LEISURE

SL to promote wreck diving as tourist attraction

Among the countless blessings that Sri Lanka has, some of the least known treasures are yet waiting to be discovered beneath our blue ocean. With 500 years of trade and commerce, the ocean around Sri Lanka were subjected to heavy maritime traffic, resulting in it hiding more than 200 shipwrecks with histories worthy of being legends.

Wreck diving for sport today has become a multimillion dollar industry, due to the mysterious allure and sense of adventure it provides. With the kind of historical shipwrecks we have , promoting this sport in Sri Lanka would be effortless and can attract a new wave of marine tourists to the country. This could be a whole new area for job creation in the post war economy. With Sri Lanka already being considered as an attractive dive destination by dive tourists around the world, industry stakeholders should look into this opportunity and facilitate the development of this process.

Founder editor of www.DiveSriLanka.com, Dharshana Jayawardena, who has formed Sri Lanka's only web site with comprehensive information about scuba diving in the country, and has over 1000 dives and is a Technical Trimix Deep Diver and a Rebreather Diver, identified the origins of this wreck after two years of exploration.

Jayawardena stated. "In the quest to find shipwrecks off the coast of Sri Lanka we researched historical records and found out about the sinking of the SS Worcestershire.For two years we searched for the ship .Then while scanning a possible location I struck gold! Sonar produced an image of a massive object at 60Meters of depth."

In February this year, Jayawardena found an artefact that removed all doubts. Deep In the hull of the ship he discovered a large pot and with the inscription 'Bibby Line'. "For me this was of tremendous significance as this was name of the SS Worcestershire's owning company! I later found out that this was a "chamber pot" used by ladies at the turn of the last century as a bed side accompanimentfor urination! The pot has been lying under the ocean for 95 years! My ongoing quest is to study the ship further and recover an artefact that has the name of the ship as an inscription 'SS Worcestershire,' "he said.

"People often ask me if I find treasure. I respond by saying that I do. I discover the greatest treasure of all, that is a healthy eco systems resplendent with life, as once underwater, a ship soon becomes a thriving coral reef which is a safe haven for thousands of species marine life to nest, feed and reproduce.

The potential of shipwrecks have been understood and exploited by many other countries, and they would spend millions of dollars to clean up ships and actually sink them for artificial reefs! We don't have to do that but instead protect the shipwrecks we have from wreck salvaging,and let them bring dividends to our tourism industry" concluded Jayawardena.

Seven Cinnamon Resorts bag ‘TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2013’

Cinnamon Resorts announced that seven of its resorts, namely Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, Chaaya Village Habarana, Chaaya Blu Trincomalee, Cinnamon Citadel Kandy, Chaaya Tranz Hikkaduwa, Bentota Beach Hotel and Cinnamon Wild Yalahave won the ‘TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award for 2013.

The accolade honours hospitality excellence and is awarded to businesses that receive a ranking of four out of five on a consistent basis by travelers worldwide, and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months.

It is also significant to note that it is only the top-performing 10 per cent of businesses listed on TripAdvisor that receive this prestigious award. TripAdvisor is delighted to celebrate the success of businesses around the globe, from Sydney to Chicago, Sao Paulo to Rome, which are consistently offering TripAdvisor travellers a great customer experience,” said Alison Copus, Vice President of Marketing for TripAdvisor for Business.

“The Certificate of Excellence award provides top performing establishments around the world the recognition they deserve, based on feedback from those who matter most – their customers.”

TripAdvisor serves as a platform for guests to provide feedback and reviews based on their experiences at various hotels and resorts worldwide.

It provides valuable and real time reviews and experiences of travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features. It has also become a powerful tool in persuading guest decisions on where they would like to spend their next vacation, as guests use the reviews as a factor influencing their decision making.

“We are pleased to have won the award once again, as it goes to show that we have been able to maintain a sustained level of customer satisfaction which in turn has been translated into the positive reviews on TripAdvisor.

It is a testimony of the commitment of staff towards guest satisfaction and their enthusiasm for constantly delighting the customer,” said Jayantissa Kehelpannala – Sector Head for Sri Lankan Resorts.