said it had strong results from the Maldives, which is set up as a niche high end destination. “We are keen […]

Feb 09, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is about 500 to 800 US dollars more expensive than alternatives for a 10-day holiday with standards lower than competition, which may hit occupancy in the future, an equities research report has warned.A 10-day holiday in Sri Lanka may cost between 2,000 to 2,600 US dollars with a […]

Feb 07, 2013 (LBO) – Serendib Hotels Plc, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Hemas group which reported a surge in profits in the peak December quarter said occupancy was boosted by online sales and profits were helped by cost controls. European visitors led by Germany were the mainstay at Serendib group hotels. “However, it is […]

Feb 06, 2013 (LBO) – Hotel Services (Ceylon) Plc, the oldest five star rated hotel in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, which has been given a colonial-style make-over and re-named ‘The Kingsbury’ has lost 341 million rupees in the past nine months.Hotel Services (Ceylon) Plc, which is now controlled by Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group went through […]

Feb 05, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expecting 27 cruise calls in 2013 with ocean liner Queen May 02 leading the way, docking at Colombo on February 04, the island’s tourism promotion office said. Sri Lanka’s tourism promotion office said the liner canned 2,300 tourists from the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa […]

Feb 02, 2013 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines said it launched a booking engine to allow guests to book both hotel accommodation and holidays online through its website. “[W]we place great emphasis on providing our customers with convenient, customised holiday packages,” SriLankan Holidays manager, Gayan Peiris said in a statement. “The booking engine enables them […]

Jan 29, 2013 (LBO) – Occupancy rates at Sri Lanka’s hotels had slipped across star categories in November 2012 from a year earlier, worsening from October despite arrivals going up, official data show. Sri Lanka full year tourist arrivals rose 17.5 percent to 1,005,605 in 2012. The average occupancy rates of hotels tracked by the […]

Jan 26, 2013 (LBO) – Keells Hotels Plc, which has operations in Sri Lanka and the Maldives said net profit for the December 2012 quarter fell 22 percent to 222 million rupees from a year earlier, amid higher interest costs.In the nine months to December Keells Hotels’ Sri Lanka operations lost 117 million rupees, reversing […]

Jan 27, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been added to a list of 14 Asian countries where popular hotels are ranked annually by TripAdvisor.com, a travel review site, though no hotel in the island made it to the world’s best 25 hotels. Maldives had three hotels in the top 25, Baros Maldives, North Male […]

Jan 17, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hotel Services (Ceylon) Plc, has sought shareholder approval to increase borrowings after the cost of renovating its ‘The Kingsbury’ branded property escalated.Following design changes which required an additional 600 million rupees the cost escalated to 2.4 billion rupees. The renovation had also involved replacing its older mechanical and […]

Jan 16, 2013 (LBO) – Edge Hotels and Resorts, a new small luxury hotel chain has signed agreements to start two hotels, with four more planned, Sri Lanka’s state investment promotion agency said.Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment, which gives tax breaks to investors did not disclose any investment values for the hotels. The first property […]

Jan 11, 2013 (LBO) – Healing Journey, a leisure sector start-up is offering medical tourism services as Sri Lanka attracts more foreign visitors after the end of a 30-year civil war, officials said.Ceylon Tours managing director Suren Ediriweera says competition from India is high but medical tourists going to India can usually only visit one […]