Category: Tourism

Dec 2, 2008 (LBO) – Over 100 people attached to Sri Lankan Aitken Spence Group’s Meedhuparu Island resort in the Maldives, have struck work demanding better working conditions, joining colleagues in three other resorts, reports said. The strike, which began over the weekend, is initiated by Maldivian employees who want the management to implement the […]

Nov 28, 2008 Sri Lanka’s hoteliers are bracing for a tough winter season with occupancy levels being hit by cancellations amid global turmoil while the industry was already struggling with weak arrivals, officials said. Though hotels are pressured to bring down room rates, officials say they are hoping to give value added services and improve […]

Nov 16, 2008 (LBO) – At the site on an ancient monastery in Sri Lanka, a group of British visitors are peering into ponds, looking closely at stone walls and adjusting their cameras and binoculars to get a better angle.Other visitors to the ruins in Arankelle in north central Sri Lanka are looking at the […]

Oct 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourism promotion agency will market Sri Lanka to Indians on a state by state basis, with the Gujarat in Andhra Pradesh as its pilot project, officials said. Head of Sri Lanka Renton de Alwis says India is a large market but it is difficult to market due its […]

Oct 22, 2008 (LBO) – Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka fell 20 percent in September with generating markets in Western Europe and India recording steep falls, the latest data from the island’s tourist promotion office said. In the 10 months to September arrivals were down 9.5 percent to 317,500 from 350,779. In period Western European […]

MINNERIYA, Sri Lanka, (AFP) – As evening falls, a female elephant and her pink-skinned baby emerge from the jungle for a leafy snack around an ancient artificial lake in Sri Lanka.They are just two of hundreds of wild elephants that gather each evening along the banks of the Minneriya reservoir for food, water, shelter — […]

Sept 24, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourism promotion agency has launched a campaign to encourage local travel as part of efforts to revive the industry, hit hard by escalating conflict that has reduced foreign arrivals. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 “We see untapped […]

Sept 23, 2008 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals in to Sri Lanka in August fell sharply from a year ago but bookings for the winter season look promising for hoteliers, tourism chief Renton de Alwis said. Sri Lankan hoteliers have said the industry has been affected by bad publicity in tourism generating markets caused by fighting […]

SIGIRIYA, September 19, 2008 (AFP) – With wetlands and jungles teeming with colourful butterflies and exotic primates, Sri Lanka is planning to lure a new type of tourist who prefers wildlife to beach life.The critically endangered purple-faced leaf monkey can occasionally be spotted in Colombo’s suburbs, while the brown saucer-eyed loris lives in the island’s […]

Sept 15, 2008 (LBO) – India’s Taj Group says it has appointed a new manager to the 120-room Taj Airport Garden Hotel in Seeduwa, north of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, which is one of three hotels run by the group in the island. Mathew C Thomas has taken over as general manager from Sanjay […]

Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to offer a new tourism zone for development in Kalpitiya in the country’s north western coast, which has 14 islands in which to build eco-friendly resorts, officials said. Tourism secretary George Michael says the area with 14 islands contains 4,000 acres for development. Galhena said requests for […]

Sept 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas group says its tour operating unit will be more active in the Maldives after a tie-up with Zurich based Diethelm Travel Group (DTH). Hemtours says it has been in business for more than 30 years. DTH is a subsidiary of Diethelm Keller Holdings, headquartered in Zurich, a […]