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SriLankan makes grand landing in China

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.

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