Category: Tourism

Mar 15, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals increased 27 percent to 83,549 in February 2012, from a year earlier, and visitors during the first two months were up 21 percent to 169,423, the state tourist promotion office said. South Asia, the second largest generating market, showed an increase of 14.1 percent with Indian […]

Mar 08, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is exploring the possibility of building an international convention centre close to the main airport in Katunayake outside the capital Colombo, an official said. Export development board (EDB) chairman, Janaka Ratnayake said the government may release land for the project. Sri Lanka is holding Expo 2012, an export […]

Feb 25, 2012 (LBO) – Starting construction of a 550 million dollar hotel investment by Shangri-La, a Hong Kong based leisure group in Sri Lanka is a signal for other international investors, economic development minister Basil Rajapasksa said. “Not only are they managing the hotel, they are investing the total amount so it’s a very […]

Feb 24, 2012 (LBO) – A joint venture between Singaporean and Sri Lankan investors has begun work on a hotel in the island’s capital Colombo with plans for up to six hotels with initial investments of 4. 5 billion rupees. Ground breaking work on the 140-roomed Galle hotel is expected to start in next two […]

Feb 24, 2012 (LBO) – Hong Kong-based leisure group Shangri-La has begun construction work on its first hotel in Sri Lanka which is experiencing a boom in tourism after the end of its 30-year ethnic war. Basil Rajapaksa, Sri lanka’s minister of economic development, broke ground Friday for work on the 661-room Shangri La Colombo […]

Feb 13, 2012 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka increased 15.7 percent to 85,874 in January 2012 from a year earlier, maintaining growth but at a slower pace than last year, official data showed. East Asian arrivals rose 28 percent to 9,334 with Chinese tourists rising 21. 5 percent to 1,952. Visitors from Japan […]

Feb 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run carrier is SriLankan is sponsoring an Asia Pacific tour event as part of efforts boost the profile of the island’s golf courses and boost up market sports tourism, officials said. “One way to get to the end user of our airline is through sports,” Srilankan Airlines chairman […]

Feb 05, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Jetwing hotel group has started building a 700 million rupee (6. 1 million US dollars) hotel in the northern city of Jaffna which was cut off from the rest of the island for many years due to a three decade war. The 76-room, 14-storey hotel will built with […]

Feb 03, 2012 (LBO) – Keells Hotels Plc, the leisure unit of Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings group said net profits in the December 2011 quarter rose 39 percent to 285 million rupees from a year earlier. The firm reported earnings of 20 cents per share. For the nine months to December the firm said […]

Sri Lanka’s Road Development Authority has developed roadside signs to help guide tourists with support from the US Agency of International Development which are likely to come up first in the Eastern Province. “Tourism roadside signage plays a key role in making Sri Lanka a visitor-friendly destination,” USAID said. “Effective road signage may draw visitors […]

Feb 01, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is targeting 25,000 tourists from China in 2012 with expectations that arrivals will rise to 300,000 in 2016 making it the second largest source of foreign tourists to the country, an official said. When he was 11 year old he had been captured by the imperial Chinese Navy, […]

Feb 01, 2012 (LBO) – A boom in tourist arrivals after the end of a war has helped Sri Lanka’s Continental Hotel to increase net profit by 22 percent in the December 2011 quarter, the start of the peak tourism season. The hotel, bought by the Hayleys conglomerate last year, said net profit in the […]