Category: Tourism

July 15, 2012 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka rose 21.6 percent to 65,245 in June 2012 from a year earlier, with arrivals up to June rising 18.7 percent to 452,867, data from the state tourism promotion office showed. In the first half of 2012, the top generating market was India, with 85,426 up […]

July 11, 2012 (LBO) – US based Marriott International said it has signed up with Sri Lanka’s East West Properties Plc, to open a 200-room hotel in Weligma, on the island’s Southern coast in 2014. The 11-storey Weligama Bay Marriott Resort & Spa, will be operated under Marriott’s flagship Marriott Hotels & Resorts brand. “Sri […]

July 8, 2012 (LBO) – A mixed property project including a hotel in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo by India’s ITC has been given sweeping tax breaks under the island’s strategic investment law, a government notice said. Welcome Hotels Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a newly incorporated ITC unit in Sri Lanka has already paid 73. 5 million […]

July 07, 2012 (LBO) – Cinnamon Lakeside, a hotel in Sri Lanka’s John Keells group had won an award from a UK-based business travel publication, giving international recognition to high industry standards, officials said. ‘Business Destinations’, a magazine targeted at corporate buyers and travel professionals, had named Cinnamon Lakeside the best luxury hotel in Sri […]

June 27, 2012 (LBO) – A leisure industry school linked to a UK-based professional body said it is stepping to fill a growing need for leisure sector executives as the island sees a tourism boom after the end of a three decades long war. Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is booming after the end of a […]

June 23, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has earned 399. 3 million US dollars from tourism in the first five months of 2012, up 25. 5 percent from the 318.1 million US dollars earned a year earlier, official data showed. Tourist arrivals rose 18.2 percent to 387.622 in the same period. Sri Lanka’s tourist sector […]

June 17, 2012 (LBO) – Thailand’s Centara Hotels and Resorts will open two 4-star hotels in Sri Lanka in the last quarter of 2012 which will be under their management in the island’s South West and East coasts. “These two superb hotels mark our debut in Sri Lanka, a market that we feel holds great […]

June 12, 2012 (LBO) – India’s Delta Corp, a Bombay listed gaming firm said it had acquired 11 acres of land in Sri Lanka to build an entertainment resort complex near the island’s main international airport. Earlier Sri Lankan officials said that Delta Corp was also looking to lease an island in Kalpitiya. Update Delta […]

June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to tropical Sri Lanka, surged 17.5 percent in May, over the same month a year earlier, as visitors took advantage of the post-war peace three-years since the ethnic conflict ended. On Monday, the central bank said earnings from tourism arrivals had risen 26.0 percent to 340 million dollars […]

June 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and Vietnam are planning to boost tourism between the two countries after a visit by Vietnamese travel firms to Colombo which will be followed by a familiarization tour by Sri Lankan travel agents, officials said. Udaya Silva, Sri Lanka’s IATA travel agents association said he expected mutually beneficial […]

June 10, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourism chief is urging European businessmen to ignore negative media reports in their home countries that highlight the island’s human rights record and may lose them investment opportunities. The Indian Ocean Island is experiencing a boom in tourists and leisure industry related-developments, three-years after government forces ended the […]

June 8, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s The Fortress Resort and Spa, a luxury hotel, said it is making a strong push into internet marketing, striking partnership with online travel agencies, with global internet bookings now overtaking those from traditional agents. Chief executive Sumith Adjihetty said the hotel has struck deals with online travel agencies […]