President launches H’tota City App at Mattala

Coinciding with the opening day proceedings at the Mattala Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), President Mahinda Rajapaksa launched the Hambantota City App at a colourful evening ceremony at the Airport premises in Mattala on March 18.

The event was attended by a large number of global partners, overseas dignitaries, key government figures and local business leaders. The new Hambantota City App built on Windows 8 under the theme ‘Window to Sri Lanka’, has the potential to provide information about Hambantota to more than 60 million people across the world, who are currently using the Windows 8 Operating System.

Microsoft Sri Lanka has built a City App on Hambantota, providing travelers and investors a complete guide to the emerging city of Hambantota, including airline schedules, places to stay, key tourist attractions, Business information etc. The App includes high-quality pictures, important details, and maps which serve as a navigator to the city. A useful feature is also the off line capability, which will help travelers immensely. The App was built in partnership with the Tourism Development Authority and launched on a state of the art touch eWis computer screen.

Once downloaded to any desk top PC, tablet or laptop, it can be accessed and used with or without Internet and is available on the ‘Microsoft Store’, a home for Windows Apps and several key travel websites. Hambantota is the first of the 15 cities included in Microsoft Sri Lanka’s ‘Window to Sri Lanka’ App development exercise, which aims to promote Sri Lanka as a tourist and investment destination.

Upon launching the App, Country Manager for Microsoft in Sri Lanka Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne said Microsoft, in its capacity as the largest software company in the world, is always willing to assist Sri Lanka in achieving its development goals.

He pointed out that this App would help reach a large number of global Windows 8 users, thereby putting information on Hambantota at their fingertips. He also commended MP Namal Rajapaksa’s support towards conceptualizing the App. The App will later include cities such as Colombo, Anuradhapura, Kandy, Galle, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna, Negombo, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Yapahuwa, Sigiriya and Dambulla.

It will also be available on Windows 8 mobiles in future as part of the App development roadmap.