IIFA visitors fill city hotels

Amal Goonetilleke

The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) itself has attracted many tourists to the country during the past few weeks. Over 80 to 90 percent of the Colombo city hotels are occupied now mainly due to this glamour event.

Colombo City Hoteliers Association (CCHA) Vice President Amal Goonetilleke told Daily News that providing 20 percent of Colombo city hotels luxury rooms for (IIFA) is an investment to the hotel industry. In the next two years there will be an increased number of tourist arrivals especially from India and many parts of the world as the IIFA is scheduled to be witnessed by over 600 million people around the world.

Goonetilleke said one of the main reasons for that is the recommendation of Bollywood stars and selecting Sri Lanka as the hosting country for the IIFA. This builds confidence in the Indians and fans of those Bollywood stars that the country is an acceptable place to visit. "Our people are very warm and confident that the hoteliers will provide their best hospitality to all the stakeholders of the IIFA during their stay in Sri Lanka," she said. CdeS