Travel

Airport Garden to add 100 rooms

Mathew Thomas

The hotel located in Seeduwa in close proximity to the Colombo airport hopes to start construction by next year. It will be built near the entrance to the present hotel.

Manager, Taj Airport Garden Hotel, Mathew Thomas said the hotel is already maintaining an average occupancy of 85 percent and some days it's full. "That is why we have decided to construct a second hotel," he said. Thomas said the new hotel will also have additional banquet and conference facilities and a separate kitchen and a swimming pool too would be built. "One of the main attractions of the new hotel will be the state-of-the-art international spa which will be a great attraction to the area," he said.

He said they are very positive of the future tourism potential of the country and this was another reason for the management to invest in this new property. The hotel also has over 30 areas and utilising the land more profitably is explored. For years, the hotel has been an ideal stopover point for the tired and weary airline passengers, the airline crew or the transit tourists arriving in Sri Lanka.

Mobitel Roaming Rewards offers hotels, airlines points

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, recently entered into a landmark partnership agreement with Travelling Connect from the Netherlands, a leading global provider of loyalty management services to the telecommunications industry.

This enables Mobitel subscribers to accumulate hotel reward points and airline miles for every minute of a call they make, every two SMSs sent and 3 hotel reward points and miles for every MB of data used while roaming with Mobitel.

This is the first time in Sri Lanka that airline miles or hotel reward points would be offered for mobile phone usage while roaming. This is an extension of the existing rewards scheme offered by Mobitel in partnership with Travelling Connect to provide in-roamers an opportunity to earn airline miles and hotel reward points, for every minute of a call they make while roaming with Mobitel.

Mobitel customers will be able to earn miles and reward points, by registering with Mobitel Roaming Rewards at www.roamingrewards.com and then making calls from their Mobitel connection each time and anywhere they travel abroad. In addition, in-roamers can also start earning points by switching to Mobitel while roaming in Sri Lanka.

Travelling Connect's global partners including SriLankan Airlines and many global hotels.

Members of loyalty programs offered by Travelling Connect's partners above could therefore accumulate hotel reward points and airline miles by simply roaming with Mobitel.

CEO of Mobitel, Suren J Amarasekera said that they made the decision to team up with Travelling Connect based on two main reasons.

"Firstly they had a wealth of experience in the field of loyalty management and had an impressive list of partners.

Secondly, this scheme provided us an opportunity to reward customers through their existing loyalty programs without burdening them to join a new program.

We strongly believe that the new scheme would help us offer a more rewarding roaming experience to our subscribers that would exceed their expectations." Managing Director of Travelling Connect Marcel Wientjene, said that they have selected Mobitel for operation in Sri Lanka, as it is one of the leading and most innovative mobile companies. "We also believed that both Mobitel and Sri Lankan Airlines are two very ambitious companies in Sri Lanka, which will definitely result in a great success of this unique service."

Christmas Cheer at TAGH

Taj Airport Garden Hotel Seeduwa recently unveiled its festivities for the forthcoming Christmas and New Year holiday season.

Celebrations commence with the special Christmas "Gingerbread House" in the Hotel lobby and at the Drive-In in front of the hotel on Monday 10th December. "This is one of the first signs that Christmas is around the corner. The Gingerbread House will be filled with festive delicacies. Snow laded Christmas trees and the strains of Yuletide music in the air will enliven the ambiance in no small measure", the Hotel's  genial General Manager Mathew Thomas said.

The Kiddies Christmas Carnival on Saturday 13 December invites children of all ages to an evening of unlimited fun and games, partying and playing.

A gala and traditional Christmas Eve Dinner unfolds on December 24 at the Society Coffee Shop with an extensive dinner buffet including an array of mouth watering Christmas delicacies.

Bid adieu to 2008, Hawaiian style, as Taj Airport Garden transforms itself into a Hawaiian Paradise at the Harbour Bar on the lagoon water front where 'Rajiv and the Clan' would play with fun and games and super prizes on the Raffle Draw.