SriLankan makes grand landing in China
BY CHANDANI Jaytilleke
SRILANKAN Airlines' entry to China's skies in mid June is expected to
open new vistas for travel, tourism and business relations between the
two countries.
Starting June 15, SriLankan will launch thrice weekly services on
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. According to the airline, it will
initially focus on the huge family travel and leisure market from China
to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, as well as providing the Chinese
traveller with convenient connections to the Middle East and Europe.
Although SriLankan's main destination in China is Beijing, the
airline is hoping to cater to others in this large country. Accordingly,
SriLankan has already signed agreements with four Chinese airlines - Air
China, China Eastern, China Southern and Dragon Air - that service 27
major cities in China.
Therefore, passengers anywhere in China will have easy access to the
SriLankan network of destinations, and passengers flying into China can
travel on SriLankan up to Beijing and take a domestic flight to reach
their final destination. The introduction of this new flight will
provide Bangkok with daily frequencies to Colombo.
This will be in keeping with SriLankan's vision of making Colombo the
hub in South Asia.
Ambassador for China in Sri Lanka, Sun Guoxiang told the Daily News
that he was very happy to hear the 'good news'.
"It is a significant event in the history of Sri Lanka-China
relations. This will certainly help build up more contacts and create an
environment conducive for the growth of business, trade and travel
between the two countries. It's a boost for Sri Lanka's tourism," he
said in an interview.
In China, Sri Lanka is known as an emerging tourist destination and
more tourists are interested in visiting the island. "They love to
explore new sights.
However, direct flights were a bit of a setback before. But now they
have easy access to Sri Lanka," the ambassador said. Chinese travellers
usually have long holidays in January/February, May and October, when a
lot of people opt to travel out. Other than these holidays, Chinese
travel throughout the year too.
However, if Sri Lanka needs to get more tourists from China, the
country has to improve certain areas such as infrastructure, food,
language and entertainment. Chinese are quite used to travelling on
highways. And they expect comfortable roads here too, he said.
Secondly, the hotels here are quite good. But only a few would have
restaurants which serve Chinese authentic food. It would be good to have
staff members who could speak Chinese as some tourists do not speak
English.
Chinese also love entertainment activities such as Karaoke bars and
enjoying Chinese TV programs. If the hotels here offer such facilities,
that would be an encouragement.
Chinese also love to visit cultural sites, excursions and sight
seeing in addition to beaches. In Sri Lanka they will go for a combined
package.
He added that the business community is also very happy about the
launch of direct flights. "There are lots of Chinese entrepreneurs
living in Sri Lanka. They would find new air links convenient in future
travelling."
China - a civilization which has met the test of time |
China, which has emerged as the economic giant of Asia has 1.3
billion people of whom 50 million use air travel.
As its economy is growing to be one of the main in the world, more
and more Chinese will be able to travel out.
The island's tourism representatives are happy and encouraged by this
move by SriLankan Airlines. They say that this is an ideal opportunity
to promote Chinese tourism in Sri Lanka.
Industry representatives whom we spoke to, said the move is certainly
a boon for Lanka's tourism sector.
Travel industry representative, Nihal Perera said, it is an excellent
decision by the airline.
"Many Sri Lankan companies have been developing this market in the
recent past. We have made a lot of contacts with Chinese tour operators,
through whom we plan to bring tourists to Sri Lanka," he said.
Speaking on Sri Lanka's facilities for Chinese tourists, Perera said
that our authorities and hoteliers should be able to understand their
priorities and provide a service to meet their requirements.
SriLankan has carried out a series of promotional events to lay the
groundwork for operations in China. Pre-launch events included visits by
Sri Lanka's Tourism Minister last year together with the airline and Sri
Lanka Tourism Board officials.
The opening of SriLankan Airlines' ticket office in Beijing last
October was another landmark. A series of road shows are being held in
many provinces throughout 2005, targeting travel agents, the travelling
public, and China's regional media. Events are being held in close
co-operation with the Sri Lanka Tourism Board, according to SriLankan
Airlines.
It is hoped that the launch of services to Beijing will add a
cultural dialogue to the strong diplomatic and trade relations the two
countries already enjoy. The island home of Sri Lanka, rich in heritage,
culture, wildlife, sunny beaches, indigenous herbal medicine and
stunning natural beauty, will be an ideal vacation destination for the
Chinese.
Meanwhile, the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) will be on
par with the best airports in the region from October this year with the
completion of the ongoing development project.
According to plans BIA will be able to handle upto six million
passenger movements per annum from October. Cargo capacity will be
increased to 250,000 tons per annum.
A separate domestic terminal will also be built at the BIA. This will
facilitate the easy transfer of passengers between domestic and
international flights, which is a boon for the tourism industry. |