Category: Tourism

Sept 08, 2012 HUE/COLOMBO (LBO) – Tourist traffic between Sri Lanka and Vietnam could be boosted with direct air links which can cut travel time and ticket costs helping make the destination competitive, officials said. “In July a new air services agreement was reached,” Vietnam’s ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh said during an even in Colombo […]

Sep 04, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has advised citizens not to travel to India’s Tamil Nadu state following a series of incidents which culminated in a group of pilgrims being forced to take refuge in a Catholic Church after they were mobbed. Jayalalithaa has objected to members of Sri Lanka’s military being trained in […]

Sept 01, 2012 (LBO) – Taj Lanka Hotels, a unit of India’s Taj Hotels and Resorts is expecting strong demand for hotel rooms in the next few years despite a number of new properties coming up as tourism arrivals continue to grow. Chairman Raymond Bickson, told shareholders that expert forecasts indicate the demand for hotel […]

Aug 30, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Laugfs group is expecting to have 398 hotel rooms operational by end 2014 under its ‘Ananthaya’ branded chain, chairman W K H Wegapitiya said. The chain includes a 75 room hotel in Sigiriya, a 125 room hotel in Waskaduwa a 110 room hotel in Passikudah and an 88 […]

Aug 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourist development agency has offered islets, hundreds of acres of land bordering beaches, a wildlife reserve and a wetland on 99-year leases to build tourism related projects. Eight islets in Kalpitiya off the western coast of Sri Lanka 150 kilometres north of the capital Colombo are being offered […]

Aug 24, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed Palm Gardens and Riverina Hotels said they would merge through a share swap and the new entity would build a 500 room hotel. Investors holding 14.1 million Riverina shares would get one share of Palm Garden for every two held, the two firms said in stock exchange […]

Aug 22, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has approved 129 projects involving the building of 9,364 hotel rooms up to July 2012, deputy economic development minister Lakshman Abeywardene said. In 2013, revenues of 1,360 million US dollars were expected; in 2014, 1,740 million US dollars; in 2015, 2,120 million US dollars and in 2016, 2,500 […]

Aug 20, 2012 HANOI, Vietnam (LBO) – Tourism between Sri Lanka and Vietnam which is just beginning has a strong potential to grow in the future, officials said during a familiarization tour of the county by travel agents of the Indian Ocean Island. Senior representatives of 15 travel agents from Sri Lanka were on a […]

Aug 15, 2012 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka rose 7. 8 percent to 90,338 in July 2012 from a year earlier, with arrivals up to July rising 16.7 percent to 543,205, data from the state tourism promotion office showed. In the first seven months of 2012, the top generating market was India, with […]

Aug 14, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Travel Agents Association has put their members through a four day training programme aimed at improving skills to better service the island’s booming travel industry, officials said. The four day programme conducted by the International Aviation Academy of Sri Lankan airlines included coaching in team building, training on […]

August 06, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is on a drive to attract 100,000 American tourists by 2016 in a bid to woo part of tourist traffic to the Maldives and India and attract more up market travelers to the island, a diplomat said. “We are working on an aggressive campaign to attract 100,000 American […]

July 20, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has re-started the construction of a stalled 43-story high rise in the capital Colombo with a new company taking over assets, which will house a Hyatt branded hotel, a statement said. It could house 600 people seated, or 1,000 standing. The hotel will have 54 suites, 265 ‘King’ […]