Travel / Lifestyle

Elephant Corridor to break new ground with $ 1000 - $ 5000 hotel

"The "Elephant Corridor" hotel created and in smooth operation in its fourth year was always intended to only be a forerunner of the next generation of 'One of a Kind hotels", said Deputy Chairman of 'Our Way' Susanne Filippin.

Next year "Elephant Corridor" will sell at between US$ 350 - US$ 1350. However, if all things go as hoped for by us regardless of the situation in the country we will have on offer a US$ 1000 - US$ 5000 new hotel for the 2007 winter season .

"The significance of the two leaders of the two mainstream political parties, who have sustained democracy, ruled and developed this country for over half a century getting together reflecting the will of 80% or more of the people shows a maturity and concern almost unprecedented in the world.

I am proud to be a Sri Lankan and will make my contribution by developing the next level of the hotel which will sell for more than US$ 1000 up to US$ 5000" said Prasanna W. Jayewardene, the chairman of the company, a veteran hotelier with experience in 10 countries.

"The "Elephant Corridor" hotel is built on land owned by me and conceptualised and developed to suit a market demand we perceived at the time. I believe that the right product has a much higher price capability. We have in fact already sold for US$ 1000 and over at "Elephant Corridor" hotel and not only to the Royalty and Aristocracy who have been our guests," he said.

"The staff and country have proved their capability to not only satisfy but also delight travellers at the highest end of the market," he said.

SriLankan enhances ME services

SriLankan Airlines is enhancing its services throughout the Middle East and expanding its network by launching flights to Goa, with plans to commence services to Jeddah shortly.

SriLankan Airlines' Chief Commercial Officer, Barry Brown said: "As a competitive international carrier, SriLankan Airlines recognises the need to explore new markets, and to expand our services in existing ones. We are regularly reviewing our routes to see how we can best serve our passengers and add new services wherever opportunities arise".

Twice-weekly services to Goa began on October 30, making it the 50th destination of the airline, and the 10th in India.

This will bring the total number of Indian flights to 87 per week, maintaining SriLankan's position as the largest foreign carrier into the country. Capacity has also been increased to two other Indian destinations, Bangalore and Calicut, by upgrading existing flights from Airbus A320s to the wide-bodied A330s.

Brown said, "We expect our Goa service to be very popular, and flights have been aligned to provide the shortest possible transit time for passengers on our flights from Europe and the Middle East.

The addition of Goa also gives SriLankan Airlines the unique advantage of being the only airline to connect passengers with the best beaches in South Asia, with regular flights to Colombo, the Maldives, Goa and Kerala."