|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Thursday, 30 December 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
by Anjana Gamage Despite the tidal wave disaster that hit the Southern Coastal area on Sunday, 21 tourist hotels in the area are still in business confirmed the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) Udaya Nanayakkara. Addressing a press conference yesterday he also said that another 16 hotels will commence operations in another two weeks time. "Eleven tourist hotels in Negombo which were affected are also operating at present", he said. According to him all tourist hotels in the East coast have been destroyed and Arugam Bay and Nilaveli are the worst affected areas. He also admitted that travel trade have so far not received any major cancellations of bookings made by foreigners prior to the tsunami disaster. "But a group of British and German foreigners have decided to halt their trip only for 14 days. According to sources, the tour packages are still on line and only a few of the flight operation turns per week have been reduced. Meanwhile, the President has presented her vision to the authorities to develop the tourism industry again in the coastal areas. According to the Secretary to the Tourism Ministry Dr. P. Ramanujam, the aid pledged have come from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank as well. "Japanese aid which were already being used with the tourist development project too will be now utilised for the purpose of re-building the tourism sector in the coastal areas", he said. "Most of the major hoteliers are insured. But definitely we should have done some sort of funding for some smaller hoteliers which has a major impact on the tourism industry. We have realised with the disaster, that the damage has been caused mainly due to unplanned tourism development in the coastal area. Therefore steps will be taken further to develop tourism activities in the coastal area in a methodical way in the future", he said. Authorities also said that in spite of the tidal terror experienced by many tourists, they have vowed to continue with their travel plans in Sri Lanka. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
