First of its kind to provide travellers and investors a ‘Window to SL’:

President unveils Hambantota City App

Coinciding with the opening day proceedings at the Rajapaksa International Airport in Mattala, President Mahinda Rajapaksa launched the Hambantota City App at a colourful evening ceremony held at the airport premises in Mattala on March 18. The App running on Windows 8 provides travellers and investors a complete guide to the emerging city of Hambantota poised to become the next economic hub of the nation.

The app unveiled by the President is the first of 15 cities that will be included in Microsoft Sri Lanka's 'Window to Sri Lanka' App development exercise, in a bid to help position Sri Lanka as a tourist and investment destination of choice among locals as well as foreigners. The President launched the App on a state of the art touch screen eWis computer, at the event.

The App also provides useful information about the economic potential of Hambantota, encompassing the rapid infrastructure developments taking place in the area and includes key information relevant to foreign investors such as airline schedules, business information and important contact details.

Microsoft Sri Lanka has built the City Apps in close collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, to assist them in their mission to promote tourism in the country. The company has developed a series of city Apps under the name ‘Window to Sri Lanka’ which will provide tourists and locals travelling in Sri Lanka or planning their holiday here from anywhere in the world, a visual information guide and an interactive snapshot to the key cities to visit in Sri Lanka.

The series of City Apps featured under the ‘Window to Sri Lanka’ theme will provide a window to the country's important tourist spots by creating exclusive information on cities such as Colombo, Hambantota, Anuradhapura, Kandy, Galle, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna, Negombo, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Yapahuwa, Sigiriya and Dambulla. The App, which includes high-quality pictures, important details, and maps will serve as navigators to the cities.

The App lets users view information such as places to visit, where to stay, eat, or shop, in addition , important facts about the city and how to get there. It will contain unique aspects of each city to give the visitor an immediate sense of where to go and what to do depending on their interests.

A significant feature of the City Apps, being unveiled is that the App once downloaded to any desk top PC, tablet or laptop, can be accessed and used with or without Internet, which is an added convenience, especially in remote areas where 3G or Wi-Fi coverage does not exist.

First among the cities Window to Sri Lanka will initially cover Hambantota, Colombo and Anuradhapura, and the rest of the cities will be included in the near future.