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| Sunday, 16 January 2005 |
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Germans to the forefront of tourist promotion by Hiran H.Senewiratne A Leading German tourist organisation, Rewe Touristik Destination Service AG has pledged its continuous support to promote Sri Lanka's tourist industry especially in non- catastrophic areas in the coming tourist season. The company is aggressively promoting Sri Lanka overseas especially in non-affected areas where the main focus is on at present, its Managing Director Rainer Hoffmann said. He said that they will carry out dealings with its local agent Hemas Tours and Travels, and added that four LTU airlines that operate its services to Sri Lanka will continue to operate their services weekly to the country on schedule. He also urged the government to remove all debris in affected areas as soon as possible to resume tourist promotions. "Once the affected area returns to normal we will focus our promotion. We are optimistic that the recent disaster will not have a long term negative impact on Sri Lanka's tourist industry. The relevant authorities should take immediate steps to restore the infrastructure in the affected areas," Hoffmann said. Director, Product Development Intercontinental Travel Horst Kunkel said that there are 11,000 tour operators in Germany and they will be informed about the situation in the country. They will start all promotional activities from January 31, while expecting more tourists to come."We will bring as many tourists as possible to Sri Lanka and we will mainly promote non affected areas in the country," Kunkel said. Top officials from Destination Service AG with their tour operators and hoteliers were in Sri Lanka to make an assessment on the present situation, he said. Germany is very keen on supporting Sri Lanka by resuming tourist operations as early as possible, Kunkel said. "We will carry the message that Sri Lanka is fully geared to cater to tourists and that state authorities should try to bring in new investors to set up more hotels in Sri Lanka. It is high time that we feature the positive areas rather than dwell on the past," he said. LTU Touristik is a leading outbound tour operator in Germany holding a 40 per cent stake of International Airways.Rewe Touristik is part of LTU Touristik which has been working Hemtours in Sri Lanka since 1995 handling Jahn Reisen, ITS, Tjareborg and Billa Reisen. |
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