TOURISM

German travel industry not affected by economic crunch

Shirajiv Sirimane in Fulda

Reisewelt Travel and Tours team

Joachim Teiser

The economic crunch in Europe has not had a major negative impact on travel bookings of German tourists.Managing Director, Reisewelt Travel and Tours, Joachim Teiser said that the German economy is resilient and hence the public has not resorted to cost cutting.

He said that with the dawn of peace ,Sri Lanka is turning out to be a very exciting destination for them. ‘'Now there is safety and infrastructure developments such as the improvement of roads with a second international airport to be opened this year and more domestic airlines coming into the fray, Sri Lanka is more attractive and fascinating as a destination.

Joachim who has been in Sri Lanka for more than 15 times said that the high standards of Sri Lankan star class hotels , makes Sri Lanka easy to market. He however alleged that SriLankan Airlines' fares were almost 200 percent more than their competitors and this aspect should be addressed. He also said that the online visa arrival system was complicated.

Luxury buses

He emphasized that if the SriLankan airfare was relatively low more people would travel to Colombo.

He noted that one should remember that SriLankan is a state entity and the more tourists travel in Srilankan, the country would derive more foreign currency. He said in August they would bring a 20 member travel agents party to promote the country as a destination.

Resisewelt based in Neuhof_- Fulda was set up in 1990 with a staff of four.Today it has more than 35 employees and a fleet of 20 buses,which include, five star buses, luxury vans and cars. The company also operates in many Asian and European countries.

Tour Manaer Ivor Vancuylenburg said that his agency's first long distance tour was to Sri Lanka and ever since has been sending groups to Sri Lanka even during turbulent times even to destinations such as Trincomalee.

The local agents for Reisewela is E Kar Travels. ‘We can do more if better rates are offered by SriLankan,’ he said.

He insisted that Germans prefer travelling to Sri Lanka to enjoy culture ,nature an adventure.

Bernard Tours introduces Cycle Rickshaws

With the increase in tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka Bernard Tours and Travels (Pvt) Ltd., has ventured in introducing Cycle Rickshaws into the market. This novel concept which is economic and pollution free, will no doubt be a big attraction for tourist in around the Colombo City and Galle Face.

Chairman, Bernard Tours, Anjelo Mendis said that they have imported ten cycle rickshaws from India and hope to expand its facility to the cities of Kandy and Galle as well.

Emirates unveils 1,000th Boeing 777

Aircraft joins world’s largest 777 fleet :

Emirates, one of the world's fastest growing airlines has celebrated the unveiling of the 1,000th Boeing 777 during a special event at the manufacturer's plant in Everett, Washington State.

Emirates is the world's largest operator of the Boeing 777 and the landmark aircraft will become the 102nd to join the airline's 777 fleet when it is delivered later this month.

The factory celebration was attended by more than 5,000 Boeing employees, suppliers and government officials, including Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, a delegation of dignitaries from the UAE and senior Emirates executives.

“Emirates is honoured to be the recipient of Boeing's 1000th 777, an aircraft whose advanced, long range capacity has been instrumental to our success in becoming a truly global airline,” said Sheikh Ahmed. “Emirates is already the world's largest operator of the Boeing 777 and our order for an additional 93 is further testament to our belief in the product and the role this aircraft will play as we build our fleet for tomorrow and further establish Dubai's position as one of the world's leading air travel hubs.”

“It is very fitting that Emirates is the recipient of our milestone 1000th 777 delivery.

“Emirates has set an industry high bar in providing excellent customer service and we are honoured that the 777 is central to its efforts to be a global airline leader,” said President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Jim Albaugh.

Emirates, the largest airline in the world in terms of international Revenue Passenger Kilometres, now flies to 122 destinations worldwide. In addition to the 1,000th Boeing 777 passenger aircraft, Emirates also received a Boeing 777 freighter, the eighth to join its fleet, on March 1.