Hotels full for Kandy Perahera

Anjana SAMARASINGHE

Local hoteliers have experienced high tourist arrivals from Middle-East during this year’s Kandy Perahera season.

PR and Promotional Manager of Aitken Spence Hotels, Renusha Gomiz said all their hotels in Kandy had a satisfactory occupancy rate during the Perahera season.

“We have noticed there were a large number of Middle-East tourists for this Perahera season.”

Earls’ Regency, one of the Aitken Spence Hotels in Kandy had 90 per cent occupancy rate during the last weekend. Nearly 85 per cent of the guests at the Earls’ Regency during Perahera season were from the Middle-East. “We had tourists from UK and Portugal too,” Gomiz said.

Hotel Hill Top was fully occupied during last weekend. However all the Aitken Spence Hotels in Kandy had 60 per cent to 65 per cent occupancy rate during the Perahera season, she said. Not only in the Kandy we are receiving a large number of Middle-East tourists for other properties of Aitken Spence Hotels,” she said.

Managing Director of Mahaweli Reach Hotel Jayantha Panabokke said tourist arrivals during this Perahera season was at a satisfactory level and their hotel had tourist inflows from Middle-East, Thailand, Japan and Europe.

He said before the commencement of Ramazan period many Middle-East tourists travel during this season. Tourist promotions organised by the Sri Lanka Tourists Board targeting this market helped in attracting more tourists from this region, he said.

Assistant Manager of Hotel Topaz Suresh Ratwatte said the hotel was fully occupied during the weekend. “Not only in the Perahera season, but also we see there is a slight increase in tourist arrivals during the upcoming season. We have got many reservations for the upcoming season,” he said.

An official from the Keells Hotels, which operates Citadel said they too had a good mixed clientele for the Perahera.

Chamber of Commerce Vice President, Arunee Tippila said they flew a 32-member delegation specially to witness the pageant. “We stayed at Mahaweli Reach and also visited some other hotels.

We are amazed at the quality of the hotels and the service that was offered,” she said.

Tippila said the group was amazed with the pageant and promised to return in larger numbers next year.

Deputy Tourism Minister Faiszer Musthapha said the promotions done in the past two years in the Gulf resulted in the high Gulf arrivals to the pageant which is a new feature. “The Gulf segment was ignored and we have taken the right decision to activate the region,” he said.