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DateLine Sunday, 9 September 2007

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Lanka, Maldives to attract Chinese tourists



The beaches of Goa

Sri Lanka and the Maldives will conduct a joint tourism promotion campaign in China to attract Chinese tourists as part of the MoU signed by the two countries in 2003 to promote tourism.

This was decided on at the second Sri Lanka-Maldives Joint Task Force Meeting on Tourism held in Sri Lanka on September 4.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Maldives Abdul Hameed Zakariyya said that "we are not competing destinations but are complementing destinations, therefore Sri Lanka can promote nature and culture while we promote the beaches."

The minister said that they are targeting 650,000-700,000 tourist arrivals this year compared to 602,000 last year.

He said that the tourism industry started in 1972 is now a leading destination with 90 hotels and resorts and they are exploring opportunities to expand it further.

He said that Sri Lankans play a vital role in the tourism industry of the Maldives by owning and operating resorts, supplying skilled labour as well as fruits, vegetables and poultry. The Deputy Minister said that at present 12% of the bed capacity is owned by Sri Lankans.


The Cathedral in old Goa



The Basilica in old Goa

Director General Maldives Tourism Promotion Board Dr Abdulla Mausoom said that at present the Maldives has 90 resorts and they are planning to build another 44 resorts within the next five years depending on the demand.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Faiser Musthapha said that the Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda has promised to provide 25 scholarships to Maldivian students to follow the hotel school diploma. In addition Sri Lanka will provide Human resource training to cater to the growing needs of the tourism industry in the Maldives.

Minister Musthapha said that they will form a Task Force consisting of six members from each side and they will meet thrice a year to review the progress of the decisions. Sri Lanka will invite Maldivian tour operators to visit the country and experience the country and jointly promote it with the Maldives.

Minister Musthapha said that according to statistics 27,000 Maldivians visited Sri Lanka last year and outbound tourism is a new trend in the Maldives which is fast catching up.

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SriLankan promotes holiday packages to Goa

SriLankan Holidays offers Romantic Getaways to several destinations on the airline's network such as the Maldives, Thailand and Goa.

In Goa a two night three day and three night four-day packages at a four or three star hotel is at an unbeatable price, and is an ideal opportunity to rekindle old flames and ignite new ones.

Packages include attractive full board or half board rates, complimentary wine cake, sightseeing including boat cruises and happy hour discounts.

Pilgrim traffic to India has traditionally been to Bodh Gaya, Vailankanni, Putapathi and Thirupathi. Goa has a direct religious link to part of the Sri Lankan community with Goan, Blessed F. Joseph Vaz who worked among Sri Lankans and also Saint Francis Xavier.

"SriLankan Holidays is making every effort to promote religious traffic to Goa, while also encouraging these pilgrims to revisit cultural links they enjoy with Goa," General Manager, SriLankan Holidays, Amith Sumanapala said.

"Packages can be tailor-made to suit groups or individual's budgets and special interest groups with a bit of sightseeing included for a value for money deal", he said.

The airline recently hosted a group of travel agents on a familiarisation tour of Goa so that the agents know first hand the highlights of tourism in the destination which will have a direct impact when they promote holiday packages to Goa.

For travellers who want a short break away from home Goa is an hour and half away from Colombo, and beckons Sri Lankan to enjoy its pleasures be it a party pilgrimage or just a romantic hideaway with time standing still until your next flight back home.

Unbeatable travel deals have become the trademark of SriLankan Holidays. It has aggressively promoted travel into and out of Sri Lanka, India and the Far East with its affordable fares and a strong route network.


Top ranking for Singapore Airlines in interline e-ticketing

Singapore Airlines has been ranked first outside the US region, and third in the overall industry, in terms of interline e-ticketing implementation, according to an IATA electronic-ticketing implementation status report issued recently.

Singapore Airlines customers whose journeys involve connections with any of the Airline's 84 airline e-ticketing partners require only a single interline electronic-ticket.

The Airline expects to implement in interline e-ticketing facility with all Star Alliance partner carriers by next month and plans to conclude interline e-ticketing arrangements with all 155 interline partners by end of 2007.

Singapore Airlines Executive Vice-President, Marketing and the Regions Huang Cheng Eng said, "Singapore Airlines is a front-runner in adopting technology in our business model, and we have embraced e-ticketing as a means to simplify air travel for our customers.

"With more than 95 percent of our interline traffic enabled on the e-ticketing platform, customers can now enjoy the convenience of using just one interline e-ticket to connect from our flights to our partner carriers."

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