LEISURE

‘LOLC Leisure to open five star resort in Beruwela’

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The proposed 500 room LOLC leisure property in Beruwela

Sri Lanka’s largest, will open in the golden mile of Beruwela taking Sri Lankan tourism sector to a new level. .

The mega complex, built by LOLC leisure will offer 500 beach frontage rooms with ultra modern luxury helping the country to attract higher spending visitors to the country.

LOCL entered the Beruwela area a few years ago by acquiring properties owned by Confifi Group, Eden, Riverina and Palm Garden and then Tropical Villas. Under this project the three award winning hotels in Riverina and Palm Garden and Tropical Villas spreading in a 20 acre land, would be amalgamated to one enterprise making it the biggest locally funded tourism project outside Colombo.

“Under this mega development plan the three hotels would be amalgamated into a new hotel. A large conference area for 700 too would be included for this project which would help to promote the MICE market in a bigger manner. This would add more value to Sri Lanka as a popular MICE destination. The new project would generate over 1,000 direct employment and 4, 000 to 5, 000 indirect employment opportunities,” he said. Resident and craftsmen around would also have an opportunity showcase their products to high end tourism thus gaining better returns.

With the opening of this project LOLC group room portfolio with the inclusion of Eden Resort and Spa would increase to 658 in the Beruwela area. In addition the hotel also own and operate the 76 key Dickwella resort and Spa and reconsolidates its position as the third biggest hotel operator n Sri Lanka with a total of 734 keys.

LOLC would then handover the management contract of this 500 room five star venture to an international hotel chain and many internationally high repute tour and super chain hotel operators have expressed their consent to operate and the manage the resort.

This is expected to be followed up by the Phase 2, which will consist of 120 serviced apartments, 80 condominiums and a shopping cum entertainment complex to meet future demands of the industry.

Avani Kalutara resort opens

The Southern coast of Sri Lanka came alive on Saturday the November 17, when the grand opening of AVANI Kalutara Resort (formerly known as Kani Lanka Resort & Spa) took place.

The resort has reopened after a significant renovation and refurbishment representing a Rs. 550 million investment, which was a joint venture between Serendib Leisure Management and Minor Hotel Group.

Approximately a one hour drive from Colombo, AVANI Kalutara has a remarkable location, built on the mouth of the River Kalu, facing the lagoon in one direction and the Indian Ocean on the other.

Facilities include a choice of four room types – Standard, Superior Lagoon View, Superior Sea View and Junior Suites, each with a private balcony or patio overlooking either the ocean, river or tropical gardens, two restaurants, out of which one is the main restaurant with theme night buffets and the other an A-la-carte restaurant, two bars one overlooking the lagoon and the other the sea, a gym, a water sports facility and a heavenly spa. For business guests, the flexible meeting space could accommodate up to 100.

AVANI Hotels & Resorts was launched by Minor Hotel Group in 2011, with AVANI Bentota Resort and Spa, the new brand’s first property, debuting in Sri Lanka in November 2011. A sister brand to the luxury, award-winning, Anantara brand, AVANI offers relaxed comfort and contemporary style in city and resort destinations to guests who value the details that matter.

The Chief Guest at the opening was Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development. Several other dignitaries and special guests also graced this occasion.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau participates in CITM 2012

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), along with 14 Local Travel Agent Companies and Sri Lankan Airlines, successfully participated at the China International Travel Mart 2012 (CITM 2012); the biggest Travel Mart in China.

Having kicked off recently, the CITM 2012 was held at Shanghai New International Expo Centre, providing a precious opportunity for the Sri Lankan Travel Agents to meet their counterparts in China.

With the basic view to create awareness about the peaceful conditions in Sri Lanka after the end of the war, Consumer Days were held on November 17-18 and steps were taken to introduce a number of latest products related to the market of China. Since a number of media personnel participated, SLTPB also got an excellent opportunity to obtain a very good media exposure to market its product to the travellers worldwide.

With the ambition of holding business meetings with over 40 tour operators, SLTPB plans to organize a road show at Hangzhou city in Shanghai.

Representing Sri Lanka at CITM 2012, Ranjith Uyangoda, Sri Lankan Ambassador to China, Vimal K. Arulampalam, Minister Councillor and Madubhani Perera, Acting Director, Marketing of SLTPB, participated at the event.

China has been identified as an emerging market in the field of tourism. During the past decade, a rapid growth of Chinese travellers has been witnessed all over the world. Having foreseen this phenomenon, Under the guidance of the Ministry Of Economic Development, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has initiated a number of promotional programmes to attract potential Chinese Tourists to Sri Lanka. Thus, during the past few years, the Tourism sector of the island, in fact, experienced a lot of positive outcomes. Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.