Kalpitiya Tourism Zone:

Two islets leased

Five star resorts:

Harshini PERERA

Two islands namely Ippantivu and Velli were leased under the Kalpitiya Integrated Tourism Resort Project (KITRP) recently for which investment was mainly from foreign investors.

Cube Lanka Leisure and Sun Resort are the two interested companies who bought these islands in Kalpitiya, Kalpitiya Tourism Resort Project, Project Director Saman Navaratne told Daily News Business.

The site of Thoreadya Jetty which is identified as one of the main entry gateway points to the 14 islands of first stage bidding process

Cube Lanka Leisure, will set up a five star hotel with 200 villas. The investment will be Rs 1.7 billion which is financed by an Indian company. The villas will generate 600 direct and 1200 indirect employment opportunities.

“Sun Resort (Pvt) Ltd is an investment of Rs 1.2 billion made by a Maldives and Switzerland party. This will be a five star resort set up with 150 beach villas which will provide 450 direct employment opportunities. There is a possibility of them to set up a underwater structures in the future. The construction period for the Sun Resort will be 30 months,” Navaratne said.

“KITRP will altogether create 5,000 rooms after leasing out 14 islands in the Kalpitiya area and 17 islands in the Puttalam side by keeping Kalpitiya a tourist destination. It will attract one million tourists a year after the project completion. We need to acquire 14 more islands in the future,” he said.

The Palavi Airport that has been functioning as a military airport will be renovated and it will contribute to the improvement of tourism in Kalpitiya area acting as a domestic airport.

It is expected to generate 15,000 direct and 30,000 indirect employment opportunities. Under the KITRP, fishing jetties will be constructed since the project will enhance the living condition of the community as an integrated tourism project.

KITRP called for proposals in August and have already received 12 project proposals. The proposals were mainly from foreign parties and KITRP has sent them for Cabinet approval.

Within the zone a golf course, a race course, a tourism training school, foreign language teaching school, ayurvedic centers and hospitals will be constructed.

“We encourage investors to allocate five percent of a project cost to the benefit of the community.

We need to create leisure space just like Galle Face for local tourists and we have set up domestic and pilgrim resorts in Anavasal with a capacity for 100 visitors,” Navaratne said.