Leisure

Lanka important market for Singaporean tourism

Sara Pathirana

Sentosa Luge

Marina Bay Cruise Centre

A side view of The Merlion at Marina Bay Sands

A view of the world’s longest infinity pool at Sands SkyPark.

The Singapore Tourist Board (STB) have engaged in opening up new travel and tourism opportunities to entice Sri Lankan travellers to visit the constantly revamping island of Singapore.

In 2011, STB reported an expanse of S$ 22.3 billion in tourism receipts and the number of international visitor arrivals in 2011 shot up to13% as opposed to 2010. In 2012, Singapore recorded a best ever performance of 14.4 million arrivals.

Over 76% of the total international numbers of travellers have arisen from Asia, with the highest report for 2012 having been from Indonesia with 2085 tourists. Singapore's forecast target for 2013 is to achieve S$24.5 billion worth of arrivals, which would be nearly 15.5 million tourists.

Singapore has gained this relevance through being the major gateway to the South Asian region.

Singapore Changi Airport is the busiest and most connected airport in the world with more than 3,700 weekly flights to all parts of Asia.

G. B. Srithar, Area Director for South Asia, Singapore Tourist Board said that with such travel figures, Colombo would be defined as an ideal air hub and data has shown that Colombo has a chance of being places among the Top Five Asian air-hubs and this would need an essential focus to be marketed.

"Singapore has a lot to offer and it's not just confined to shopping and sightseeing.

Visitors can get to experience our ever-changing list of attractions and indulge in what is there to offer. Sri Lankan travellers seek varied travel experiences that cater to their tastes and interests and Singapore has an exciting list of leisure experiences to offer. Our aim is to reach out to the Sri Lankan travellers and ensure that they spend wonderful holidays in Singapore," Srithar said.

Aldrin E. Arumugam, General Manager for Sri Lanka, Singapore Airlines acknowledged that Sri Lanka being an important market for Singapore and Singapore Airlines, it was essential that the Sri Lankan public get the awareness of the new products and services that Singapore has to offer. "I am certain that Sri Lankan travellers will be keen to visit the attractions in Singapore, enjoy the composed services of Singapore Airlines and get to make Singapore their preferred holiday destination and Singapore Airlines, their preferred choice of airline to Singapore and beyond," Arumugam said.

Singapore is constantly on the overhaul and evolves itself to work on attracting tourism opportunities.

Singapore Airlines have also been very active with the Tourist Board and with Singapore Airlines (SIA) having a strong presence in Sri Lanka for the past 42 years.

An initiative was taken this year after the new openings to embark on familiarizing those entities with Sri Lankan travellers. Events to be anticipated in Singapore would be the Great Singapore Sale for the 20th consecutive year, which will begin on May 31 until July 28, 2013.








 

Lanka's Ulagalla Resort wins "Best Sustainable Hotel" award in APAC Region

5th June 2013 - Colombo, Sri Lanka - Ulagalla Resort, the luxury boutique hotel by Uga Escapes, was presented the prestigious "Best Sustainable Hotel" Award at the "Asia Pacific Hotel Awards Winners 2013-2014" ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur recently. Ulagalla Resort is an eco-friendly luxury boutique hotel that consists of 20 chalets over a 58 acre property in Anuradhapura.

Ullagalla Organic Farm – handpicked fresh organic products

Award winning Ulagalla Resort offers every comfort and facility of luxurious urban living

The "International Hotel Awards" global competition determines the finest hotels and hospitality companies in the world. They were developed to identify, highlight and reward excellence throughout the global hospitality industry throughout a wide range of areas. The awards are split into regions covering Asia Pacific, Arabia & Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and UK. The elite of the Asian hospitality industry gathered at the Shangri-la Hotel in Kuala Lumpur to hear the long-anticipated results of the "Asia Pacific Hotel Awards". A total of 94 awards were given to 19 countries in the region for a variety of hotels, ranging from small to large and general to specialty.

Hidden away in the quiet village of Thirappane in the Anuradhapura district, blending perfectly with the surrounds, Ulagalla Resort offers every comfort and facility of luxurious urban living to their guests. 20 luxurious chalets - each with its own private plunge pool; offer spacious comforts with all the modern amenities. Ulagalla Resort is just a short drive away from exciting wildlife safaris to the plains of Minneriya National Park where one can watch the majestic elephants or further West to Wilpattu National Park where the leopard rules the landscape.

Expressing his views on this latest achievement of the company, Priyanjith Weerasooriya, Managing Director of Uga Escapes said, "Uga Escapes has always strived to be a global benchmark in the boutique hotels industry. Winning this prestigious regional award further emphasizes our commitment to providing the most luxurious getaways in a sustainable manner, thereby offering a truly unique experience to all our guests."

Speaking on the sustainability aspects of the Resort, Weerasooriya added, "Today's high-end global traveler prefers luxury built around sustainability with reduced carbon footprints and the lowest impact on regional community. This is where Ulagalla continues to be in the forefront of the industry. We use innovative technology and best practices sustainability by the use of organic farming, reverse osmosis water management and solar farms. In fact, the solar farm is the most important contributing factor to Ulagalla Resort's eco-friendly policy.

It is one of the largest solar farms in Sri Lanka and supplies over 50% of the hotel's energy requirement when in full operation. Excess of energy produced by solar farm is given to the national grid."

Elaborating further on this topic, Weerasooriya added, "When developing Ulagalla Resort, protecting the surrounding environment took precedence. Not a single tree was cut down, and all construction took place on already utilized land in strict accordance with Green policies. In fact, after the construction of the chalets and pathways were done, over 1,000 root-balled trees were planted on the 58-acre land area." He added that the chalets were constructed using fire-proof and eco-friendly material that reduce the transmission of sound, which are 100% recyclable and 10 times stronger than dry wall. They are fitted with LED bulbs that reduce the carbon footprint of the resort by 80% while the AC system fitted into each chalet utilizes an environmentally friendly gas and the heat recovery system provides the entire requirement of hot water. "We have also installed water purification plants that will recycle waste-water and rain-water and purify it to use on the plantations. The resort's waste matter is collected to make compost manure for the fruit and vegetable gardens," he further added.

The International Hotel Awards has 16 categories and up to three 5-star awards for each category are awarded on a national level before going on to compete on a regional level. In addition to categories for several types of specialty hotels and categories by hotel size, there are also categories for hotel architecture, construction, interior design, marketing and website.

Stuart Shield, President of the International Hotel Awards said, "The hotels that we have seen coming out of this region will be tough to beat in the International Hotel Awards final in London. It would not be surprising if history were to repeat itself with the Asia Pacific region again crushing their competitors from other corners of the world."

Uga Escapes also owns Jungle Beach, an eco-friendly luxury boutique hotel in Kuchchaveli, Trincomalee that is set on 10 acres of pristine land located between the Indian Ocean and the jungle. In addition, they also own Uga Bay in Passekudah, a 48-roomed hotel that offers a tropical beach experience.

Wedding Bonanza at Abans

If you’re about to get married then there is only one place you should be this weekend; at the Abans Wedding Bonanza.

On Saturday 8th June the Abans Kollupitya showroom will play host to a variety of talks and demonstrations that will help you with your final decisions and preparations for your big day.

Everything from floral arrangements, catering services, photographers, wedding cakes and dresses will be discussed. Useful tips and tricks will be provided by professionals in each field, who know the ins and outs around planning for weddings.

Tennyson Edirisinghe, winner of the Best Feature Photographer of the Year 2010 at Asia Media Awards, will be talking about the best way to document the big day and Chef Martinez, who holds the record for the world’s tallest hanging cake will be handing out some creative inspiration for wedding cake designs.

Dulci Haththella, renowned beautician and hairdresser, will be showing brides which dress or saree silhouette will best suit them, while Lassana Flora will be showcasing stunning, yet budget conscious floral arrangements and the Opulent River Face Hotel will help plan the best menu for your wedding day feast.

There will also be a variety of cooking demonstrations using Philips products so that you and your partner can learn to cook healthy and delicious meals to sustain you throughout your married life.

Couples can even take part in fun games with amazing prizes and enter their names into the Abans Raffle Draw and stand a chance to win a Honeymoon Package! Abans will also be offering packages of home appliances at discounted rates for couples who are planning on moving into a new home.

Be sure to be at Abans Kollupitiya this Saturday from 10 am onwards to participate in this event. Entrance is free, but be sure to call 072 2688311 and save a spot!

Otara launches Hoola jewellery collection with CJS

Stunning additions to the legendary CJS Perpetual Grace Collection were launched by award winning Bollywood movie star Jacqueline Fernandez who was in Colombo for a quick visit recently.

Donning an amazing pair of emerald, pearl and diamond chandelier earrings set with 30 carats of emeralds and 7.5 carats of diamonds, Jacqueline personified glamour and style, while also showcasing a radiance that remained inherent in the entire collection.

In similar style, celebrated award winning glam entrepreneur Otara Gunewardena, who was a pioneer in designing the celebrity jewellery collection ‘Otara’ with an exotic limited edition collection in partnership with CJS, launched her new collection Hoola, using a variety of colourful gems set in both gold and white gold. Otara presented Jacqueline with the first pieces from her newest Hoola collection.

amanté summer fashion collection launched

Three à la mode designs would bring to life the youthful exuberance of the season, as amanté launches their summer 2013 collection this June.

The perfect blend of sophisticated design and luxurious comfort, coupled with the vibrancy of the season, the summer 2013 collection follows a highly successful spring collection launched by amanté in April this year.

The brand has dominated the targeted market space; a demographic of fashion conscious women who clearly announced their endorsement of premium lingerie in Sri Lanka.

The ‘Secrets of Summer’ collection offers Sri Lankan consumers a range of fine lingerie to choose from, Vintage Rose, a classic floral design that is the perfect combination of modern styling and old-time charm, comes with a new padded balconette bra and low rise brief.

Florette brings out the playful spirit of the season, with a darted padded full-covered bra and low rise brief, a camellia print on soft smooth microfiber and rosette bow adding the final touch of perfection to the set. This summer style will be available in both white and navy blue.

A vibrant watercolour print on red makes Melange the more bold choice of the season, bringing out the daring spirit in women. The darted padded wired bra is designed with a sweetheart neckline, ultra soft bonded microfiber straps and is completed with silver rings and slides with the engraved amanté logo.

The range would be following the amanté Spring Collection that was launched in April; the coordinate sets included floral design Ombre,

Chaaya Blu launches project on ‘Dive Against Marine Debris’

The International Diving Centre (IDC) and Cinnamon Nature Trails, both based at Chaaya Blu Hotel, recently removed 250kg of abandoned fishing nets and plastics from the Swarmy Rock reef as part of Project Aware’s “Dive Against Debris” campaign. Both entities have joined forces to take action against marine debris in order to raise critical national awareness of this issue.

The scuba community is united in their efforts to conserve the ocean through PADI’s Project Aware movement, an initiative described as ‘the largest global movement of divers acting in their own communities to protect oceans and implement lasting change’. The Instructors at the International Dive Centre – Sri Lanka together with Marine Naturalists for Cinnamon Nature Trails combined their resources to dive into action. With a few other volunteers, they spent half a day diving and cutting away at the heavy nets, disentangling trapped fish and collecting the trash that littered the reef. They also contributed data via a survey, which Project Aware uses to implement change in waste management policies on both a local and global scale.

The waters surrounding Trincomalee and Nilaveli, in the east, offer perhaps some of the best diving and snorkeling to be found in Sri Lanka. With a rich diversity of vibrant corals, fish fauna and other marine-life, the area offers a haven of marine habitats to explore. It is also home to the famed Pigeon Island National Park, the first marine national park in Sri Lanka, attracting many visitors each year who come to snorkel among the corals and multitude of marine-life.

Many other reef habitats found close by do not enjoy the protection afforded by National Park status but protecting these habitats too is just as important for the health and productivity of the ocean.

“With Sri Lanka being an Island nation and many livelihoods depending on the ocean for tourism, we must all work together to ensure that our seas are looked after and remain healthy and productive so that they continue to provide for many generations to come.” states Chitral Jayatilake, Head of Ecotourism and Special Projects John Keells Hotels.

The International Diving Center and Cinnamon Nature Trails hope that their initiative, as the first ‘Dive Against Debris’ recorded for Sri Lanka, sets an example and inspires a trend among the Island’s diving community to do the same, helping to increase national awareness for marine conservation.