Travel / Lifestyle

Hotels set for Christmas

Hotels in Colombo are ready to celebrate the season in a grand scale.

All hotels in downtown Colombo are gaily decorated.

Carols by the "Hilton Colombo Choir" which began on December 20th will continue till tomorrow from 8-8.30 pm at the Thorana Lounge. Santa Claus will also visit the lobby tonight.

Christmas lunch will be available at the Spice, Curry Leaf, Emperor's Wok, IL Ponte and the Echelon Pub restaurants from 12 noon to 3pm.The Colombo Hilton Christmas lunch and Christmas Eve dinner will be served in all restaurants of the hotel.

Hilton Colombo offers special Christmas eve dinners. Spoons will offer a six course set menu dinner from 7-11 pm. At the Spice, Christmas buffet with Jazz Connection will start at 6.30 pm and continue till 11 pm.

Curry Leaf will offer Sri Lankan buffet with a Calypso band in attendance and will be open from 7pm to midnight. IL Ponte offers a four-course menu dinner and will be open from 7-11 Pm. Emperor's Wok offers A La Carte menu from 7-11 Pm. Ginza Hohsen will also offer A La Carte menu from 6-11pm.

The Galadari Hotel in Colombo is also ready to celebrate Christmas on a grand scale. Santa Claus has been visiting the Galadari from December 20 and will continue to do so till today from 6-8 pm and from 12 noon to 2 pm tomorrow. Christmas carols will be held today from 8-9 pm.

The Coffee Shop at Galadari offers "Lunch with Santa" tomorrow, an event with lots of entertainment for adults as well as children. A kiddies corner with magic shows, bon bons and presents from 'Santa's Mailbox'. The Coffee Shop also offers the traditional Christmas dinner buffet with music by Fame.

The California Grill at the Galadari will present a five course dinner on December 31. Those who prefer Arabic cuisine can enjoy an Arabic theme dinner buffet at Sheherezade restaurant at the Galadari. Stix offers Chinese set menu on December 31. Nightingales will present Karaoke on December 31 night.A gala family dinner dance will be held at the Grand Ballroom of Galadari on December 31.

Christmas celebrations at the Trans Asia Hotel will kick off with a gala dinner buffet served in all their restaurants today which will be followed by lunch and brunch tomorrow and the day after.

The restaurants will serve special gala dinners from tomorrow till December 31.Celebrations on the last day of the year will include a pool party with dinner served in grand style at the hotel lobby with music from Shefy and Section 8.

The seasonal celebrations at the Galle Face Hotel kicks off today with dinner buffet and entertainment provided by a live band.

Dinner buffets of Mediterranean Delights and music from duo guitarists will be served daily till December 31 from 7.30 pm to 11.00 pm.

Countdown for 2007 will be on with a grand dinner and DJ entertainment. Special gift offers are lined up for every table of six guests. The Cinnamon Grand for indulgence will woo people to indulge in entertainment and other seasonal activities.

The hotel has put out a special chocolate advent calendar in boxes where a lucky winner will get the chance to accompany four on a tour to Disney Land in Hong Kong.

The draw will be held on December 24 at 8.00 pm at the Cinnamon Grand.

The season will be filled with special dinners served at all restaurants from 7.00 to 9.00 pm.

The Taprobane restaurant will serve Christmas buffet lunch and dinner for families.

The Tao restaurant will have a dinner tomorrow for all Fusion fans. With the right mix of the mood to celebrate the last day of the year the Hotel will have a New Year eve dinner dance with music from Wild Fire, the Sohan and Experiments with guest spot by Corrine at the Oak Room.

SriLankan renews agreement with Singapore staff

SriLankan Airlines has renewed its Collective Agreement with the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union for a further three years up to 2009, covering a range of subjects with regard to its staff in Singapore.

Head of Human Resources at SriLankan Sunil Dissanayake said: "It is of particular importance that through this agreement our staff in Singapore have moved to a performance based system with regard to increments, as opposed to the earlier system of fixed increments.

This will no doubt be mutually beneficial, as it affords employees opportunities of financial rewards through increased performance, and increases the competitiveness and productivity of the airline at a time when there is intense competition in the global airline industry."

SriLankan Airlines has in recent years signed a series of collective agreements with all its employee unions in Sri Lanka and overseas. These include the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya, the Pilots Guild of Sri Lanka, the Flight Attendants Union, the SriLankan Airlines Aircraft Technicians Association, the Association of Licensed Aircraft Engineers, and the Foreign Airlines Employees Union Peninsular Malaysia.

Assistant Secretary General of the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union, who signed on behalf of the Singapore staff, Joseph Chua said: "Singapore's economy has changed from a seniority-based system to that of a performance-based one, and with this change there were new issues to be included in the agreement.

Emirates to launch Venice flights next summer

Dubai-based Emirates Airline will launch non-stop services to the city of Venice, its third Italian destination after Milan and Rome, from July 1, 2007.

The service, initially five-times-a-week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, will increase two months later to a daily service from September 1, 2007. Emirates will operate an Airbus A330-200 on the route offering 27 Business class seats, and 251 in Economy; plus 13 tonnes of bellyhold space for cargo.

The Emirates' Dubai-Venice flight will create a new non-stop connection that is expected to foster a greater flow of tourism and business traffic between one of the Middle East's fastest-developing leisure and business hubs, and the thriving commercial region of Veneto in northern Italy.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to expand our services to Italy and are pleased to offer a new direct link between Dubai and Venice.

"Venice is a popular tourism destination and an important gateway in northern Italy for commerce. Our new service will contribute to Italy's many flourishing small and medium-sized businesses by providing increased access from Venice to other major cities around the globe via Dubai, and vice-versa. Our flights will also provide added capacity for the transportation of goods vital to Italian industries."