Business Travel

More domestic air services will help boost tourism in the East

by Lalin Fernandopulle

The tourism sector is not threatened by the war and the number of tourist arrivals has increased during the past two months. Tourism in the Eastern Province will develop if there are more domestic aircraft services, said Managing Director Arugam Bay Travels and Tours (Pvt) Ltd., A.M. Jaufer.

Arugam Bay which offers the best setting for discerning visitors with its stretch of sandy beaches is a popular tourist destination for water sports, wind surfing, surf riding, snorkelling, scuba diving and bird watching.

The Lahugala National Park for elephants, historical sites such as the Magual Maha Viharaya, Mudu Maha Viharaya and the Kudimbigala Viharaya and the Kumana Bird Sanctuary are some of the prime sites for tourism in the East.

The East coast stretching over 300 kilometres rated as the best sea coast in the country is one of the main tourist attractions. The East coast season spans from April to October.

The tourist season in the Eastern Province begins in April and continues up to November. The annual tourist arrivals in Arugam Bay are over 2,500.

"The number of tourists visiting the East can be increased with better infrastructure and hotel facilities", Jaufer said.

Roads, electricity, water supply and other infrastructure facilities will be developed under the Nagenahira Navodaya program.

Arugam Bay Travels and Tours will receive an award for responsible tourism at this year's World Travel Mart at the ExCell Exhibition Centre in London.

Honoured with the Brand Excellence Award at the 2006 SLIM Awards for his enterprise, Jaufer also runs the Arugam Handicrafts (Pvt) Ltd. which was launched in 2005. "Helping rural women to develop their cottage crafts will be more beneficial to the cottage industry than encouraging women to leave their homes to work in institutions", Jaufer said.

He said it was after the tsunami that people realised the potential of the rich natural resources that surrounds them besides the sea.

The objective in launching the organisation is to provide employment to make quality products and capture international markets.

Arugam Bay Handicrafts was launched realising the raw material available in the area which could be turned out into handicrafts and utility items, he said. Sea shells, coconut shells, 'hana' (hemp) and reed growing close to the sea shore are turned out into attractive handicrafts to delight local and foreign tourists.

Colourful hemp mats in varying sizes and patterns for carpets, wall hangers, mats, bags, baskets, table mats and ladle holders are some of the other items produced by the organisation.

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Chefs bag merit awards at World Spice Food Festival

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

The World Spice Food Festival concluded at the Waters Edge at Battaramulla with several Chefs from the Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin American regions bagging the merit awards for their participation last Sunday. Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Renton de Alwis presented the awards.

The World Spice Food Festival was held in Colombo from October 19-27. It is an annual event in the Sri Lanka Tourism calendar to bolster and create an awareness of Sri Lankan and Asian cuisine among tourists who visit the country. The Sri Lanka Tourism Authority organised the event with the sponsorship of the Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).

Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Authority, Renton de Alwis recounted an anecdote where a newly opened restaurant in Kegalle had sent him a menu card of a dish named Pried Rice. Although it should read as Fried Rice, it was printed erroneously as Pried Rice. "So now we have a Sri Lankan dish called Pried Rice," he said.

Referring to next year's World Spice Food Festival, he said the event would be held in a street with a bigger participation of Chefs from different countries. "We want to extend it to other regions and have parallel events with more restaurants," he said.

The awards were won by the following chefs.

Australian Chef Celeste Cho Passmore, Mexican Chef, Guillermo Sandoval Perales and Alejandra Camacho Figuero, Chinese Chef Yee Kar Hong, Italian Chef Dominic Mills, Thai Chef, Worawit Nagoenngam and Chaveewan Kerativiboon, Malaysian Chef, Baharuddin Bin Hj. Jaafar, Indonesian Chef, Gatot Rajasa, Singaporean Chef Neow Kok Meng, Japanese Chef, Takehitko Hamaji, Indian Chef, Santosh Kumar Chaniyal Sri Lankan Chef, Gamage Piyasiri, Thai Chef Siripong Jad, Japanese Chef Wen Sheng, Korean Chef, J.C. Oh, Indian Chef Sukhvinder Singh.

CIC Agribusinesses to promote Agro tourism

by Chanuka Mannapperuma

CIC Agri Busineses will promote Agro Tourism again at Pelwehera, Dambulla. Laboratory, Quality Control and Location Manager of CIC Agri Business Centre in Pelwehera Priyanga Dematawa said plans have been finalised to promote agri tourism. He said CIC Agri Business is trying to promote local resources.

"Though Sri Lanka is an agricultural country, many Lankans are not familiar with agriculture", he said.

He said the proposed Agri Holiday Resort would be a good experience for agro lovers. The CIC Agri Holiday Resort called 'Windsor Park' will be built in Pelwehera next year with an investment of Rs. 150 million.

Dematawa said the resort would be built on 20 acres in the 534-acre agri farm. It will consist of 20 airconditioned cabanas, swimming pool, bird watching, boat rides, agricultural tours and other entertainment. He said the lake in the farm would be used for sea planes to land. This will be a huge tourist attraction, he said.

He said the project would be a novel experience for agriculture lovers, because the resort would be surrounded by the farm which consist of seed paddy production, fruit cultivation, seed production, laboratory, technology park, research and development unit, fresh juices stall, plant nursery, storage complex, fresh water prawns (SCAMPI) and poultry.

"We maintain an agri holiday resort at Hingurakgoda which is patronised by local travellers. The proposed resort in Pelwehera will target mainly upmarket travellers", Dematawa said.

Tourism Earth Lung to woo visitors

The newly formed Sri Lanka Tourism Authority is gearing up to woo visitors to UK's largest tourism fair with the latest offer from destination Sri Lanka, a land like no other with its newest brand image Tourism Earth Lung.

"We have a solid nature, culture and adventure product and must position ourselves as a carbon sink working in unison with the efforts of the world's enlightened leadership community.

The world will thus take notice of our efforts, negating any negatives, as we move together on a unified front with proactive and affirmative action" said its Chairman, Renton de Alwis reiterating that "several Sri Lankan hotels have won regional awards for their work in eco tourism, responsible tourism and other conservation efforts and her scientists' world recognition.

Kottu promotion

Forty chefs from Curry Leaf Restaurant of Colombo Hilton joined in the preparation of a 2,100 Kilogramme Kottu (a Sri Lankan dinner time delicacy), likely to be the first of its kind in the world.

A fund-raiser cum fun event " The 2100 kg Kottu" was a joint celebration of a Sri Lankan food and the hotel's 21st anniversary in Sri Lanka. All proceeds from the event will go to the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind, a charity run by the diocese of Colombo.