Business travel

Kalpitiya the next hot spot in Asia

The tourism industry in Sri Lanka will recover soon with the security situation in the country improving after the successful completion of the ongoing military operations, industry analysts said.

According to the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB), already there are positive signals and new investments will flow into the industry in the future.

The sparsely inhabited coastal bay village of Kalpitiya and its surrounding islands will be developed to a niche tourist destination.

The hopes of the project that were planned several years ago have been rejuvenated with the liberation of the Western territory of the Northern province.

Several years ago, the SLTB designed this community based tourism development project covering the Dutch Bay Islands in the North Western coastal belt. The Tourism Ministry said that investors from India, Italy and UK are willing to invest on the project which will cost around Rs. 40 billion.

Sri Lanka Tourism envisages that the Kalpitiya bay will be developed on strictly environmentally friendly and ecologically sound guidelines and will be the next hot spot in Asia.

The proposed Kalpitiya Integrated Tourism Resort Development Project (KITRDP) under the stewardship of former Ambassador Bernard Goonetilleke, involves the development of 4,000 acres in Kalpitiya which also includes 14 small islands.

The aim of the project is to convert the area in to an up market luxury resort with theme parks, cable cars, golf courses, and around 4,000 luxury villas.

Conference facilities and other high end visitor attractions will be included to make these sparsely inhabited islands into a much sought after stand alone tourist destination.

Meanwhile, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has finalised plans to initiate a two-and-a-half year technical cooperation project for the development of Culture Oriented Tourism in Sigiriya (COTS).

The COTS was initiated by the Government of Japan to extend assistance to several projects in the vicinity of Sigiriya including the construction of a new museum which includes installation of display equipment in the museum, infrastructure development and human resource development for tourism operations.

The new Sigiriya museum project has been implemented under the counterpart fund scheme of the Government of Sri Lanka, a scheme which delivers developmental assistance by converting foreign aid into reserves of domestic currency where recipient Governments can use these finances to improve infrastructure facilities. The museum is expected to be opened to the public by mid 2009.

The SLTB said that with the recent upgrade of the travel advisory on Sri Lanka, Belgian tour operators have begun extensive marketing campaigns targeting winter travellers.

One of the world's leading hotel chains, the Jumeirah Group will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hotel School of Colombo to train hotel staff for the international chain.

The Hotel group owns and operates the seven star hotel Burj Al Arab, and has estimated that they would need 60,000 employees in the next five years for their hotels.

The alumni of the Hotel School of Colombo, has enriched its reputation as one of Asia's leading providers of human resources to the hospitality industry.

GW

Airline division of Island Aviation Services rebranded

The airline division of Island Aviation Services Limited has been rebranded from "Island" to "Maldivian".

It was inaugurated by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom at a ceremony at Dharubaaruge, Male'.

He said the airline is making its way to new international destinations and it is a very natural step to rebrand the airline division to a name that reflects its origin and most importantly represents the country it belongs to.

The name "Maldivian" was selected for its simplicity and effectiveness giving recognition as the nation's own airline and more importantly to represent the people of the Maldives.

The new name holds meaning within the domestic as well as the international sectors as our customers fly with a truly national airline.

It is a name which referrs to the people of the Maldives and gives recognition and identity to the airline.

Another German chef at Mount Lavinia Hotel

The Mount Lavinia Hotel bid farewell to Director Kitchens Ralf Vogt and welcomed Udo Gross, another German Chef.

Chef Udo takes over the kitchens to continue to produce the culinary masterpieces that have become synonymous with the Mount Lavinia Hotel over the last decade.

Udo was born in the countryside near Frankfurt in Germany. He apprenticed in a well known family Hotel where the owner was very much from the old school. He served in the military for two years as corporal only to return to hoteliering.

He spent four years in Switzerland honing his skills and absorbing the high standards of Switzerland.

Aitken Spence to launch Hotel Atithi in Puducherry

Aitken Spence Hotels and Resorts unveiled the newest addition to its portfolio of hotels in India with the soft opening of Hotel Atithi in Puducherry.

Aitken Spence Hotels is an emerging player in the Indian hospitality arena already managing two other resorts in India - Poovar Island Resort on the backwaters of Kerela and Barefoot at Havelock in the Andaman Islands, on one of the best beaches in Asia, as rated by the Time magazine.

Aitken Spence Hotel Managements (South India) (Pvt) Ltd was incorporated to develop and manage hotels in South India.

It is envisaged that the company will have around ten hotels under its portfolio within the next two years.

Aitken Spence Hotels is part of the diversified conglomerate, Aitken Spence PLC.

The company operates over 25 hotels in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Oman.

"Aitken Spence is looking forward to the commissioning of Hotel Atithi and strengthening its presence in the region.

We have recruited a team of young hospitality professionals, the majority of whom are from Puducherry.