Three cruise liners to carry 6,000 tourists

Hemanthi GURUGE

Three mega luxury cruise liners will arrive in Sri Lanka next February and March carrying more than 6,000 tourists.

Gemini Tours and Travels Chairman and Managing Director Tony Mantara told to Daily News Business that more than 6,000 tourists from England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other European countries will arrive in three separate ships.

He said with the ending of the war, Sri Lanka’s tourism is booming. This has also resulted in high spending tourists visiting Sri Lanka on mega cruise liners anchoring in Sri Lanka .

Cruise liners are now in the process of preparing visits to the Colombo, Galle and Trincomalee ports and are looking forward with much interest at the seaport of Hambantota and the Mattala International Airport.

Ships MS Arcadia, MS Aurora and MS Queen Elizabeth will arrive in Sri Lanka on February 2, March 14 and March 30.

“Visitors are scheduled to visit historical places in Sri Lanka including Kandy , Kelaniya and other destinations,” he said .

MS Arcadia is the cruise ship, property of P&O cruises. The cruise ship is large, modern and new. The length of the vessel is 289.90 meters, the beam is 32.20 meters and the draft is 7.77 meters. These measurements give the ship MS Arcadia 86,800 gross tonnage. The cruise ship has 11 passenger decks offering one entertainment for guests on board. The total capacity for passengers on board is 2,388 guests, who are served by 980 crew members.

The MS Aurora cruise liner is one of the best luxury cruise liners for families, children or honeymoon. MS Queen Elizabeth is also one of the luxury cruise liners in the world. The total capacity of passengers is more than 1,800.