Business travel

Lanka ideal for business and tourism, says German doctor

by Nimal Perera, Wattala group correspondent

Dr. Mrs. Renate Thimm, a retired dermatologist in Germany who was in the country recently on holiday said that Sri Lanka was ideal for business and tourism.

She said when she got ready to visit Sri Lanka her friends and relations advised her against it saying there are many bomb blasts, kidnappings, murders and earthquakes. Some embassy officials also warned me not to go to Sri Lanka unless it was urgent.

?I was shocked and called Shahul and Lidwina Story Couple in Sri Lanka who were well-known to me for several years and asked them about the situation in the country.

They laughed it off and asked me to visit Sri Lanka without any fear?.

I took their advice and made the trip to Sri Lanka and visited several places in Colombo, Kandy, Gampola, Nuwara Eliya, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa. I felt very safe and didn?t see any bomb explosions, murders, kidnappings or earthquakes.?

?I visited several business places, factories and tourist hotels, and also met businessmen and tourist hotel owners who were all happy.?

?I also saw police officers and soldiers with weapons in every town.

This was not a sign of a war and I felt it was for the protection of the people in the country.?

The Government should take steps to check all rumours spreading in foreign countries against Sri Lanka or else it will be a big threat to business and tourism.

She said that she has travelled extensively throughout the world but her first choice was Sri Lanka. ?It is very beautiful, the people are friendly and I can recommend Sri Lanka to foreign businessmen and tourists.

I love your country and hope to come again,? said Dr. Mrs. Thimm. She thanked Shahul and Lidwina Story Couple for encouraging and inviting her to come to Sri Lanka without any fear.

Freight volumes contract; passenger growth hits five-year low

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) data for June showed a continued slowing of demand growth for air transport. Cargo contracted by 0.8% compared to June 2007.

Passenger demand growth fell to 3.8%, the lowest level since 2003. Passenger load factors dropped to 77.6%, 1.2 percentage points below the 78.8% recorded for June 2007.

?The global economic turbulence clearly shows the 0.8% drop in freight volumes compared to last year. Although the passenger demand grew by 3.8%, this is the slowest growth that we have seen since the industry was hit by the SARS crisis in 2003.

With consumer and business confidence falling and sky-high oil prices, the situation will get much worse,? said Director General and CEO of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani.

?The airline sector is in trouble. Losses this year could reach US$6.1 billion, more than wiping out the US$5.6 billion that airlines made in 2007. Falling demand and rising costs are re-shaping the industry,? said Bisignani.

IATA e-freight goes ?Live? in Korea

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that IATA e-freight is ?live? in South Korea, the first new location to do so in 2008.

Led by Korea Customs Service and with Korean Air Cargo and Asiana Cargo, IATA e-freight has been launched on two trade lanes, between South Korea and Singapore and South Korea and Hong Kong with further expansion to other routes planned.

Also involved in the implementation in South Korea are Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, DHL Global Forwarding, Pantos Logistics, Hanaro Technology Network System (HTNS), MCI Global Logistics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Logitech.

Other stakeholders, including Air France/KLM, Air Canada, Emirates and Cosmo Airfreight Consolidators (CAC), are part of the South Korean e-freight group and will soon start e-freight operations from South Korea.

IATA e-freight is one of the Simplifying the Business projects being led by IATA to improve service and cut costs.

Emirates inflight mobile phone services on Boeing 777-300

Emirates has again proved itself an aviation industry pioneer after becoming the first airline to introduce inflight mobile phone services on a Boeing aircraft.

Dubai?s award-winning airline recently installed the technology, which allows passengers to make calls and send SMS text messages via their mobile phones during flights, on a Boeing 777-300.

Vice President, Passenger Communications and Visual Services Patrick Brannelly, said the inflight mobile phone technology will offer greater services and additional communications channels to Emirates? passengers.

Brannelly said, ?Travellers booked on the Boeing 777, which carries the inflight mobile phone services, will now be able to continue communicating with family, friends or business associates on the ground while travelling in the skies.

The technology is another example of our dedication to always being the first airline to offer passengers groundbreaking technology and services.

The Boeing 777-300 carrying the new system is operating on several Emirates routes, including services to Europe and Australia.

Emirates first installed the technology, which was created by inflight mobile phone technology developer AeroMobile, on one of its Airbus A340-300 aircraft in March - enabling the world?s first authorised phone calls on a commercial flight.

Chutneys - new South Indian restaurant at Cinnamon Grand

Cinnamon Grand will open Chutneys on August 14. Adding originality to the time tested classics prevalent in South Indian cuisine, Chutneys breaks new ground with the unique Grand Dosa Thali, a first even for South Indian restaurants.

The traditional specialties of Idly, Dosai and wide and varied vegetarian and non vegetarian fare are also added.

Having handpicked a team of leading chefs from South India to ensure the authenticity of the culinary fare offered by Chutneys, General Manager Rohan Karr said,

?Cinnamon Grand is proud to infuse the flavours, tastes and even a cultural essence of the uniqueness of South India into Colombo.