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By Richard Dwight

The salubrious climes of Nuwara Eliya should not be confined to one holiday season in April. Its popularity must be sustained and made to grow even further - in order to be attractive to draw local as well as foreign visitors and boost the tourist industry, said the Managing Director of Nuwara Eliya Hotels Company Ltd, Gerard Ondaatjie.

Ondaatjie who is also the Director of Mercantile Investments Ltd., The Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya and other hotels has a vision in ensuring that the Nuwara Eliya district becomes a hive of activity throughout the year through varied programs and ventures.

The preliminaries to promote Nuwara Eliya and keep it constantly in focus would be via the medium of sport which is fast becoming complementary to the tourist industry. There are several sports which appeal to tourists and if properly planned and marketed could be promoted. Ondaatjie has plans to keep Nuwara Eliya as one amongst others as the hub of tourism.

He organised and steered a prestigious golf tournament in August last year. It was hosted by the Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya conducted by the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club with the support of SriLankan Airlines and others.

The Grand Hotel and SriLankan Airlines will conduct the Golf Classic tournament for the second successive year from September 20 to 22. It will be held at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club Course with the Grand Hotel as the host and SriLankan Airlines as the main sponsors while the co-sponsors are Prestige Automobile, Dialog GSM, Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank, Golden Key Credit Card and Dilmah Teas.

Ondaatjie said that this tournament must become international in concept. He said that there has been an influx of Indian visitors to Nuwara Eliya through ethnic relationships.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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