Elephant Reach to expand

Harshini Perera

Sri Lanka is an all inclusive tourist attraction which can be promoted by individual companies with Government assistance.

"Sri Lankan beaches are popular among Indian surfers and India will be a country that can attract a large number of tourists to the country," Elephant Reach Hotel Yala Director Malinga Fernando told Daily News Business.

"Sri Lanka is known as a budget destination among many tourists and we have to come out of that mentality. The tourism and leisure sector is connected with airlines, hotel chains and guides. Therefore, these sectors should be connected and given support by the Government," he said.

Elephant Reach has acquired a land and will expand the hotel to 50 rooms from 35 rooms with an investment of Rs 45 million.

In addition, a Spa will be set up from April next year as a tourist attraction. It has also acquired a 50 acre land close to Yala and will invest Rs 25 to 30 million on luxury camping and cottages for tourists in the future.

"The average stay of a tourist is limited to one or two days outside the Yala National Park and we need to increase their staying if we need to promote tourism in the area.

We expect to promote agro tourism to which the areas will be ideal," he said. There are many tourists coming from countries such as United Kingdom, Germany and Russia for safari tours.

"We had an 80 percent occupancy rate for this year," Fernando said.