business travel

Tea-tourism will create more income

Travel and Tourism is one of the world's largest and most important economic activities.

It is a leading industry and is the fastest growing economic sector in terms of job creation worldwide.

Tourism in Sri Lanka plays an important role in the maintenance of financial stability and is ranked as the fourth largest foreign exchange earner in the country. Sri Lanka has predominantly been known for its beaches, heritage and culture and is a mass tourism destination.

To reduce the heavy dependence on the traditional markets and the current forms of tourism, alternative forms of tourism should be developed so that the country could attract high spenders, said Assistant Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Indrajith Silva.

He said the number of increasing arrivals alone will not help.

Therefore, the country should attract high spenders by promoting Special Interest Tourism (SIT) such as Medical tourism and agro tourism so that people who are interested in these areas can come for these vacations.

In the area of agro tourism, there is much potential to promote the Tea Industry as one of the tourism products and a new market segment to develop Sri Lanka as a Tea-tourism destination.

The 140-year-tea history, the country's agricultural history, beautiful tea plantations and brand name of Ceylon tea, are all unique features that can be explored to develop tea tourism.

Sri Lanka has tremendous potential and opportunities to attract foreign tourists and domestic tourists through tea-tourism and various suggestions for the development of this sector and other social problems have been identified.

The study done involving six stakeholders included a sample size of 673 and was conducted during one month.

It also identifies mechanisms and strategies on how tea-tourism can be incorporated into the overall tourism strategy through measures such as product development, promotions and formulation of policy decisions, development of value added products in tea-tourism and more importantly in enhancing benefits to the local community through pro-poor partnerships to alleviate poverty and the study recommends that selected tea plantation areas be identified where tea-tourism could be developed as a pilot project.

He said, "Social life get benefits from tea-tourism" and "Tourists can see way of life of the people in the tea plantations," "People are motivated to learn English through tourism" It helps to protect our natural environment and creates a natural greenery.

"Tea-tourism creates more income for the people, Reduce or reverse migration of labour. Tourism can createmore jobs for our area in the future, "Tourism helps to improve infrastructure in our area, "Due to tourism, the land value will be higher than other areas, Tourism can act as a generator of community development in the area and I like the development of this area as a tourist destination.

Considering the current and future tourism expectations on tea-tourism, the local community identified product development, stakeholder cooperation and tourism promotion for the future development of tea-tourism.

He said that Bogawantalawa, Maskeliya, Uda Pusellawa, Badulla, Talawakele, Haputale, Nuwara Eliya, Bandarawela and Hatton have more potential for tea-tourism in the hill country. Deniyaya, Morawaka and Hiniduma areas are identified as potential areas in the low country. SG

Al Maha ranked top overseas leisure hotel in Dubai

Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa, the luxurious desert retreat owned by Emirates Hotels and Resorts, has collected yet another Conde Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards. Jumping six places in its overall rating from last year, Al Maha was the only Dubai hotel to be listed in the prestigious top 20 list, for Overseas Leisure Hotels.

For the second year running, readers have placed Al Maha within the top 20 overseas leisure hotels in the highly competitive Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean region.

The influential readers' survey of the world's best destinations is conducted annually by Conde Nast Traveller. Moving up six places from the 2007 ranking to number 14 in the 2008 survey, the overall rating of the property improved from 79.59 to 83.81%.

Conde Nast Traveller, one of the world's leading travel magazines has become a source of authority in the travel industry for sophisticated and discerning travellers, seeking the ultimate, unique holiday experience.

The top 20 listing of overseas leisure hotels in the region boasts some stunning resorts, including Singita Private Game Reserve in South Africa, Cape towns' Cape Grace Hotel, Soneva Gili in the Maldives, and North Island in the Seychelles.

Senior Vice president, Resorts and Projects at Emirates Hotels and Resorts, Tony Williams said, "This is a great tribute to the staff of Al Maha, and we are obviously delighted to have received such a great accolade - in particular when it comes from the guests.

Moving up in the ranking by six places this year highlights that year on year the resort and the experience at Al Maha remains not only consistent, but is improving against this world-class standard."

Sunday seafood spread at The Lagoon

Feel like taking a break from the usual Sunday cooking but still crave for a tasty home cooked meal? Look no further than The Lagoon's Maalu Maalu promotion. Boasting the ultimate spread of traditional seafood dishes, the promotion has something for everyone!

The promotion from 12 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. on Sundays, offers families a chance to savour a traditional seafood spread with added bonuses thrown into the mix such as free pool usage.

"Truly personifying this promotion is the simple and age-old cultural concept of the Sunday family lunch," said Executive Chef Morugama. "The chefs at The Lagoon concocted this spread from a cornucopia of home cooked seafood dishes, adding just a touch of that unique Cinnamon flavour to it'.

Choose from appetising bites such as karalla, salaya and fried squid.

The main meal overflows with flavour, boasting an expansive spread consisting of dishes such as fried rice, devilled fish roe, prawn curry, dhal curry, gotukola sambol and fish head curry.

All this along with palate pleasing accompaniments like pol sambol, pickle and dried fish.

Dessert includes Kiri pani, fruit salad and fruit trifle among others.

Value added offers in Dubai with Emirates

Dubai-based Emirates has invited more value added offers to passengers travelling via Dubai, as another year draws to a close.

The award-winning airline's latest value-added offer presents passengers travelling to 12 destinations in Europe and USA who have lengthy lay overs in Dubai, free accommodation at the Millennium Airport Hotel.

The destinations are London (Heathrow and Gatwick), Glasgow, Manchester, New Castle, Birmingham, Paris, Frankfurt, D�sseldorf, Mauritius, Johannesburg, New York and Zurich.

The offer also includes 24-hour visa, transfers between the airport and the hotel, 24 hours check-in and check-out plus all applicable meals as per their entitlements.

The offer will be applicable for passengers with either the entire outbound or inbound leg of the journey booked on Emirates Economy Class.

To be eligible for this offer which is valid for travel till December 31, the layover in Dubai will have to be between six and 24 hours.

"Here once more, is a fabulous opportunity for Emirates' travellers who fly via Dubai," said Emirates Sales Manager in Sri Lanka Devika Ellepola. "Now a long layover need no longer be a concern. In fact it can be a chance to freshen up and relax before continuing one's journey."

Free Night accommodation is subject to availability at the time of booking and will be made available on a first come first served basis, she said.