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| Sunday, 19 May 2002 |
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Talk of the town by Chitra Weerasinghe Now it's 'Swiss' Guests at the recent launch of the Code Share flights of the new international airline 'Swiss' at Trans Asia, including Chief Guest Minister of Employment and Labour Mahinda Samarasinghe, were all 'ga ga' about Switzerland's tradition in 'care' and its strict adherence to values, such as quality, reliability, service, prestige, efficiency, consistency, solidity, modernity, security and attention to detail. And all these descriptive words, mind you, to evoke an interest and confidence in flying with 'Swiss'. The airlines offers four weekly code-share flights between Colombo and Zurich in association with its partner SriLankan Airlines with convenient connections to Europe, Africa and the Americas."This new national airlines, an evolution of Swissair and Crossair was possible because of the unprecedented co-operation, not only by the Bunderstat (government), the cantons, industry, banks and private investors but also from the Swiss people. And through innovation in everything - from marketing and route strategies to in-flight service, this airline will endeavour to establish itself as the new benchmark at the top end of the industry," says H.P. Doser, the airlines General Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Thomas F. Daetwyler, Managing Director of Baurs Airservices Ltd., is happy his company was chosen General Sales Agents for this premium airline, connecting''dynamic business and cultural centres with a commitment to excellence and customer care from a country with 100 years of experience in airline operation." And last but not least, Minister Samarasinghe shared some interesting facets of Swiss life, the people, their values, commitment to work, ethics and the beauty of the country having, of course, experienced all these when he lived there a few years ago. Visiting professor Chandi
Rushing in and out of the Trans Asia hotel and busy with a seminar at which he was the keynote speaker was Dr Chandi Jayawardene, Visiting Professor of Canada's Ryerson University. ''Glad to have barged into you'' he said giving me a brief account of the purpose of his visit and the nature of his lecture which was all about ``Tourism and Challenges for the Future,'' at the HCIMA Sri Lanka's 'Second Annual Management Conference 2002' which had as its theme 'Tourism at the Cross Roads - What Next.' What did you have to say about tourism that would benefit us? I asked the good professor. 'I expected to find among the audience of 45 participants a few 'tourism specialists' who having benefited from my lecture could be instrumental in change in this country, but I did not. What I did was give those present a mini test - a question paper based on the 'trends in world tourism' and I used their correct answers as a learning tool for me to assess their current knowledge of this subject and I used that as the foundation for building my presentation,'' said Jayawardena who was also invited by the International Hotel School, Mount Lavinia, to share some of his thoughts and experiences in the hospitality sector at their tenth anniversary celebrations. According to Jean-Marc Flambert, the IHS Alumni Association's President this 'tamasha' was organised mostly to establish contact with members, most of whom had lost touch with the IHS ; and to ''activate the alumni to try and develop strategies to encourage people to join our industry.'' The mosquito menace All this and the mosquito menace too. Dengue is spreading; right now Chilaw is affected; so take the necessary precautions goes the news alert. That Sri Lanka, is a tropical country with many of its regions having the ideal climatic and other conditions for breeding mosquitoes we all know. Just think of the 140 species of mosquitoes said to be found here! But what is heartening is that not all these 140 species are vectors of diseases. They are mostly nuisance mosquitoes. And that is according to Dr R.H. Wickremesinghe, a dedicated environmentalist. Dengue is classed as a disease generally of the urban areas and in Sri Lanka it is said to be a ''container breeder in clean water'. Japanese encephalitis on the other hand is generally a disease of the rural areas with vectors breeding in paddy fields and the intermediate 'amplifier' host of the virus is the pig, birds and certain other types of animals. To prevent the mosquito menace besides the use of bednets, mosquito coils and vapour releasing tablets, the woman in the home could help, it is believed. And that is by ensuring that the water in flower vases is changed daily, no clothes are cluttered on pegs behind doors, no tyres are left lying outside and the non use of plants that have those bulky stalks that collect water. And what about getting the help of those in the neighbourhood to ensure that the environment is in a clean and sanitary state, order and condition? Marie Brizard finals And now there's news of the 11th Marie Brizard Bartenders Finals. Competing at the finals will be the 32 semi-finalists - all winners of the regional contests held last month in Colombo, Negombo, Kandy, the Cultural Triangle, down south and deep down south. This year the organisers have deviated from the norm and invited those who came within the first five in each of these six regions to join the finalists in the training programme conducted by the Ceylon Hotel School at which they will be briefed on some of the finer points of this competition. And this prior to the finals scheduled for June 2 at the Lanka Oberoi. The Hilton Colombo will host a gala dinner for these semi-finalists at which there will be a 'mini contest' giving these semi-finalists yet another chance to gain that much needed experience and confidence. |
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