TRAVEL

Pasikudah resort gets central sewage plant

Being in line with the Eastern Development Project carried out to add infrastructure facilities to the tourism capital, an agreement was signed between Veolia and Puritas (Pvt) Ltd and tourism authorities to install a new sewage plant in the Passikudah Tourism Development Zone last week.

The Pasikudah Tourism Development Zone consists of 156 acres of land in total and out of that, 118 perches of land has been given to the installation of the new sewage plant.

The agreement was reached as a result of the new approach proposed by the Economic Development Ministry to involve investors and service providers in the infrastructure requirements which should also be considered as investments.

Thus, Veolia and Puritas (Pvt) Ltd. and hotel owners will work together to recover the total investment of US $ 196 million in 20 years on terms of mutual consent, allowing the Government to redirect her investments to other essential development areas.

On the direction of the Economic Development Ministry, the infrastructure requirements in tourism resorts are now reckoned as investments opportunities paving the way for potential investors and service providers to work on a common platform." says a Sri Lanka Tourism official. Tourism authorities will continue to play the role of a facilitator between the parties as in the case of Veolia and Puritas Agreement.

The new sewage plant will comply with the guidelines of EIA -

(Environmental Impact Assessment) and the purified water will be supplied to the hotels for gardening purposes. Currently there are 13 investors in Passikudah who have signed agreements and are investing nearly 6.5 billion to develop holiday resorts in the once war-torn East coast of Sri Lanka.

One boutique hotel has already commenced operations with the completion of public facilities in common areas. The water supply scheme from Valachchchenai, costing Rs. 87 million is also nearing completion together with a Sri Lanka Tourism Resort Office to service the area. The public area in Passikudah will consist of a car park, an open air theatre, two shopping arcades and two restaurants. The access road is built by the Sri Lanka Army.

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa is closely supervising the development of Passikudah with the assistance of Deputy Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardhana to ensure that the expected 1,000 rooms will be added to the overall tourism inventory without delay. The development activities in the zone will provide a considerable amount of direct and indirect employment.

Wildlife celebrities in Sri Lanka

John Keells Hotels Group hosted world renowned photographers and wildlife film makers Jonathan and Agela Scott in Sri Lanka.

John Keells Hotels Wildlife Tourism Head Chitral Jayatilake spent twelve days with the Scotts giving them an opportunity to experience the local culture, the rich history and the heritage of Sri Lanka and the leopards of Yala. Chitral and the Nature Trails team made seventeen sightings of leopard in Yala along with Jonathan and Angela and the tremendous images captured will no doubt showcase the promise of one of Sri Lanka's tourism icons to the world. Jonathan and Angie Scott live in Kenya in Africa and spend much of their time in the company of African wildlife. Their wildlife photography, wildlife pencil drawings, and wildlife books have won awards and recognition for their work throughout the world.

Big cats have been the focus of much of Jonathan and Angie's work and the basis for a number of books including three titles accompanying the hugely popular BBC television series Big Cat Diary or Big Cat Week that Jonathan co-presents. Angie takes the production stills for the series and is a game spotter.

John Keells Hotels together with Nations Trust Bank and American Express have organised a special event where Jonathan Scott will make a presentation at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo and share with an audience his latest film, shot in Africa about the secret leopard.

The Palms in major refurbishment drive

The Palms Beruwela is gearing up for a major refurbishment drive and is planning to build a grand ball room. This would be to accommodate around 600 covers.

The hotel is also looking at adding 40 rooms to meet the growing demand from both local and foreign clientele. The management is also looking to cater to the growing wellness market by introducing a spa to this four star luxury property.

The General Manager of the hotel Roshan Gamage said that the wedding market is growing and this was the reason the management of Colombo Fort Hotels decided to aggressively promote this segment by investing on a grand ball room.

He said that they are very happy that the Colombo-Galle Highway would be ready by the end of next month and the Colombo Katunayka Highway by the end of the year. "This will enable a guest from the Colombo airport to reach Beruwela in less than one and a half hours. This is a major plus point for the industry and would bring multiple benefits to the industry and would certainly help to increase our bottom line."

He said that they have a strong UK, German and Russian market and their repeater market too is another plus point.

Located along the golden sandy beaches of Beruwela, in a sprawling eight acre land area Palms Hotel has well appointed rooms facing the Indian Ocean. With well furnished interiors each room is complete with a private terrace, a choice of twin or double beds, mini bar, tea/coffee making facilities, a telephone with IDD facilities, cable television, an electronic safety deposit box, an attached bathroom with hot and cold water, shower cubicle and a hair dryer.

The hotel also includes conference facilities for special business meetings. Other facilities include a gymnasium, an outdoor swimming pool and a children's pool, a volleyball court, table tennis, pool tables, snooker, jewellery, clothing and souvenir boutiques.

The hotel maintained around 42 percent occupancy last year and this year they are looking at increasing this to 60 percent.

He said that they also created a record recently when the service charge shot up to Rs 23, 000. "This was an all time record and with more arrivals this year they will soon beat this figure," he said.

Uniwick to promote Sri Lanka 'down under'

A newly formed travel company, Uniwick Tours and Travels based in Australia is promoting Sri Lanka as a destination down under.

Uniwick Tours, Australia Partner Nagesha Wickramasuriya said they have already invested Rs 10 million to set up a regional office in Sri Lanka. "We are also taking over some apartments so that they can be given out to tourists," he said.

He said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa on several occasions had invited Sri Lankan entrepreneurs based overseas to invest in Sri Lanka and also help to build a better image of Sri Lanka. "A section of the Tamil Diaspora based in Australia had invested 80,000 Australian Dollars to paint a bad picture on Sri Lanka. However through this firm and through Sri Lankan Australian Expatriate Community we have been successful in reversing the bad opinion the Australian public on Sri Lanka and have been successful in sending Australian tourists to Sri Lanka."

He said that the Australian tourists are keen on wildlife, beaches and history and with proper marketing Sri Lanka can woo more tourists. He however said that in Sri Lanka the room prices are higher than that are offered in Thailand, Malaysia and even Bali. "However the standard in Sri Lanka is higher."

"Our comprehensive range of services includes planning and executing unique tours and holidays that are customized to our clients' diverse needs and requirements. We provide our world-wide clientele the opportunity to experience the "Wonder of Asia". We are equipped with the finest resources and proven ability to offer the best value to our customers," he said.

Wickramasuriya also said that there is a new emerging market for sport groups and they are also pursuing this opportunity.

Serene Pavilions wins global accolade

Serene Pavilions have won three awards at the recently held International Hotel Awards in association with Bloomberg Television UK.

The three awards that were won by Serene Pavilions are;

Gold - 5 Star Award - Best New Small Hotel Construction and Design Sri Lanka Silver Award - Best New Small Hotel Construction & Design Asia Pacific, and Highly Commended Small Hotel in Sri Lanka.

Commenting on the awards, Anura Lokuhetty, the Deputy Chairman. Chief Executive stated that "winning these prestigious awards will bring lot of recognition to the standard and quality of hotels in Sri Lanka". He was pleased that within such a short period of time they have already won several International and local awards.

He further added that "we will continue to work hard to bring such recognition to Sri Lanka and thereby working towards bringing a new recognition to Sri Lanka as a destination who can cater to the requirements of the up-market tourists as well".

Jetwing upgrades properties

Jetwing Hotels have taken in-room facilities to another level by introducing state of the art ATOM LED Televisions at five of their luxury properties including Jetwing Lighthouse, Jetwing Beach and the newly launched Jetwing Blue.

LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology uses arrays of LED lights to replace the bulkier fluorescent lights used in LCD TV's, resulting in slimmer panels and localized dimming and lighting which allows for dynamic contrast creating more dramatic visuals.

Ultra Slim Jetwing Branded LED units enhance the ambiance of the room while providing a more immersive and interactive experience for guests.

At present over 350 High Definition 40" LED TV's have been installed by the ATOM team at these resorts islandwide.

Having total control over the manufacturing process ATOM was able to customize each unit and start up screens with Jetwing branding ensuring a more complete brand experience for their guests, another first in the industry.

"If Sri Lanka is to truly achieve its potential as a tourist destination, it is essential that Hotels invest in better facilities in order to compete with standards set by other destinations.

"Today's traveller expects more and it is time for the industry to meet this demand," he added.