TRAVEL

Ranna212 basking in glory of success

M F Jabir in RANNA

Bar area Ranna212 Tangalle

Ranna212 the four star luxury resort at Ranna Tangalle has achieved record heights showing brilliant performances and maintaining a high occupancy rate during its short span of operations.

General Manager Reyhan Morris attributed this mainly due to its strategic location at picturesque Ranna with mesmerizing seashore, magnificent virgin 60-meter beach frontage and the scarcity of four star class hotels in Deep South beyond Galle.

“We opened late December 2011 with the inventory of 55 rooms and during a period of four months we had a very healthy occupancy pretty much from day one which shows us that there is an actual demand for hotels in this part of Sri Lanka.

There is a vacuum of four star plus hotels on the coastal belt beyond Galle and this is the main reason for us being so successful.

“We opened December 30, 2011 and as of January 2012 we had a very healthy occupancy of 70% plus continuously every month,” he said.

“The resort is popular in Russian and Ukraine markets and is gradually penetrating British, French and German markets. The projected investment recovery period is five to seven years given that tourism keeps up,” Morris added. Ranna212 Tangalle is a scenic four star class resort situated in Ranna, south of Sri Lanka, with an investment of over US$ 6.5 million, 212 km from Colombo which sheds light on its name Ranna 212.

Sales Manager M Muzanif added that the reason Ranna was successful as a tourist destination was due to its strategic location in the Deep South where the coastal belt is much cleaner and serene.

He said it also caters to the government's initiative to take tourism to the Deep South. Reaping maximum benefits of the southern expressway was another aspect that came under consideration.

The opening of the Ruhunu Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa International Port, and the scheduled opening of the Mattala airport and international cricket being played in the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium Hambantota adds to the potential of Ranna212. Similarly, economic activities in the Hambantota region where there is an acute paucity of quality accommodation, offers enormous scope. The hotel possesses two state-of-the- art restaurants, main and barbeque and two bars. The barbeque restaurant is popular for its sea food delicacies and operates in five different themes per week. Among other facilities the hotel also offers 24 hour room service, laundry service/dry cleaning, restaurant, safety deposit boxes, airport transfer, babysitting, Jacuzzi, massage, outdoor pool, pool (kids), private beach, sauna, spa, bar-pub, bicycle rental, business centre, tours, excursions, wireless internet access and many more facilities.

The entire facility occupies 11.5 acres of land. Ranna212 is owned by Auro Resorts (Tangalle) Pvt Ltd, with its Managing Director being Arun K Thapar.

Divyaa Lagoon Resort opens in Kalpitiya

Divya Lagoon Resort opened its doors in Kalpitiya recently, making it the first star class luxury boutique hotel to be constructed on the Dutch Bay, in the new Tourism Zone of Kalpitiya

Built on four acres of land, Divyaa Lagoon Resort is, nestled between the Dutch Bay Lagoon and the Dutch Bay. Divyaa Lagoon Resort consists of seven tropical villas, two pavilion and 2 veranda suites each with its own verandah and modern amenities. These 11 beautiful rooms situated on the shores of Kalpitiya offers a view of the lagoon and sea.

Each room has its individual design, furnished in Colonial style with several water bodies and large landscaped gardens.

Tropical Villas has its own private beach facing Varendah and garden at the back with a15 ft long private plunge pool. The main pool with its six seat Jacuzzi, a 5,000 square foot pavilion, state of the art kitchen facilities including show kitchen, 30-50 cover restaurant, large pool side bar, lagoon lounge areas and 2 lounge decks built into the lagoon, offers maximum comfort and indulgence for guests.

Zarook Marikkar, Chairman of Divyaa Lagoon Resort a veteran in the travel industry here in Sri Lanka and a former tour operator in the UK said, “Kalpitiya has been identified as a tourism haven with a lot of potential given the investment opportunities available.

“We are proud to be the first luxury boutique hotel in Kalpitiya and are confident that with our hotel we will be able to position the area as a top tourist destination in the country. We also recognize the need for protecting the environment, mainly the wildlife and marine life in these areas and we put great effort into supporting causes to keep Kalpitiya as pure as possible.”

Marikkar who is the President of Kalpitiya Resorts Association said “What is unique about this location is there is a practically good season all year around. Unlike the South and the East where there are specific seasons, Kalpitiya can be visited throughout the year except for a few occasional rainy days.”

Divyaa Lagoon Dutch Bay Kalpitiya is a part of Divyaa resorts Ltd that owns several land banks right round the country on the beaches of Sri Lanka spanning from an Island in Dutch Bay, beach land in Dolphin Bay, Talawila, Kalkuda and Batticaloa where the company has been working with a Austrian firm of architects who have designed luxury hotels that blend with each location.

The aim of Divyaa resort Group is to provide Divyaa's own brand of authentic hospitality by catering to the luxury traveler.

Interlink Group that began in London in 1973 was a pioneer in travel and tourism that specialized in Tour Operations to the East with its own tour program in 1978 out of London to Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Etihad Airways commences passenger flights to Nairobi

Etihad Airways’ inaugural passenger flight to Kenya has touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi.

The new daily, two-class A320 service is the airline’s first passenger service to East Africa and a critically important step in expanding its presence in Africa.

The airline will also reach into West Africa with the introduction of flights to Nigeria in July, 2012. Etihad Airways commenced operations to the Seychelles in November, 2011, and Libya in January of this year, building on existing services to Egypt, South Africa, Morocco and Sudan.

An Etihad Airways delegation of senior executives, led by Chief Commercial Officer Peter Baumgartner, was on the inaugural Nairobi flight. Executives from the airline will meet government officials and local tourism representatives during the visit to Kenya. The delegation will also host an evening reception to celebrate Etihad Airways’ new flights.

Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said, “We are delighted to introduce Etihad Airways to East Africa. This year will see considerable growth for us within Africa as a whole, as we observe strong and emerging markets across the continent.

“In particular, this new route services the considerable and growing flow of people and capital between Kenya and North Asia, with major Chinese investment in Africa generating passenger demand in both directions.

“We expect to see strong loads to China, including our new destinations – Chengdu and Shanghai – and of course Beijing, though the schedule allows sub-four hour connectivity to key destinations across North Asia, South East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Australia.”

The A320 aircraft has 16 Pearl Business class and 120 Coral Economy class seats.

Etihad Airways began dedicated cargo services to Nairobi in March 2009 and will continue to operate five freight-only flights per week.

The combined capacity of passenger and cargo aircraft will allow the airline to transport 340 tonnes of cargo each week.

Sri Lanka Tourism to introduce fully automated licensing system

To cater to the growing need of new establishments in the tourism sector, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has introduced a fully automated licensing system. All registered establishments will be able to renew their license and obtain necessary documentation in few hours while new registrations can lodge all applications on line for processing.

‘'Our focus at present is to make sure that our services are provided in efficient and effective manner. We want our customers to spend minimum time in getting our approvals and license. This system will ensure that all applications can be handled on time as well as effectively and efficiently'’ said Dr. Nalaka Godehwa Chairman Srilanka tourism. The new system which will be operational from May 1, will store data of each application along with inspection reports photo graphs and other documents.

‘Manual system took long time for document acceptance and verification. Sometimes applicant had to come several times and each year same documents had to be produced. We streamlined the entire process and introduced one day service.

International Airline Ticketing Academy honoured by IATA

International Airline Ticketing Academy has being honoured and recognised by International Air Transport Association (IATA) Montreal, Canada among the 2012 South Asia TOP 10 IATA Authorized Training Centers.

This is the second consecutive year that the Academy headed by Deepal Perera has being recognised by IATA.

The IATA had taken in to consideration the following criteria to distinguish this training center from the rest of the Authorised Training Center's (ATC) members in the region: number of students trained in 2011 and students exam pass rate throughout 2011.

Deepal Perera, the CEO of International Airline Ticketing Academy, has 33 years of aviation training history in Sri Lanka and abroad. His dedication and commitment in conducting courses in this field is a clear indication for this recognition by IATA.

Having being active in the Aviation field since 1983 he successfully completed almost all the courses conducted by them.

Having established the academy in 1991 he is now a visiting lecturer at the government of Maldives national university, tourism faculty.

Perera's Airline Academy was the first IATA school in Sri Lanka appointed by IATA, and the courses offered include the IATA / UFTAA foundation Course and IATA GDS fares and ticketing AMADEUS courses.

Perera has produced more than 600 IATA Foundation and IATA GDS Amadeus FARES and ticketing students.

Their youngest student who passed IATA / UFTAA Foundation was Melissa Perera 16 years at that time and worked for Air Canada. Soosy Hopwood was the youngest who passed IATA GDS FARES and Ticketing-AMADEUS at the age of 17 year. Minoli Fernando was awarded best performance for IATA GDS FARES and ticketing- AMADEUS for 2010 September exam presently working for Emirates in Dubai.

“To be selected among the ‘Top 10’ I had to face many obstacles and challenges but today I am happy that I have got recognised for my hard work,” he said.