Category: Tourism

Aug 05, 2011 (LBO) – Hotel Services (Ceylon) PLC, owners of Continental, the oldest 5-star hotel in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo said it lost 2.3 million rupees in the June 2011 quarter, though revenues rose 24 percent to 136 million rupees. The new owners have said they planned to expand and upgrade the hotel. The […]

Aug 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sunshine Holdings said June 2011 quarter net profit fell 46 percent to 63 million rupees from a year ago as earnings from plantations were eroded by a wage hike given to workers. Work on two other power projects is to begin soon ensuring the firm achieves its target […]

Aug 04, 2011 (LBO) – Heritance Ahungalla, an Aitken Spence group hotel has won the top award for the best hotel team and best culinary team overall in Sri Lanka’s Culinary Art 2011, the islands largest food and trade exhibition and competition. Aitken Spence said its hotels had won 145 medals in the competition where […]

Aug 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed Citrus Leisure said it had bought a 51 percent stake in Lotus Travel International (Pvt) Ltd, a firm incorporated in 2004 to act as a travel agency, for 612,000 rupees. The filing did not say the travel firm had any operating business. The firm said in a […]

Aug 03, 2011 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (SLITHM) has increased its intake and is also franchising its courses to private institutions to cater to an expanding industry after the end of a 30-year war, an official said. The hotel school runs a four year hotel management program and […]

Aug 02, 2011 (LBO) – Canada based Four Seasons leisure group has proposed building a 400-room resort on an islet off Kalpitiya in Sri Lanka’s north western coast, deputy economic development minister Lakshman Abeywardene said. A team from Four Seasons had visited the site on July 27. The islands owned by the state are offered […]

July 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finco group, which has interests in construction, export manufacturing and real estate is building two resorts in the island’s eastern coast investing nearly 16 million US dollars to expand its leisure arm, an official said. Finco, a privately held business group listed an export apparel making unit, Orient […]

July 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Walkers Tours, a tour operator of the John Keells Holdings group said it had added a fleet of sports utility vehicles which will allow tourists to explore remote attractions. “[T]he ultimate objective of this scheme is to benchmark our service levels against the best in the region,” JKH […]

July 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has formally approved a five year strategy to develop the tourism sector including domestic tourism as arrivals go up after a 30-year war, the government’s information office said. The cabinet of ministers had approved the plan submitted by the ministry of economic development, headed by minister Basil Rajapaksa. […]

July 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has earned 370. 1 million US dollars in revenues in the first half of 2011, up 50.9 percent from a year earlier, amid a strong increase in arrivals, official data showed. Foreign visitors have been flocking to the country since the end of a 30-year war […]

July 24, 2011 (LBO) – A Chinese firm which will invest 355 million US dollars in a hotel and shopping complex in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo will help draw more tourists from the fast growing Asian giant, a government minister said. A Chinese defence contractor China Aviation Technology Import-Export Corporation (CATIC) is being sold seven […]

July 22, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to start an international call centre which will provide assistance and information to tourists, chairman of the country’s tourism development authority Nalaka Godahewa said. “We will call for proposals from local firms in two to three weeks,” Godahewa said. “We hope to receive innovative solutions. “A call […]