TRAVEL

Focus on service quality - Dr Godahewa

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

Sri Lanka will focus on providing human capital necessary to cater to the expected influx of tourists with plans to upgrade service quality to match international standards.

Dr Nalaka Godahewa

Sri Lanka's tourism is entering into a positive era and expecting a 30 percent growth this year. We can do lot more than the estimated numbers.

However, the room capacity needs to be increased to accommodate the arrivals and service delivery should be of high standard, Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Dr Nalaka Godahewa said.

"We have all the aspects for tourism industry growth and the combination is impressive.

The 2.5 million is a small target compared to our counterparts in the region.

We should look for quality more than quantity and need to position as a top-end tourist destination.

Having the advantage of natural resources is not sufficient, but service factor should be given due prominence," he said. Harpo Productions and the OLAK Group launched Harpo and OLAK School of Hospitality and Tourism Management to conduct the Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality (CTH) modules in Sri Lanka to create trained personnel for the country's rapidly growing hospitality industry.

With the expected 2.5 million tourists, there will be nearly 500,000 employment opportunities.

There is a need to build a pool of human capital to cater to this demand.

Therefore, training and development will be an essential component in attracting higher number of tourists.

"The output level of the tourism training institutions at present is not sufficient and we need to encourage more training institutions by the private sector.

Their initiatives in increasing trained personnel will benefit the industry," Dr Godahewa said.

The CTH Diploma in Hotel Management or Tourism Management will be on a full-time basis by providing soft skills theory and practical training.

The courses will commence on March and will be offered in the areas of FandB services, housekeeping, front office and basic cookery.

Egypt travel warnings

Countries around the globe warned against visiting Egypt and some began evacuating their citizens on Sunday as bloody anti-government protests raged into a seventh day.

The United States and Iraq said they were starting to organize evacuations of their nationals, while Turkey, India, Greece, Canada and Saudi Arabia either planned to or had already sent planes to begin taking out their citizens.

Britain, France, China, Australia, Argentina and Nordic countries warned their citizens not to travel to the country but had no plans yet for full-scale evacuations.

"US citizens in Egypt should consider leaving as soon as they can do so," Assistant Secretary of State Janice Jacobs told reporters in a conference call.

The United States plans to begin evacuating Americans on Monday aboard government-arranged chartered planes. Athens, Istanbul and Nicosia have been identified as possible "safe havens." She did not know the number of Americans in Egypt.

Iraq said it would lay on special flights to evacuate its citizens from Egypt and Turkey said it sent five planes to evacuate its approximately 750 citizens registered in the country.

Saudi Arabia said it organized 33 flights between Saturday and Monday to take its nationals home.

India sent a passenger plane to Cairo to evacuate Indian citizens, as did the small ex-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, which said one of its embassy staff had been killed from a gunshot wound in the unrest.

The Canadian government "is recommending that Canadians leave," Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said Sunday. Ottawa planned to charter planes to get Canadians to evacuation points in Europe, possibly beginning Monday. AFP

Chaaya Blu Trincomalee initiates whale watching

The remarkable confirmation of whales residing in the waters of the Eastern Coast was initiated by the 'Nature Trails' team last year.

Since then numerous sightings of blue whales, sperm whales and dolphins have taken place.

A whale in the Trincomalee sea

The deep seas off the coast of Trincomalee seem to be a popular playground for these species during the early months of the year.

To obtain better awareness about the species and their behaviour; 'Nature Trails', the specialised naturalist team of the John Keells Hotels Group will team up with Scubazoo Productions to begin filming off Trincomalee in February.

This effort will span 45 days and will capture underwater footage of these gentle giants of the sea for the first time in Sri Lanka.

This study will reveal secrets of the great ocean creatures and their habits that have never been witnessed within their underwater domain.

Celebrated British marine biologist Dr Charles Anderson is arriving in Sri Lanka in February for whale watching off Trinco based from Chaaya Blu Trincomalee.

Dr Anderson will be working with the Nature Trails team, and the whale watching group will be at sea for a week, tracking the blue whales off the Eastern Coast.

Dr. Anderson who completed several recces earlier this year with the Nature Trails team believes that the densities of blue whales sighted in Trinco will increase from mid February till late April.

He will also be training the John Keells Hotels naturalist team on the behaviour and natural history of whales during his stay at Chaaya Blu Trincomalee.

Nature Trails team Head Chitral Jayatilake believes this expedition which will engage local scientists and foreign experts along with the Nature Trails team will shed much light on the behaviour of blue whales and their underwater world revealing secrets never captured before on full HD - later this year.

John Keells Hotels Group and Nature Trails are proud to be selected as ground handling agents for an important production that focuses on our marine mammals.

Cathay savings for HSBC credit cardholders

Cathay Pacific Airways has teamed up with HSBC to offer deals for all HSBC credit cardholders to Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul.

Passengers can enjoy savings on Cathay Pacific by purchasing two Business Class return air tickets to Hong Kong (save 32 percent), Singapore (save 14 percent) or Seoul (save 20 percent).

Passengers can book their tickets and travel on or before March 10, 2011 to avail themselves of Cathay Pacific's renowned services and benefits.

Cathay Pacific and HSBC also allow one to experience the glamour of Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific's Visit Hong Kong now package, which includes a return air ticket, hotel accommodation and return airport transfers, among other great benefits.

Tickets for this offer can be booked between January 10 and March 26, 2011, with the travel period to be completed by March 31.

Passengers who travel to Hong Kong can further enjoy special Yum Sing offers (a guide to Hong Kong with over 70 special discounts and privileges at restaurants and places of attraction). Cathay Pacific Airways, Sales and Marketing Manager Ruhan Abbas states that "we are very pleased to team up with HSBC to offer these special getaway opportunities which, combined with our daily flights to Cathay Pacific's hub, Hong Kong, ensure convenient flight schedules so that passengers can make the most of their stay, as well as opportunities to receive attractive benefits from Cathay Pacific."

Cathay Pacific Airways is represented by Finlays Colombo PLC as General Sales Agent.

Jetwing research initiative at Galle Literary Festival

Jetwing Hotels had the Jetwing Research Initiative Exhibition and Forum at the recently held Galle Literary Festival.

The Jetwing Research Initiative was set up to utilise the unique set of skills that the naturalists of Jetwing have, to research, learn, and to finally present and teach others.

Hasantha Lokugamage of Jetwing Beach revisited the quaint village of Negombo, one with a rich history due to its status as a port, in former years whilst Buddhika Gamagedara of Jetwing St.Andrew's discussed the possibilities of reintroducing trout into the cold streams of Nuwara Eliya, a fascinating concept.

Jetwing Vil Uyana's naturalist Chaminda Jayasekera presented his research on one, if not the rarest primates in the country, the Loris and Anoma Alagiyawadu of Jetwing Lighthouse spoke about the migration of Whales and Dolphins at Mirissa and the importance of responsible whale watching.

Nayanapriya Bandara of Jetwing Hunas Falls presented project that deals with the behaviour and ecology of leopards in the Knuckles Range, an animal that has not yet been photographed.