Thirty nine new tourist establishments registered

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Tourist Board under the Tourism Development Act No. 14 of, 1968 registers tourist establishments. During the period 1st January to 31st March 2006 the number of establishments registered were 39.

This includes three Hotels, eighteen Guest Houses, four Restaurants, eight Travel Agents, one Tourist Shop, two Spice Gardens, two Bed and Breakfast Units, and one Heritage Home. The total investment in the 39 establishments were Rs. 800 million and the employment opportunities created were nearly 400.

The increase in tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka and peace in the country has created confidence with the investors that investment in tourism will generate dividends for them, a Tourist Board release said.

The three new hotels registered during the first quarter 2006 are the Palms at Moragolla. Beruwala with 106 rooms; Talalla Retreat at Gandara with 32 rooms; and Galway Beach at Moragalla, Beruwala with 54 rooms.

The increase in room capacity is 192 with an investment of Rs. 525.00 million and the employment opportunities created were 157. At present, there are 14,000 rooms and our requirement for 2010 is to increase the room capacity to 25,000. The newly registered eighteen Guest Houses comprise 189 rooms.

The room capacity ranges from 5 to 18. The Total investment in the eighteen Guest Houses were Rs. 229.00 million and the employment opportunities created were 167.

The investment in the four new restaurants were Rs. 14.5 million and employment opportunities created were 26. There is a substantial increase in domestic tourism market and locals dining out at tourist restaurants.