Category: Tourism

September 16, 2009 (AFP) – With tourism booming in Sri Lanka following the end of decades of ethnic conflict, authorities have ordered hotels in the capital to increase room rates and curb an aggressive pricing war.Luxury hotels in Colombo will be forced to charge a minimum of 90 dollars a night, while stays in cheaper […]

Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs a massive increase in hotel accommodation to cope with the anticipated influx of tourists with the end of the 30-year ethnic war, a senior travel trade official said.“The eradication of terrorism and the country returning to normal have created a window of opportunity and conducive business environment […]

Sept 10, 2009 (LBO) – Developers of a luxury island resort managed by the Six Senses chain in Sri Lanka who have set up an investment fund will seek to raise further cash through a private share offering, an official said. Neil De Silva, chairman of Dutch Bay Resorts which is to build the resort […]

Sept 10, 2009 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals into Sri Lanka in August 2009 rose 34.3 percent to 41,207 from a year ago, led by visitors from key markets like the UK, Germany, India, the Tourism Authority said. It was the third straight monthly rise in visitors since May, when a 30-year war ended, compared with […]

Sept 09, 2009 (LBO) – International luxury hotel chain Six Senses is to manage a resort built on an islet on the north west coast of Sri Lanka becoming the first tourism project to be announced after an ethnic war ended, officials said. The 60 mangrove boutique chalets will located within inland water bodies and […]

Sept 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to lease islands off the north-west coast for tourist hotels, as the travel industry recovers after the end of the 30-year ethnic war, government officials said. We now wonder whether 4,000 rooms will be enough to meet increasing demand, he said. Sri Lanka has seen an upturn […]

Sept 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas Travels is breaking into the Buddhist pilgrimage market by offering an eight-day tour in a dedicated train in partnership with the Indian rail system. Pilgrims are taken on Mahaparinirvana Express a dedicated train, with sleeping births and dining facilities offered at between 105 to 150 dollars a […]

Aug 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence Hotels is expanding the profitable health tourism business and plans new resorts on prime beach properties kept dormant during the ethnic war, a senior official said. “The Maldives as a whole has experienced a downturn because of the global economic turmoil.But we’re seeing a recovery and […]

Aug 24, 2009 (LBO) – Aitken Spence, one of Sri Lanka’s top hotel firms, has resumed talks with Six Senses Spas, an international spa chain, on building an up-market resort on the south-west coast, a senior official said.“Next to Heritance Ahungalla we have 10 acres and 27 acres on an island in Madhu Ganga, very […]

Aug 14, 2009 (LBO) – Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka increased 28 percent in July from a year earlier, with Western Europe and South Asia generating markets showing steep increases, the island’s tourism promotion office said. A 30-year internal conflict ended in May with the leadership of Tamil Tiger separatists being wiped out by the […]

Aug 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings said losses more than doubled in the quarter ending June 2009, considered the off-season in the tourist industry, with the downturn in arrivals worsened by global recession. The company said in a stock exchange filing that its net loss rose 137 percent to 114 […]

Aug 09, 2009 (LBO) – A Nepal conglomerate has paid 175 million rupees to buyout the Sri Lanka’s listed Hayleys group from two hotels it held jointly with the Jetwing leisure group, a media report said. Jetwing manages and part owns Lighthouse Hotel with the Hayleys group. It also manages listed Hunas Hotels, another Hayleys […]