TRAVEL

Japanese tourism delegates here

Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) Directors paid an official visit to Sri Lanka targeting to create a positive message for the Japanese travel trade in Japan.

Since JATA Board of Directors are the most influential in creating new destinations, paying an official visit by JATA is an integral activity if a country plans to attract the Japanese market. When JATA visits a country, its membership tends to follow that particular country as a potential destination for Japanese visitors.

However, due to the crisis situation Sri Lanka was experiencing until 2009, JATA had been considering other countries as their priority destinations, though invited to visit Sri Lanka several times.

These efforts were made by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tokyo and SriLankan Airlines, Tokyo along with Sri Lanka Tourism.

The follow up on the convincing JATA has been carried out by Sri Lankan Airlines in Tokyo. The Directors visited Sri Lanka from January 15 to 20 extending their cooperation towards Sri Lanka.

Their main purpose is to expose the visitor friendly environment that Sri Lanka has achieved, to JATA and to instill confidence in the destination through sending a positive message to the Japanese travel trade.

Sri Lanka Tourism considers JATA`s decision to visit Sri Lanka is major landmark in the Japanese market of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan travel trade members hosted the delegation during the stay.

Thailand closes dive spots due to reef damage

Thailand has closed a host of popular dive sites to tourists indefinitely to allow coral reefs to recover from widespread bleaching caused by warmer sea temperatures, authorities said Friday.

In total 18 areas in seven marine parks are off-limits, according to an order by the Thai National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

“Diving in all the spots is to be halted indefinitely until the reef has fully recovered,” said department official Songtham Suksawang.

The ban, effective in seven of 26 marine parks, mainly covers sites in the Andaman Sea on the west coast. It also applies to snorkelling.

Songtham said the authorities would limit the number of people visiting certain other reefs at the same time.

Coral on Thailand’s east and west coasts is thought to have been damaged by last year’s unusually high sea temperatures caused by El Nino, as well as excessive human activity near the reefs, a statement by the department said.

The ban was imposed in certain areas that “have widespread bleaching of more than 80 percent to allow the reef to rehabilitate”, it added.Sea temperatures were said to be around two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than normal in the affected regions.

A study by Australia’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in October said reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean were dying from the worst bleaching in over a decade after sea temperatures across the region rose in May 2010.

Bleaching is caused by the warm water sweeping over the reefs, shocking the corals and causing them to shed the algae that nourish them. If corals fail to regain their algae, they starve to death.

Scientists say corals are vital to marine life because they provide habitats for a vast variety of creatures and absorb large levels of poisonous carbon dioxide.

Reefs are also a big draw for tourists looking to explore the wealth of underwater life.

Thailand is a popular destination for divers, with many resort islands offering excursions to the reefs strung along the country’s more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) of coastline.

Bangkok, AFP