Category: Tourism

Sept 20, 2010 (LBO) – Facilities for transit passengers in Sri Lanka’s international airport at Katunayake has been boosted with a 24-room hotel, which is under the management of state-run SriLankan airlines, the national carrier said. The airport has eight rooms with double beds, and eight rooms with a single deb and an attached bathroom. […]

Setp 13, 2010 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka was up 35.7 percent to 55,898 in August led by Indians and Britons, with visitors during the first eight months up 46.7 percent from a year earlier, tourism office data showed. In the first eight months Western Europe generated 162,500 visitors up 50.4 percent, South […]

Sept 09, 2010 (LBO) – Weekly charter flights are to be launched between Brussels and Sri Lanka bringing Belgian and other European tourists from October 31, Jean Deboutte, Ambassador of Belgium to Sri Lanka said. Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Belgium Ravinatha Aryasinha told the meeting the weekly charter flights will be by Jetair, a leading […]

Sept 06, 2010 (LBO) – Tourists arrivals to the Maldives, where two Sri Lankan conglomerates own or operate resorts, are recovering from recession but construction of more hotels is seen hitting room rates. China is the second highest tourism market to the archipelago so far this year with a 14.2 percent market share preceded only […]

MADRID, September 3, 2010 (AFP) – World tourism rebounded strongly this year from the global financial crisis, led by Asia and the Middle East, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said Friday. But the Madrid-based body also urged caution, noting that some major developed nations have not yet fully emerged from the economic doldrums. […]

Sept 02, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Renuka Holdings is considering developing property is owns in the north and east as tourist resorts and is in talks with potential partners, an official said. Turnover for the period grew to 1. 5 billion rupees from a restated 136 million rupees the previous year, before the acquisition […]

August 28, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Saturday suspended plans to scrap on-arrival visas for most nationals, including visitors from the US, Europe, Australia and Japan. “In some cases, foreigners of Sri Lankan origin may be detained without their embassies being notified,” the state department said in its travel advisory to US citizens. Sri […]

Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings (JKH) group said it had exited from an island further away from the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Maldives, and extended its lease at a more profitable resort. But the Alidhoo island was making losses, and Dhonveli was more profitable the firm said. […]

Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has decided to withdraw the on-arrival visa facility to tourists from September 30, 2010, a public notice said. The Department of Immigration & Emigration website said on-arrival visas will be given only to visitors from countries that reciprocate. No reason was given for the change and […]

Aug 17, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s LOLC group has bought control of a beach resort on the west coast for 310 million rupees and is in talks with international chains to manage the property, a stock exchange filing said. LOLC said it is holding talks with a “few world-renowned hotel chains” that have shown […]

Aug 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s KumbukRiver has been included in a list of the world’s top 20 most unusual hotels, just announced by an international portal dedicated to the unusual and the audacious, a statement said. The list includes Dubai’s landmark Burj al Arab and the Galactic, the first-ever hotel in space, the […]

Aug 13, 2010 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals into Sri Lanka surged by 50 percent in July 2010 to 63,339 from a year ago as post-war optimism and removal of travel advisories encouraged visitors even during the off-season, latest data shows. The increase in the number of visitors was driven largely by more arrivals from Western […]