Category: Tourism

Dec 16, 2010 (LBO) – Hong Kong based leisure group Shangri-La will invest 500 million US dollars in a hotel project on the main beachfront of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, a government minister said. The land is expected to be sold for 75 million US dollars according to reports. “The Shangri-La group has come forward […]

Dec 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourism arrivals rose 63. 1 percent in November to 72,251 from a year earlier, while total visitors for the 11 months increased 45.7 percent to 569,849, tourism promotion office data showed. Eastern Europe generated 42.4 percent higher visitors at 4,920 with Russia up 38.4 percent to 2,063. North […]

Dec 14, 2010 (LBO) – Thailand-based Six Senses Resorts and Spas is planning a regional headquarters in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo to own and manage up to 200 million dollars in leisure assets in the Indian Ocean, chairman Sonu Shivdasani said. It is also building a 40 million dollar hotel with Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence […]

Dec 13, 2010 (LBO) – The Swiss hotel chain Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has won a management agreement to operate the Mövenpick Hotel Colombo, a 180-room property in Sri Lanka, a statement said. Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, a hotel management company with over 12,000 employees, has over 90 hotels existing or under construction in 26 […]

Dec 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been included in South Asian cruises run by Zegrahm, a US based cruise company, with calls at three key ports in the island in 2011, according to the travel calendar released by the firm. Sri Lanka ended a 30-year war in May 2009 and the country has […]

Dec 07, 2010 (LBO) – A range of medical treatment presently unavailable in the island will be made available to Sri Lankans in neighboring India at an affordable cost, a newly launched health tourism company said. “Our aim is to offer high quality health care at an affordable cost to middle income families,” Manilal Fernando, […]

Dec 02, 2010 (LBO) – Big Sri Lankan operators and international chains have responded to a call to restore the original charms of a colonial-era hotel overlooking Colombo port once popular with visitors who came by ship, an official said. “We want to bring it back to its original form,” said Gamini Wickemasinghe, chairman of […]

Dec 01, 2010 (LBO) – Thirty parties have responded to a call for proposals to operate boat and leisure services at major reservoirs in Sri Lanka, irrigation minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. Once the proposals are accepted the government was planning to kick off the services in January starting with the Victoria and Polgolla […]

Nov 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas Holdings is considering expanding its hotels business with plans to build resorts in the south and east coasts as a post-war tourism boom gets under way, its chief executive Husein Esufally said. The group, which now operates four hotels, has a property in Tangalle on the south […]

Nov 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence Hotels has taken over the management of India’s Grand Palance Hotel and Spa in Yercaud in Tamil Nadu, increasing its properties in the country to five, the company said. “It is evident that we were offered the management of Grand Palace and Spa as we have […]

Nov 03, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence net profit rose 29 percent to 606 million rupees in the September 2010 quarter from a year ago largely on better earnings from its hotels, a stock exchange filing said. Group sales rose 11 percent to 6.3 billion rupees while earnings per share after subdivision were […]

Nov 02, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned Bank of Ceylon is seeking an international hotel chain to manage its subsidiary, Grand Oriental Hotel (GOH), a landmark built during British times overlooking Colombo port. Sri Lanka is experiencing a tourism boom with a sharp upturn in visitors following the end of its 30-year ethnic war […]