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| Saturday, 15 November 2003 |
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German cruise liner arrives on Monday by Tharika Goonathilake The luxurious cruise liner 'Aidacara' from Germany, setting the sails for the commencement of the winter season 'sea tourist' traffic to Sri Lanka will arrive in Colombo on Monday. Tourism industry sources said that this is a vote of confidence for the destination and its tourism product appeal which will help override unfounded market speculations about the country's tourism sector. "This is the second ship for the year and the first for the winter season with a similar luxurious round the world cruise liner 'Seabourne Spirit' scheduled to arrive in Colombo next month," a spokesman for the Ministry of Port and Shipping said, adding that a few more companies have expressed interest to visit Colombo during the season. 'Aidacara' carrying nearly 850 German passengers excluding 150 crew members will dock at the Queen Elizabeth Quay, Colombo Port at 6.30 am Monday. It will depart later in the evening. The luxurious liner, from the German Sea Tours Rostock Shipping Company, will be making its maiden journey to Colombo from Cochin. The cruise liner's next stop will be Phuket, Thailand. According to a spokesman of Hemtours, the groundhandler, passengers have been given a range of excursion opportunities to take in the sights of some of Sri Lanka's key tourism attractions including tours to Pinnawela, Ratnapura, Negombo, Down South and Colombo City. "The schedule was prearranged depending on passenger preferences in collaboration with the local shipping agents Ceyline Agencies," the spokesman said. According to Tourist Board statistics, arrivals from Germany for the first nine months stood at 36,666 as against 39,405 arrivals for the corresponding period last year. Germany is Sri Lanka's third highest tourism generating market after India and UK. |
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