Category: Tourism

Oct 02, 2011 (LBO) – Maldives’ Adaaran Prestige Resorts run by Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence group was voted the India Ocean’s best water villa at World Travel Awards 2011, where the top Asian spots were swept by India. India also won Asia’s leading hotel (Trident Gurgaon, India), Asia’s leading luxury hotel (The Oberoi, Gurgaon), Asia’s […]

Sept 30, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s electronic tourist travel approval system will be effective from January 01, 2012 with a trial run starting from Saturday, October 01, officials said. An online portal – www.eta.gov.lk – from which to apply for entry permits from Sri Lanka’s department of immigration and emigration was officially launched Friday. […]

Sept 28, 2011 (LBO) – John Keells group has revamped and rebranded two hotels on Sri Lanka’s south coast, sharply raising rates as it lures tourists with leopard and whale watching tours. The group spent about 15.5 million US dollars in revamping the Chaaya Tranz Hikkaduwa beach hotel and the Chaaya Wild Yala game lodge, […]

Sept 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new electronic travel authorization system will approve applications within 24 hours but most applications will be approved in a much shorter time, immigration officials said. The portal www.eta.gov.lk will be opened on September 30 and the new process will be applied after a “reasonable time”, Sri Lanka’s immigration […]

Sept 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will start electronic visa approval for 78 countries with a online portal being opened after September 30, but Singapore and Maldives nationals will continue to be given on arrival visas at entry points, the island’s border agency said. The online visas could be applied through www.eta.gov.lk, Sri Lanka’s […]

Sept 27, 2011 (LBO) – A travel show to boost tourism to Sri Lanka wil be held in Toronto, Canada where the bulk of existing tourist traffic is now directed to India and the Maldives, its organizers said. “There is a lack of packages to Sri Lanka with travel agents in North America compared to […]

Sept 23, 2011 (LBO) – A well-known Sri Lankan chef is to offer food made according to exotic recipes of the island’s indigenous ‘veddah’ community to entice tourists during forthcoming celebrations to mark World Tourism Day. Sri Lanka is experiencing a boom in tourist arrivals after the end of the island’s 30-year ethnic war in […]

Sept 22, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Galle literary festival is notching up writers and sponsors for 2012 but it would remain ‘intimate’ giving audiences an opportunity to engage more closely with writers, organizers said. The festival started in 2007 amidst a three decade old war which ended two years later. The festival has since […]

Sept 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to launch a campaign to educate youth of opportunities in the booming tourist industry where a skilled labour shortage looms with an influx of visitors after the end of a war. Last year 950 million people visited globally countries that were not native to them, he said, […]

Sept 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Fortress Resort and Spa, has won the award fore the best coastal luxury hotel at a global travel awards, signalling the island’s emerging position in the luxury end of the market, an official said. Fortress is in Galle in Sri Lanka’s southern coast, and follows Dutch architecture. Sri […]

Sept 12, 2011 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka rose 29. 6 percent in August to 72,463 from a year earlier, with arrival in the first eight months up 35.2 percent to 537,787 data from the state tourism promotion agency showed. Visitors from Western Europe rose 17.8 percent to 30,053 with visitors growing 27. […]

Sept 12, 2011 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government plans to set up a listed company to manage ‘rest houses’, state-owned budget hotels often sited in scenic locations, according to its new tourism strategy. “Hence the government is currently looking at a few alternatives to facilitate domestic tourism.” It said it was considering “greater involvement” […]