Lanka's inland attractions in spotlight

(Beijing, China) June 20, 2005 - CHINA'S leading television and print media will throw the spotlight on Sri Lanka later this month when the country hosts the annual Pooga MasterCard Family Global Tour Serial.

The Pooga-Chinese Aviation Travel Guide, one of China's top travel publications and the chief organiser of the programme, today (Monday June 20) selected the winning Beijing family from a shortlist of four family group finalists.

The winning family will enjoy a seven-day, all-expenses paid holiday to Sri Lanka, accompanied by four Beijing journalists - who will report in detail on their entire journey.

The media covering the tour include leading Chinese television station Beijing TV and high-profile print media, such as Beijing Monthly.

This year's winners will touch down in the capital, Colombo on June 26 and travel to the hill-country city of Kandy the following day, with a pitstop at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage - the largest of its kind in Asia. The visit to Kandy will include the Temple of the Tooth, home to the sacred tooth relic of the Lord Buddha.

The tour will continue to Dambulla, where Sri Lanka's most popular historic site - the Golden Temple - is located. Dating back to the first century BC, the Golden Temple of Dambulla is a cluster of five temples and has been the centre of pilgrimage for Buddhists and Hindus alike for 22 centuries. The shrines also house a collection of 157 statues of the Lord Buddha in various sizes and poses.

The journey continues to the 1,500 year-old Sigirya Rock Fortress, one of the island's most famous world heritage sites. Paintings which adorn the rock form a gallery covering an area the size of a football field.

The itinerary also includes a trip south to Bentota beach, for a day of rest and relaxation.

The tour ends in Colombo on July 3 where the winners will enjoy shopping Sri Lankan-style, with a host of designer clothes, homewares and jewellery to choose from.

Sri Lanka Tourist Board Chairman (SLTB), Mr. Udaya Nanayakkara, said that the Pooga Family Tour provides the perfect opportunity to showcase Sri Lanka's unique tourism attractions, particularly the island's world heritage sites, diversity and culture.

"By hosting the Pooga Family Tour, we want to show the Chinese public that Sri Lanka is open and ready for business," Mr. Nanayakkara said. He added that one of the programme's central themes is to enhance the growing friendship between the two countries.

"Pooga will facilitate the promotion of the island's tourism product and recovery, with an emphasis on Sri Lanka as a unique destination for Chinese tourists," Mr. Nanayakkara said.

The organisers of the Sri Lanka tour include the SLTB, Sri Lankan Airlines (SLA) and the Sri Lankan Embassy (Beijing). Accommodation and transport in Sri Lanka is sponsored by leading Sri Lankan tour operator, Walkers Tours (www.walkerstours.com).

The Global Tour Serial is arranged in conjunction with Beijing Municipal Officials, Beijing Association of Friendly International Exchanges, MasterCard International, Greater China and selected travel operators.

Beginning in 2002, the Pooga-MasterCard Family Global Tour Serial has featured Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey, Hawaii, Switzerland and Finland as former host countries.

Pooga follows the launch of SLA's new flight service to Beijing on June 15. The flights will operate three times per week from Colombo to Beijing, via Bangkok.