Category: Tourism

April 20, 2007 (LBO) – The hotel unit of John Keells Holdings has sold a hotel property on Sri Lanka’s Unawatuna coastal town in the South West of the island, the firm told the Colombo Stock Exchange Friday. Last week another listed firm, Hemas said a re-branding of several hotels in partnership with the Minor […]

April 19, 2007 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka fell by 36 percent to 35,031 in March 2007 compared with the same month last year as escalating fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels deterred holiday travel. But arrivals from Eastern Europe increased 60 percent with the number of Russian visitors increasing by […]

April 17, 2007 (LBO) – A downturn in tourism triggered by escalating violence has forced Serendib Hotels to put off plans to re-brand three hotels with a foreign leisure group, its holding company Hemas said. The mass market is still coming and our Dolphin hotel is doing well. Hotel Serendib, Bentota, controlled by the public-listed […]

April 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourism promoters are trying to focus on niche markets, luring golfers and tea drinkers to visit the island after its image as a tourist destination was marred by renewed guerrilla violence. The tourism chief, Renton De Alwis, believes that focusing on repeat visitors who are aware of the […]

April 10, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka leg of the SAARC car rally was flagged off on Tuesday morning from Colombo where the rally would take a coastal road to reach Tissamaharama in down south. The Rally will end in the Maldives on the 13th of April. On the second day, the Rally will […]

March 30, 2007 (LBO) – The Ceylon tea specialists Merril J Fernando (MJF) group is laying the foundation to enter the leisure sector despite the current downturn in the industry, officials said. The group has become a top player in the tea trade in Sri Lanka by marketing valued added ‘Dilmah’ branded Ceylon tea directly […]

March 26, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has been dealt a further blow by the daring Tamil Tiger rebel air strike on the Katunayake air force base officials and market analysts said, though most are insisting that tourism, while down, is not out. “It’s been a good experience,” Lee Carlton, a visitor from […]

March 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s tourism industry suffered a sharp drop last month as fighting between troops and Tiger rebels escalated and foreign holiday makers stayed away, the Tourist Board said Sunday.Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka fell 18.3 percent to 52,687 in February from the same month a year earlier, official figures showed […]

March 06, 2007 (LBO) – Visitors from Pakistan and India helped boost Sri Lanka’s tourist numbers in January while shy western Europeans continued to disappoint the war-torn Indian Ocean island. In January 56,000 tourists came to the island up 8.5 percent over the previous year with Pakistani arrivals growing by 171 percent to 2,300 and […]

February 26 (LBO) – Malaysia will celebrate 50 years of independence in August this year and is hoping the revelry, travel deals and discounts will entice more Sri Lankans to visit. Last year the island attracted 559,603 tourists, a small increase on the 549,308 in 2005 and well below tourism ministry expectations of 600,000 tourists. […]

Feb 17, 2007 (LBO) – The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the largest regional group in the world by population, is to kick off a rally to spark interest in member country hotspots and tourist attractions. The rally is to set off in Dhaka in Bangladesh and will take the ground routes through […]

Jan 24 (LBO) – Sri Lankan resort chain Jetwing has tied up with local conglomerate Hayleys and an Indian partner to set up a luxury hotel in Kerala, in the group’s first foray overseas. The new hotel is to be a joint venture with Indian company Kerala Balers holding 51 percent, and the balance equally […]