Category: Tourism

June 19, 2006 (LBO) – The chairman of the Sri Lanka’s tourist board was prevented from leaving the country at the Bandaranaike International Airport early Monday morning, an official said. Immigration officials had stopped Udaya Nanayakkara from leaving Sri Lanka on a complaint from the Bribery Commission, Controller of Immigration P B Abeykoon said. Nanayakkara […]

June 19, 2006 (LBO) – The chairman of the Sri Lanka’s tourist board was prevented from leaving the country at the Bandaranaike International Airport early Monday morning, an official said. Immigration officials had stopped Udaya Nanayakkara from leaving Sri Lanka on a complaint from the Bribery Commission, Controller of Immigration P B Abeykoon said. Nanayakkara […]

COLOMBO, June 19, 2006 (AFP) – The United Nations agency for children Monday announced the launch of a media campaign to discourage the sexual exploitation of Sri Lankan children by tourists.“A child who is a victim of sexual abuse may suffer serious, lifelong or even life-threatening consequences,” said UNICEF senior programme coordinator Yasmin Ali Haque.UNICEF […]

May 26, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Asian Hotels & Properties Ltd, a unit of conglomerate John Keells Holdings, said Friday that they have started apartment sales based on floor plans of its new condominium complex. “We have now got the floor plans of each unit to sell. Earlier we got bookings based on the […]

May 23 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines will expand services into India, flying to Goa from October this year, with plans to also up frequencies to existing destinations. SriLankan continues to explore further opportunities by increasing our services to India, and we are currently considering launching services to more cities, as well as increasing the frequency […]

May 19 (LBO) – Tourist traffic to Sri Lanka stayed steady in April to reach 46,000 travelers, despite ongoing political instability and civil unrestthe island’s main tourism promotion body said Friday. Our advisory was updated to include a reference to local elections that take place next week and warning against political gatherings and demonstrations, John […]

May 18 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence & Company is currently wrapping up a deal to pick up their fourth Maldivian resort, a top company official said Thursday. “We are at the final stages of signing an agreement to sub lease the Lohifushi in Maldives from their current owners,” Malin Hapugoda, Managing Director of […]

May 16, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings said Tuesday that they have paid 21.8 million dollars to secure Maldivian based Dhonveli Beach & Spa on a 15-year lease. However, the absence of peace talks since April 2003, the two sides have been drifting apart and leading to more violence in a country […]

May 05 (LBO) – John Keells Holdings eyes the Maldives for hotel expansion as city hotels see a slight drop in bookings and its resort on the East coast suffers from current political instability. We have seen a slight drop in bookings in our city hotels, but the effect on our resort hotels is minimal.Our […]

Apr. 26 (Dow Jones)–Attacks by Sri Lanka’s military on Tamil Tiger rebel bases in the northeast since late Tuesday are unlikely to hurt the country’s tourism industry, the secretary to the Ministry of Tourism said Wednesday.“These are targeted attacks, so we don’t expect it to affect tourist arrivals in anyway. The government is still committed […]

SINGAPORE, Apr.25 (AFP) – Thai tourism officials on Tuesday launched a regional campaign to promote the kingdom as Southeast Asia’s premier convention and exhibition hub, setting up a rivalry with major players Singapore and Hong Kong. Business tourism is a growing sector in the travel industry and Thailand — already with a worldwide reputation among […]

Apr. 20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s leisure industry greeted record 54,746 visitors in March, as key western countries warned nationals to avoid traveling to the north east of the country as violence intensified in the region. The tsunami-hit island welcomed 54,746 visitors (up 8.6 percent over 2005) in March, which helped swell arrivals for the […]