Travel

Hotel Sigiriya wins silver award

Hotel Sigiriya was awarded the Silver Award by the Promotion of Eco-efficient Productivity Project (PEP) by the Chamber of Commerce.

This initiative on developments in green technology was carried out by the Chamber of Commerce with financial assistance from the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

The project was designed to provide affordable financial support and grants to all companies in the private sector which pursued good environmental and energy conservation practices. While over 100 applications from different sectors in industry were received, only 51 qualified for the support of the project, which included only five hotels.

Under this project, Hotel Sigiriya implemented a biomass based energy system based on gasification of gliricidia replacing the fossil fuel boiler for which it received the award.

The project resulted in substantial savings in energy costs for the hotel, while also supporting the livelihood of the community through gliricidia planting and purchasing. The evaluation criteria included successful completion, follow up work, proper recording and evaluating of savings, dissemination of knowledge to others, and overall commitment of the organization towards eco friendly activities.

The evaluation was done by a top scientific panel who has personally visited each and every project site. CEO of Serendib Leisure Srilal Miththapala, said this win was one of the more important achievements of Hotel Sigiriya, firstly as the hotel did not apply for the award but only participated in the project and obtained a loan to finance it. Secondly, the evaluation has been done by a totally independent scientific panel.

Hotel Sigiriya continues lead as a role model in the hotel sector in environmental best practices by demonstrating extraordinary performance related to sustainable environmental, practices of energy conservation, water conservation, wastewater management, solid waste management and minimizing pollution.

Its conservation efforts so far provides over USD 40,000 saving on costs per annum.

Its efforts have been recognized both locally and internationally with the hotel winning some prestigious awards including the Green Award from IRHA, USA. Hotel Sigiriya has also been case study in global forums such PATA CEOs challenge and World Tourism Investment.

Malaysia launch campaign to woo Lankans

Tourism Malaysia the national agency to promote Malaysia as a preferred tourist getaway in collaboration with the High Commission of Malaysia will launch its marketing initiative targeting the leisure traffic from emerging Sri Lanka market, the tourist board is conducting its interacting business sessions with the travel trade.

Month	Tourist		Tourist		Change %
	arrivals 	arrivals
	2008		 2009

January	1,780,134	1,871,099	5.1

Director, South Asia, West Asia and Africa Division Zulkefli Sharif will be spearheading the Malaysian delegation to Sri Lanka from February 24 to 26, comprising of 14 tour operators and other tourism-related organisations as well as officials from Tourism Malaysia. During the sales mission, among the programs scheduled are meeting with tour operators, travel mart sessions, media conferences and appointments with key tourism industry players.

Speaking on Tourism Malaysia’s Sri Lanka market way forward, Director, South Asia, West Asia and Africa Division Sharif, said.

“For the year 2008, 42,774 tourists from Sri Lanka visited Malaysia registering an overall increase of 34.8% as compared to last years arrival figures for the same period. The year 2009 our target arrivals are for 40,000 arrivals from Sri Lanka. Globally Tourism Malaysia aims to achieve target arrivals of 20 million by the end of 2009, and ultimately 25.7 million by 2010.

“Malaysia today has emerged as an international holiday destination of choice offering ‘Something for everybody to indulge and enjoy’.

Its urban cosmopolitan feel offers travellers the first world ambience through shopping, entertainment, theme park, cuisine and culinary options at competitive price propositions.

Tourism Malaysia destination marketing initiative would be driven by both price and product to offer short-breaks itineraries for both budget and high-end travellers featuring new gateways of Malaysia including Penang, Langkawi, Sabah and Sarawak, Terengganu, Redang and Pahang.

“Tourism Malaysia aims at focusing on Health and Wellness tourism for Sri Lanka market. Malaysia has a comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics offering a wide array of medical services and procedures including dental, cosmetic and cardia surgeries at significantly comparative costs.”

Malaysia boasts of top-class universities, high-quality education with competitive course fees and an extensive selection of courses.

“To target the avid golfers from Sri Lanka, Malaysia offers world-class golf courses with perfect tee-off in more than 200 courses spreading all over the country”.

“Keeping the current scenario in perspective, Tourism Malaysia remains open to explore tactical alliances with trade partners featuring smart initiatives with airlines, neighbouring NTOs and other industries in Sri Lanka to offer value-for-money propositions or tangible benefits for the consumers”, he said.

The destination has easy accessibility through multiple weekly direct flights offered by the two carriers Sri Lankan Airlines and Malaysian Airlines. In 2008, Malaysia Airlines increased its flights to Colombo from three to four flights per week.

High Commissioner for Malaysia to Sri Lanka Rosli Ismail said “Malaysia is an ideal choice for holidays as it is able to satisfy the holiday needs across sections of travellers, be it corporate, adventure, relaxation to name a few.

The warm welcoming nature of the Malaysians and the rich cultural pot pouri makes Malaysia the preferred destination while choosing a holiday.”

The year 2009 has begun on a positive note for Malaysia’s tourism industry in January 2009, Malaysia received 1,871,099 tourists, an increase of 5.1% compared to the same period in the previous year.

Elephant Reach to invest Rs. 15 m

Offer special packages for third anniversary

Whale watching is going to be the latest value addition to the Yala area with several initiatives launched at Kirinda.

With the Yala National Park opening up there is also a steady increase of both local and foreign tourists. In addition the Hambantota racetrack too is attracting motor enthusiasts to the area.

With the anticipated upward trend in Tourism Elephant Reach Yala would be making further investments to their property.

Lanka Hotels and Travels (Pvt) ltd, will invest nearly Rs. 15 million for two additional projects to add value to the property. “We would be introducing outward bound programs to the area and have purchased additional land for this purpose,” said Assistant Manger Dilum Ratnayake.

The company hopes to introduce the tent accommodation concept to the hotel for the guests who would participate in the outward-bound programs. “The climate and the setting is ideal and already several corporates prefer Yala as they could also visit Yala and Kirinda,” he added. He said the tent accommodation would be ideal for the ‘hardcore’ nature lover as it would provide luxury the nature’s way. “These two projects would be ready end of the year,” he said.

Ratnayake said that since many families and tourists patronize the hotel they would introduce a novel concept to serve buffet meals at Kirinda. “We are looking at buying a 22 seater bus for this purpose and also for transportation, “he added.

The newly built hotel with 20 chalets with an investment of Rs. 220 million added 14 deluxe rooms with an addition of Rs. 90 million. The rooms have four-star facilities with air conditioning, Cable TV, DVD, Video library and tea coffee facility. The large swimming pool, garden, roof top bar and recreation facilities also add value to the property.

“The hotel would be celebrating their third anniversary in March and we are offering special rates to Sri Lankans,” he said.

He said that there is a strong European market for the hotel and a new market from Russia. “The hotel is considered a transit hotel for Yala, Kirinda and Kataragama and we are adding value in a bid to make the guests stay longer,” he added.

“We are also hoping to launch an aggressive marketing campaign,” he added.

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