Travel

Clean beaches program

Kapila Somaratne Panadura group correspondent

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau tied up with the Sri Lanka Hotelier’s Association and the tourism sector to launch a massive drive to promote tourism in the coastal belt.

This project is part of the ‘Visit Sri Lanka 2011’ program.

Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena was the chief guest at the project inauguration held last Saturday at the Blue Water Hotel at Talpitiya Wadduwa.

Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Nalaka Godahewa accompanied the Deputy Minister and other guests. The Deputy Minister said the beach conservation project will continue in Hikkaduwa, Bentota, Kalutara, Wadduwa, Negombo and the Arugambay beaches.

“The beaches should be clean to draw more tourists. The Sri Lankan Tourism Board has launched this development program in the coastal belt with the help of hoteliers. Hoteliers along the coastal belt will take the responsibility of cleaning the beach and keep the area clean and tidy.

The Deputy Minister said the ultimate objective of the Government is to attract over 700,000 tourists for this year.

“We should provide them all facilities available in the country. The hospitality is most important. Our country is one of the most preferred travel destinations in the world.

“Many foreign countries discouraged their citizens not to visit Sri Lanka because of the conflict. Now the situation has changed.

“Those countries have removed travel restriction to visit Sri Lanka because the country is safe. This is a welcome sign of promoting tourism in the country,” the Deputy Minister said.

The Deputy Minister paid tribute to the Sri Lanka Tourist Promotion Bureau Chairman and the Sri Lanka Hoteliers Association Chairman for taking interest in launching a massive drive to promote tourism.Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Nalaka Godahewa said it has launched ‘Refreshingly Sri Lanka Visit 2011’ with 12 themes happening throughout the year.

The themes are based on beaches, sports and adventure, people and culture, religious tourism, heritage and nature and wildlife.

Tourists along sea side hotels and the public will contribute to the event, he said.January in the tourism events calendar is allotted to promote the ‘Pristine Beaches of Sri Lanka’.

Philippine tourist numbers up

The number of foreigners visiting the Philippines rose nearly 20 percent last year despite a deadly tourist bus hijack and foreign warnings of terror attacks, the government said Monday.

A total of 3.45 million foreigners went through the country’s main ports of entry in 2010, up from 2.89 million in 2009, Bureau of Immigration interim chief Ronaldo Ledesma said in a statement.

“These numbers send a very clear message that the confidence of the international community in the Philippines and the government of President Aquino is very strong,” Ledesma said.

“No amount of alleged or perceived terror threats can shake or erode that confidence.”

Philippine leader Benigno Aquino protested publicly in November after Australia, Britain, Canada, France, New Zealand and the United States warned their citizens that a terrorist attack on the Philippines was imminent.

The Philippines has long been troubled by an Islamic militant movement engaged in bombings and kidnappings, mainly in the south of the country.

The country’s international reputation took a further hit in August when a botched police rescue effort to end a bus hijacking stand-off in Manila left eight Hong Kong tourists dead.

The bureau said visitor arrivals fell to 188,028 in September, amid the immediate fallout of the hostage fiasco.But it said numbers picked up strongly with an average of nearly 230,000 visitors for each of the last three months of the year.

Tourism ministry assistant secretary Benito Bengzon told AFP the government was optimistic the official tourist arrival numbers for 2010 would be about the same as the immigration bureau figures.

If so, this would exceed the government target of 3.3 million tourists for the past year, he added.

The ministry stepped up marketing and promotion campaigns abroad, and invited tourism guides and the press to visit the country following the bus hostage crisis to show there was nothing to fear, he said.

Bengzon said the Philippines was targeting 3.7 million tourist arrivals this year.

However, this is still just a fraction of the tourist numbers enjoyed by Southeast Asian neighbours such as Thailand.

MANILA, AFP

S Korea to relaunch tourism near border

South Korea said Sunday it would reopen tourist areas near the border with North Korea as tension sparked by the North’s deadly shelling of a frontier island in November shows signs of easing.

The defence ministry said all tourist spots and observation posts used by tourists at Imjingak, along the western border with North Korea, would be open to the public as of Monday morning.

The area, about 54 kilometres (33 miles) northwest of Seoul and popular among tourists, was closed on November 23 when Pyongyang shelled Yeonpyeong island, killing four South Koreans including two civilians and sending regional tensions soaring.

Pyongyang has recently lowered its military alert status, prompting Seoul and US forces to reduce their own alert status to a normal level, Yonhap news agency reported.

Special observations points used by tourists to peer into Northern territory were reopened last month, but Dora Observatory, which has the most extensive view, along with several other spots, remained closed due to its exposure to potential attacks.

“We now believe fully reopening the area will not be a problem for the safety of tourists,” the ministry spokesman told AFP.

Tensions have been acute since the shelling, which was the first attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War and prompted a series of military exercises by the South in a show of force against the North.

Pyongyang angrily responded by pledging retaliation but did not follow through on its threats.

Seoul, AFP

A British tour group was accommodated for the first time at the recently opened Russel’s Tea Lounge at Narahenpita for lunch during their Colombo City tour yesterday. This was organized by a leading travel agent in Colombo. Russels Tea Lounge has become a new tourist attraction as it was expanded to suit tourists with a tea museum. Tour Group Manager Gamini Weerasinghe and Russel Perera with the tour group