Travel / Lifestyle

Jetwing to open Lighthouse village

Jetwing and Lighthouse always strive to introduce new and exciting experiences and as such have embarked on featuring their exclusive wine and Sri Lanka tea collection.

They are also scheduled to open the Lighthouse village by the end of the month, which will enable guests to experience contemporary luxury while being surrounded by a village setting. Moreover, the Lighthouse village will feature two luxury villas with private pools along the 'Ginganga' (river).

"Lighthouse's journey thus far has been an absolutely thrilling experience for us at Jetwing. We have faced many challenges and have risen to higher heights despite them.

What we are today is definitely the result of a lot of dedication and hard work from all our associates and credit should be given to them on this momentous occasion. We are certainly looking forward to the years to come." said newly appointed Managing Director of Jetwing Hotels, Ruan Samarasinghe.

A decade ago, very much against what was considered the norm, Jetwing embarked on a challenging proposition of building a boutique hotel of discerning standards at a time when charters and group travel were the style of the day.

Lighthouse Hotel, as then known, welcomed its first guests on June 7, 1997. They offered 63 luxurious rooms and suites, two restaurants, a swimming pool and recreational facilities and an ever courteous, obliging and smiling staff.

The stunning views and architecture, varying colours and shadows, the well blended interiors and soft furnishings, depicting the Dutch and Portuguese influence in Galle were all meticulously thought and implemented by the renowned Geoffrey Bawa.

In addition, the unique staircase designed and constructed especially for Lighthouse by Lucky Senanayake, also portrayed the Portuguese influence in Galle. These made Lighthouse Hotel one of the most sought after hotels by those resident in Sri Lanka and travellers to the country.

Having a property that was unique and almost flawless in architecture, location and landscape, Jetwing benchmarked other luxury properties the world over and worked towards emulating what they had seen and experienced at these hotels.

This resulted in the introduction of a spa with international collaboration, a second more intimate and private swimming pool, an upgraded gymnasium, the enhanced dining and bar experiences and improved room amenities.

Mobitel Sri Lanka Travel Guide introduced

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, The National Mobile Service Provider in association with DoubleDee Publishers, introduced The Mobitel Sri Lanka Travel Guide, which will be available free throughout Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is renowned throughout the world for its heritage sites. By spearheading the initiative to publish this free travel information booklet, Mobitel as the National Mobile Service Provider aims to assist tourism and the supporting tourist guides in imparting invaluable information to the heritage seeking tourist.

The main focus of this publication is to make useful information available to people who wish to travel around Sri Lanka, with special attention paid to heritage seeking tourists entering the country. Its primary purpose is to give Sri Lanka much needed exposure, by promoting the tourism industry and helping enhance the country's image in the international arena.

The Mobitel Sri Lanka Travel Guide is a high quality, informative booklet. It contains important information ranging from significant locations in Sri Lanka, to emergency telephone numbers, and other product/service related information.

From hotels/restaurants to shopping and well-being, travellers will have access to all such information, which is exclusively hand picked to provide them with the information that is considered best in each category.

In addition to this information, a unique feature of this booklet is that it contains an extensively detailed map of Sri Lanka, which even outlines roads considered to be off-the-beaten-track, which will be very useful for travellers as well as their guides.

It also gives approximate times taken to travel from one location to another, and highlights areas of interest which showcase Sri Lanka's rich cultural heritage. Thus travellers who carry this booklet will find it beneficial to have its key information at their fingertips, especially in times of emergency.

SriLankan Air Taxi operations suspended

SriLankan Airlines has decided to suspend its Domestic Air Taxi operations indefinitely. The last flight was a service to Ampara on Tuesday. All customers booked to travel after this date will be offered alternative surface transportation.

Commenting on this decision, SriLankan CEO Peter Hill said: This is indeed a very disappointing development in our efforts to provide swift, yet affordable domestic air travel to key destinations within Sri Lanka, thus avoiding lengthy journeys on our frequently congested roads.

We have persevered almost single handedly for the last three years, to develop this Air Taxi service into a viable and sustainable operation, overcoming innumerable regulatory, administrative, environmental and logistical challenges.

This year we had planned to increase our scheduled services to include the Castlereagh reservoir and buddged for a modest profit. However, sadly this was not to be, as with the current security situation in the country, we were asked to suspend services to Kandy and Victoria reservoir, two key destinations on our network.

This development together with the declining number of visitors to Sri Lanka, has meant that the Air Taxi is not sustainable in the foreseeable future".

During more than three years of its operation, SLAT has operated 3,700 revenue flights and carried over 17,000 passengers, amply demonstrating that in better times there is sufficient demand for domestic air travel to be developed into a profitable business.

"From the outset, this operation was my brainchild" said Hill, "so it is particularly disappointing for me to have to halt our flights. Looking forward to better times ahead I still remain convinced that an Air Taxi operation using amphibious aircraft could be made to work in Sri Lanka.

Given the historic record of the country and its national carrier, to be able to swiftly recover from even the most difficult situations, perhaps it won't be too long before the Air Taxi is back in business again, he said.