REVIEW

Sri Lanka Tourism excels in ’11

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Sri Lanka Tourism which saw a record 800, 000 plus arrivals last year is looking at achieving the illusive target of one million arrivals and, a US $ one billion revenue this year.

In addition the industry is hoping to get over US one billion investments to the country in 2012. One of the biggest properties that would get off the ground this year is the building of the Hong Kong based Shangri-La hotel in Galle Face. In addition Hyatt, Raffles Singapore and many other leading international hotels chains too, are looking at opportunities in Sri Lanka.

The largest ever investment in the country’s leisure sector would happen next year when South Africa’s Sun City resort will invest $ 800 million in a tourism project in Kandana. Sun City resort is run by South African gaming and hotels group Sun International Ltd.

“Sun City of South Africa is going to make an $800 million investment in a 200-acre private property,” SLTB Chairman Dr Nalaka Godahewa, told Reuters in an interview.

Kalpitiya a dedicated up market in tourism is gearing up for a tourism revival with high profile international and local investors showing keen interest in investing in the Kalpitiya integrated tourism resort project.

The Kalpitiya integrated tourism resort project which consist of two phases has 31 islands altogether in Kalpitiya and Puttalam Lagoon areas.

This has been a major attraction for Sri Lankan, Indian and other investors.

A significant number of Qatar investors are eyeing the Kalpitiya integrated tourism resort project and the Indian based Delta group is in talks with local authorities to develop tourism in the Kalpitiya area.

The Kalpitiya project spans 5,000 acres of land and is targeted to put up 5,000 hotel rooms.

With the ending of the War, tourism one of the major beneficiaries as there was almost an instant boost to the industry with adverse travel advisories being taken off.

The industry also received another major boost when the National Geographic Traveller magazine nominated the island as one of the Top Six places in the world to visit.

The New York Times has also named Sri Lanka as one of its must visit destinations and the National geographic accolade would tremendously help improve the global tourism image of the country.

The widely read all over the world, acknowledges the peace dividend and its ranking also makes a mockery of the so-called human rights violations allegations levelled against the country.

The magazine said......”Sri Lanka means “resplendent isle,” and the natural charms of this pear-shaped island in the Indian Ocean nearly kisses the southeast tip of India is indeed splendid.

The magazine says that Sri Lanka should be included in the travel plans of anyone planning holidays ..... “What places are calling your name for 2012? Whatever your mood, Traveller magazine has a recommendation for you-from the romantic hills of Croatia to the perfect beaches in Thailand.....”

The other top five destinations nominated are Iceland, Dresden in Germany, Costa Berva in Spain, North Colombia and Oman.

The magazine has also highlighted ‘six must see places and events in Sri Lanka with photographs which includes the Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya which was upgraded to a four-star heritage property with an investment of Rs 85 million. For the first time in Sri Lanka, a tea bar was introduced to the hotel.

The National Geographic Traveller magazine accolade would also help woo top hotel chains to include Sri Lanka in their investment plans. Already Shangri-La and Sheraton have pledged investments in Sri Lanka while one of the oldest hotels in Sri Lanka the Grand Oriental Hotel too is tipped to tie up with the Raffles hotel chain for further upgrading.

Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya

To add further glorify the image of the country world’s leading and most discerning and trusted monthly travel magazine in Britain, Conde Nast Traveller selected Sri Lanka as one of the top five destinations to watch this year. The magazine’s travel experts have predicted that Sri Lanka will be among the hottest new holiday destinations for travellers this year.

Unveiling the list of destinations, the magazine reveals that: “One of the great joys of travel is the feeling you’ve discovered somewhere special, somewhere that’s all yours, for the first time - before the developers move in and the crowds descend.

Sri Lanka welcomes 800,000th tourist

Achieving another remarkable milestone in the country’s booming tourism industry, Sri Lanka welcomed the arrival of 800,000th tourist in year 2011 at the Bandaranaike International Airport in the month of December. This is the first time ever; the tourism industry received arrivals exceeding 800,000, making it a ground breaking figure in tourism records. Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism - Dr Nalaka Godahewa and Managing Director Rumy Jauffeur with a group of representatives from travel and tourism Industry warmly welcomed the guest who arrived in Sri Lanka from London. Sri Lanka Tourism offered a special gift and a complimentary package to the tourist to visit country’s well- known attractions. During the year 2010, total number of tourist arrivals were recorded as 654,476.

Last year has seen a massive contribution from India, Japan, Germany, U.K, France, Netherlands, Italy, and Middle Eastern countries. The month of November 2011 breaks another record being the month which received the highest number of tourists - 90,889 numbers in the history of Sri Lanka Tourism calender years.

All promotional activities and strategic planning of the government of Sri Lanka is aimed at achieving the target number of 2.5 million tourists by 2016.

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