Travel

Village project to attract tourists

The community in the Visariella village in the Moneragala district has initiated an eco tourism project to attract local and foreign tourists. Visariella is a picturesque village situated on the Ella-Wellawaya road.

They consider that the 250-foot waterfall, natural ponds, huge tropical jungle, and mountains that are inherited by nature and cave temple and hermitage in the jungle and the organic foods produced by the farmers will be attraction for tourists.

Visariella a picturesque village

The Visariella Adventure Park project is launched by the Gemidiriya Peoples Company in Visariella village under the livelihood development projects.

The objective of the project is to generate livelihood opportunities for the villagers by promoting eco tourism, protection and sustainable use of the forest and other natural resources in the village, said Capacity Building Consultant of the Gemidiriya Project Liyanage NielKusumsiri.

The tourists have to walk three km through the beautiful tropical jungle to reach the waterfall in the Alikot Oya, a branch of the Kirindi Ganga.

Hidden in jungle

Since the waterfall is hidden in the jungle the surrounding environment is untapped and the tourists can experience true adventure in a jungle.

The project offers opportunities to tourists in wildlife and bird watching, hiking, climbing mountains and swimming in natural ponds. Some youth of the village have been trained to guide tourists and the project has collaborated with tourist hotels in the area.

Visariella is situated on the main route that connected two main tourist destinations in Sri Lanka the upcountry and the Southern coastal belt and is close to the famous Ravana ella (waterfall).

Hermitage

Kusumsiri said that special offers are available for the private sector organisations to team building training programs in hiking, life saving training and camping. Agro tourism programs organised under the project offers interested tourists to experience traditional agricultural practices in Sri Lanka, Kitul tapping and making treacle and jaggery.

Facilities are also offered for meditation in the Buddhist cave temple (hermitage) in the jungle. Kusumsiri said that the safety of tourists is fully assured. The safe places of the water way and natural ponds for swimming and bathing have been identified and the project provides all the information to tourists.

Though there is a setback in the tourism industry today due to the security situation in the country and global recession, the project expects a boost in the tourism sector within the next two or three years with the secure environment in the country and recovery in the global economy.

The project expects to generate employment opportunities and other livelihood opportunities to the people who engage in agriculture to earn their living including chena cultivation which is destroying the forest causing environmental hazards.

Delegation visits ME to promote tourism

The Road Shows were conducted in Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam in Saudi Arabia and in Bahrain and Kuwait from March 28 to April 5 and the events were organised by Sri Lanka Tourism in collaboration with the Missions and SriLankan Airlines offices in each city.

During the Road Show the Sri Lankan delegation met a large number of travel trade members from those cities and discussed ways to enable pan-industry collaboration and also methods of boosting tourism from the Middle Eastern region. A large gathering of media personnel, corporate decision makers, and senior government officials attended the events in the three countries.

The tourism industry is Sri Lanka’s fourth largest foreign exchange earner and there is keen interest to develop business from the Middle Eastern region by enhancing Sri Lanka’s position as a tropical paradise. Sri Lanka is favoured for honeymoons and weddings and ideal for the Middle Eastern traveller during the hot summer months from May to September, due to the cool climate of the island’s hill country.

The Middle East tourist is attracted to Sri Lanka by its golden sandy beaches, lush green landscape and tea plantations, misty mountains, spas, and Ayurvedic treatment centres, shopping options, and adventure sports facilities. Defying the global economic recession and a downward spiral in the tourism industry worldwide, Middle East travellers visiting Sri Lanka surged by 24 per cent in 2008.

The Deputy Minister, Faiszer Mustapha held several meetings with senior government officials and corporate leaders on the side line of the tour and discussed trade and tourism cooperation between the countries and also investments in tourism infrastructure and hospitality projects.

The Deputy Minister said, “We have received many inquiries from Saudi citizens who are interested in investing in our hospitality and other tourism related projects.

Sri Lanka Tourism is currently in the process of developing some of the areas liberated from the LTTE, and hopes to make the island state a fully fledged value-for-money destination, in the near future.”

Minister of Commerce and Industry of Kuwait Ahmed Baqer discussed with Mustapha, the Deputy Minister of Tourism of Sri Lanka, about mutual co-operation in the Tourism Sector and a host of other economic and commercial issues. Commenting on the meeting Baqer said in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the talks dealt with ways of promoting tourism ties and boosting commercial exchanges between the two countries. The Minister pledged that he would offer all incentives for the promotion of bilateral relations and cooperation in investing in the tourism sector, affirming that the two sides are keen to encourage the private sectors of Kuwait and Sri Lanka to use all investment opportunities available in the two countries. Minister Baqer affirmed that such an approach falls in line with the guidelines of H H the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah to transform Kuwait into a major regional business hub.

The Deputy Minister of Tourism, speaking at the Road Show said: “No country of comparative size offers such diversity as Sri Lanka in culture, climate, and landscape and being a short haul destination with about 4-5 hours flying time, and with very good air connectivity from all these cities to Colombo, Sri Lanka can be considered even as a weekend destination. Due to the 1.5 million Muslim population, the Arab Muslims will feel close to home with the availability of mosques and halal food.”

“We are developing our tourism resorts and concentrating how best to serve the growing number of Arab tourists from the Middle Eastern region,” the Deputy Minister said.

Baked Alaska @ Cinnamon Grand

Cold on the inside and warm on the outside, this Northern dessert is part of the Cinnamon Grand’s dessert indulgence from May 1st-31st.These sweet indulgences come in a rich variety of combinations! This mouthwatering dessert blends ice cream, sponge cake, meringue and a variety of sauces into one explosive combination which is then flamb‚ed to perfection! The core of the dessert is an ice cream on a bed of vanilla sponge cake.

This is surrounded by an envelope of carefully sculpted meringue, which, just before the dainty dish is served, is flamb‚ed lightly with brandy to brown and harden the outer layer. The meringue is an effective insulator, and the short cooking time prevents the heat from getting through to the ice cream.All the rage in the 1950s, this dessert still holds its position as one of the more popular desserts the world over

SriLankan customers to be pampered

Members of SriLankan Airlines’ customer loyalty program FlySmiLes can now pamper themselves at the elegant Serendib Lounge at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport.

Reputed as one of Asia’s finest airport lounges, the Serendib had hitherto been reserved for SriLankan’s Business Class passengers. Based on an initiative by FlySmiLes it is now accessible to members travelling Economy Class on SriLankan, including those in transit, all the member needs to do is redeem a mere 2,000 Miles (points). FlySmiLes Manager Desiree Premachandra said: “Our aim is to ensure that FlySmiLes members enjoy the luxuries of air travel .And we decided that our very own Serendib Lounge, which clearly manifests SriLankan’s philosophy of Caring and Warmth would be an ideal locale. Sit back and relax, enjoy the ambience, the exotic cuisine and the wide array of beverages, and be rejuvenated at the Siddhalepa Ayurvedha Spa in the lounge.”

Panoramic view

The Serendib Lounge is one of the finer facilities at Bandaranaike International Airport, reputed as the most sophisticated airport in South Asia. The lounge provides a panoramic view of the airport’s apron, with a floor to ceiling viewing glass. It has the latest in luxury such as specially designed armchairs in which one can recline and swivel, separate rest areas with fully reclining Lazy Boy armchairs for passengers with longer transit times, showers, general seating, and a separate smokers’ room. For entertainment, there are two theatre-style giant TV screens with individual headphones at each seat. The lounge also provides convenient communications facilities including a phone booth and personal computers with Internet access.

The buffet includes both hot and cold foods and there’s a full range of beverages and a selection of specialty teas and coffees.

FlySmiLes known as “The Frequent Flyer Program that Rewards & Delights”, has partnered with no less than ten major companies to provide a wide range of exciting rewards for its members worldwide.

Members earn `Miles through FlySmiLes’ co-branded credit cards (American Express Platinum, and Standard Chartered Gold and Classic), communication facilities (Travelling Connect and Dialog Telekom),

Isle of Agnes to open in winter

Prasanna W. Jayewardene, Hoteliering legend in his lifetime At present spending time as a Director of Colombo’s first 5 star Hotel, the Continental, he foresees the advent of Urban Boutique Hotels, Bazaar Boutique Prasanna W. Jayewardene Hotels as well as farm tourism.

The ‘Isle of Agnes’ in our southern seas will be the jewel in the crown selling from US $ 1000 to 10,000 a room while concentrating on being carbon neutral with a Robinson Crusoe flair. The next winter season will see the opening.