Promoting tourism through sports

SPORTS TOURISM Deputy Minister of Tourism, Faizer Mustapha had a discussion last week with Malaysian High Commissioner, Rosli Ismail and CEO of Asian German Sports Exchange Programme, (AGSEP) Dietmar Doering, regarding tours by German sports teams from Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Dresden and

 Magdeburg to Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

This would help to promote the two countries as tourist destinations.

AGSEP is presently launching this Campaign which will result in bringing German football, table tennis, volleyball, badminton and tennis teams to Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Thirty clubs will visit each country next year that will foster closer relationships through sport events.

In addition to the teams their supporters and family members too would accompany the teams which would boom the tourism industry.

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Institute of Hospitality promotes housekeeper professionalism

The Institute of Hospitality organised a Housekeepers Forum at the Auditorium of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management.

This initiative was the brain child of the current Chairman of the IOH Anura Lokuhetty to recognize and provide professional development to the housekeepers.

Speaking at the inauguration of the forum Lokuhetty said the idea of the forum was to get the

 housekeepers together to encourage networking and exchange ideas of their experiences and to provide training by using the resources in the forum.

Lokuhetty in his welcome speech highlighted that it was the responsibility of the professionals in the industry to cascade the knowledge acquired to the next generation for the continuance of the hospitality industry and not work in isolation.

GM of Hilton Hotel William Costlay was the guest speaker. As a GM in the hotel industry for many years, having served in many countries and worked with many nationalities Costley highlighted the expectation of the GMs from the housekeepers.

The inaugural forum was attended by approximately 35 housekeepers from the hotel industry and a leader and a secretary were appointed for the ensuing year. Shiranee Perera of Waters Edge was appointed as leader and Vindya Ratnavibushana of Cinnamon Grand was appointed as Secretary.

A lengthy presentation was done by the leader who thanked the Chairman of IOH for creating the forum as they felt that their role has not been identified adequately by the industry. Speaking further she was very thankful to Renuka Jayamanne for coordinating the forum.

The forum provided an opportunity for the housekeepers to discuss various useful information and this forum will meet once a month to share their experiences where experienced guest speakers will be invited to enhance the knowledge of the housekeepers.

Furthermore the forum will provide facilities to stay in touch in terms of selections of fabrics, technical know-how on material selection, selection of mattresses, new products in the market etc., which will help the housekeepers to update their knowledge and in turn provide better services to the industry.

All housekeepers thanked the Institute of Hospitality and appreciated the initiative taken.

This event was sponsored by Waverly Private Limited sole agents for Johnson Diversy products.

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Travelon enters domestic and outbound tourism market

Travelon Ltd is the newest player to enter the domestic and outbound tourism arena, due to the prevailing uncertain situation in the foreign inbound tourism.

So far they have done 5 domestic tours to cover Kandalama, Thanthirimale, Vil Uyana, Deep South tour with the collaboration of Mercy Corps & HDCC and most recently Hill Country tour with 27 Sri Lankans and Expatriates.

On this tour the visitors were able to enjoy the luxury and hospitality of Hotel Bin - Vino, in Gampola a relatively undiscovered "Gem of a Hotel" which is only 12 km from Kandy via the Galaha/ Doluwa road. The happy group is seen in front of the Hotel, just before their departure to Nuwara Eliya.

In the outbound market they have organised luxury tours to Myanmar (Burma) and the 2nd such tours will leave on September 17 to cover Shwedagon, Bagan, Mandalay, Sagaing, Mingun, Pindaya, Inlay Lake and the world famous Kaihithyo (Golden Rock) which is a rare item in the Myanmar itinerary.

For the rest of the year the following domestic tours are on the cards. In October there will be 3 day tours to witness the ODI's in Dambulla when Sri Lanka hosts England in cricket. An all time favourite "Vil Uyana" is once again available in October.

During December holiday season much sought after "Hunas Falls" and "Bin-Vino-Gampola" with site visits to Lankatilaka, Ambuluwawa and Mahaweli Seya (Kotmale) will also be added.

During October/ November in the outbound market there will be 2 tours to Northern Thailand covering Kanchanaburi (Bridge on the River Kwai), Ayuthya, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai and famed dinner cruise in Cho Paya River in Bangkok. During December once again it will be Myanmar Grand Tour (in collaboration with Sri Lanka-Myanmar Friendship Association) and Philippines (Manila) just after Christmas and returning before 2008.

The Directors of Travelon are Sega Nagendra, Prashan Nagendra, Ranjith Fernando, Rishen Fernando, Mrs. Rohini Nanayakkara and Eric Gauder (Managing Director).

In 2008 they would add Bhutan/ Nepal tour, Beijing/ Lasha Rail tour, Indo-China tour (Covering Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam), Jakarta, Borobudur, Bali (Indonesia) and an European Coach Tour.

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RPC Global Travels celebrates its first anniversary

RPC Global Travels, a strategic business unit of the Transportation Sector of the diversified local conglomerate, the 75 year old Richard Pieris & Company, celebrated its 1st anniversary on September 01.

RPC Global Travels is the fully fledged inbound and outbound travel arm of the Transportation Sector of Richard Pieris & Company.

This SBU plays the role of a "Travel Consultant", by providing a comprehensive package of travel related services to corporate and leisure traveller. Through its network of worldwide travel and tour operators, they are in a position to service the global traveller and cater to all their needs across all continents.

To coincide with its anniversary celebrations, R P C Global Travels, teamed-up with Arpico Privilege Card as its exclusive travel service partner. By flying with RPC Global Travels one can earn their relevant points and "Shop Later at Arpico Supercentres." The promotion is available at all ARPICO Supercentres and Superstores.

All Arpico Privilege Card Members who purchase Air Tickets through R P C Global Travels, will earn one (01) point (equivalent to one rupee) for each Rs. 100 spent.

In addition, all Arpico Privilege Card Members who purchase special offers, Package Tours through R P C Global Travels, will earn double the points.

Two points (equivalent to Rs 2) for each Rs. 100 spent. Current special offers are "DUBAI EXPERIENCE - 3 nights/4 days", "DISCOVER MALDIVES - 2 nights/3 days and " BANGKOK DELIGHT - 2 nights/3 days".

Also in addition, Double points are offered on Air tickets on selected airlines. These special offers are, valid for travel before October 31.

Among the services RPC Global Travels offer are issue of air tickets, hotel bookings, airport transfers, issue of travellers cheques, visa facilitation, organizing package tours, cruises, etc. at competitive fares/rates. Their qualified, professional and able team is geared to serve its clients and offer the best solution with multiple choices to suit the individual requirements.

RPC Global Travels is also a member of Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka (TAASL).

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Indian tourism market best to invest

Long after the curtains came down on JWT's highly acclaimed tourism campaign last year, the agency continues to add its bit for Sri Lanka at a crucial time.

JWT persisted with the campaign long after its contractual obligations and hosted a 10 minute documentary on youtube.com which was specially done for National Geographic.

The campaign continues to get high viewer-ship and has the highest hits in the tourism and travel category generating 3,818,210 minutes out of 381,821 views from all over the world on youtube and is still growing.

The idea for the campaign was born from an inspiring thought from the JWT team in Colombo - every few miles you travel you see a new Sri Lanka. JWT's Colombo team infused the essence of this into a brief and an idea was cracked by a cross border creative team between JWT Mumbai and the Colombo office and "small island big trip" was brought to life. '

The campaign was developed under a USAID sponsored post Tsunami initiative to attract tourism back onto the island.

The tourism cluster which comprised of very senior professionals was of the view that the large and emerging outbound tourism market in India would be the best to invest in.

The campaign was released in India for 4 months and saw a 25.4 per cent increase in Indian arrivals compared with the preceding year.

It helped boost and reposition the image of Sri Lanka in the minds of Indian travellers. The site was a success drawing close upon 1,400,000 hits in the first three months.