Travel

New flight schedule from SriLankan

SriLankan Airlines will increase flights this winter season to a dozen cities throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Subcontinent, and Far East, based on passenger numbers that will definitely increase following the Dawn of Peace in Sri Lanka.

Mohamed Fazeel, Head of Worldwide Sales at SriLankan, said: "Forward booking for winter season is very encouraging and we are providing more flights to destinations where we experience high market growth. The flights will be effective from October 25, and our new Milan service will be launched on December 16."

The country's tourism industry has witnessed steady growth since its 30-year war ended in May, with tourists flocking to the island despite the global economic downturn which has discouraged air travel.

Statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority show that tourism from all countries grew by 34% in August 2009 in comparison to the same month in the previous year, and 28% in July.

In Europe, Sri Lanka's National Carrier is launching a new twice-weekly service to Milan in northern Italy, with considerable expectations of increased Italian tourism into Sri Lanka.

It is also adding two flights a week to London, bringing the number of flights to 12. The UK has long been one of the largest tourism markets into Sri Lanka, and also has a sizeable population of Sri Lankan immigrants.

In the Far East, SriLankan will add no less than three additional flights to both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, which will each be served by 10 flights per week.This will also serve Sri Lankan outbound traffic to these popular Southeast Asian cities.

One additional flight will commence to Hong Kong, which will then have 4 weekly flights.

Four cities in the Subcontinent region will receive additional flights, to support South Asian tourism into Sri Lanka.

Trichy in South India and the Maldivian capital Male will each receive two additional flights.

Trichy will then have a total of 9 per week, while Male, where SriLankan has for many years been the largest carrier, will have no less than 23.

The airline is also increasing one flight each to Bangalore and Karachi, which will then have 5 and 3 flights respectively.

The airline will increase one flight per week to Bahrain, Doha and Dammam, which will thus be served by 3, 5 and 4 weekly flights respectively.

With the addition of Milan, SriLankan will expand its route network to 44 destinations in 29 countries across the world. Despite the worldwide slowdown in air travel due to the global economic meltdown, SriLankan is continuing to strengthen its route network by launching services to selected destinations, and by strengthening its codeshare network with partner airlines.

In July SriLankan expanded its network to Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Jakarta, and Seoul through an enhanced partnership with Malaysia Airlines. Last October, SriLankan expanded its partnership with Etihad to cover Geneva, Dublin, Munich, Brussels, Manchester, and Amman.

Airlines welcome environment progress at ICAO

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed progress made at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) High Level Meeting on International Aviation and Climate Change (HLM-ENV). IATA urged Governments to move forward quickly to implement what was agreed and develop an even more ambitious agenda.

'We took a step in the right direction, toward a global sectoral approach, but there is still a lot of ground to cover. As a united industry, we remain committed to the ambitious environmental targets that we brought to this meeting. Governments took note of our targets and recognized the need to work with industry to secure a sustainable future for aviation. This is significant progress,' said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.

In a joint working paper by IATA with Airports Council International, Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation and International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations, a united industry committed to three sequential targets:

Improving fuel efficiency by an average of 1.5% annually to 2020 Stabilizing emissions from 2020 with carbon-neutral growth.

A 50% net reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005 The ICAO HLM-ENV Declaration confirmed the desire of governments to deal with aviation and climate change through ICAO and in coordination with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Declaration also contained the following commitments for: States to work together to achieve a global annual average fuel efficiency improvement of 2% to 2020, followed by an aspirational goal of a further average annual 2% improvement from 2021 to 2050.

ICAO and its contracting States to evaluate the possibility of more ambitious goals by the next ICAO Assembly (2010), taking into consideration industry's collective commitments and the special needs of developing nations.

ICAO to establish the process to develop a framework for economic measures ICAO and its contracting states to encourage the development and use of sustainable biofuels.

Airlines have set even more ambitious targets than Governments for the longer term.

'Industry is targeting net carbon emission reductions, while Government discussions are focused on efficiency improvements. It is ironic that industry is setting tougher targets for itself than its regulators are prepared to require. But, our common goal is to effectively address climate change. That means reducing emissions. The challenge is to work together to close this gap by the next ICAO Assembly in September 2010,' said Bisignani.

In the medium term, to 2020, governments have set a more ambitious average annual fuel efficiency improvement target (2% per year) than the industry's 1.5%. 'Setting such a target comes with responsibility. We can fly the plane efficiently, but governments must deliver improvements in air traffic management-NextGen in the US for example. Governments must back their target with infrastructure investments to make it achievable. Governments must also accelerate the development of the legal and fiscal frameworks to support the use of sustainable biofuels,' said Bisignani.

'Most importantly, today's Declaration sets the stage for future developments towards a global sectoral approach. Sustainable biofuels and a framework for a global approach to economic measures are key items that the Declaration has committed to address,' said Bisignani.'The aviation sector will approach Copenhagen with a strong forward-looking vision for its future as a role model for other industries to follow. I congratulate ICAO Council President Roberto Kobeh González and ICAO Secretary General Raymond Benjamin for their leadership in achieving this significant Declaration. The outcome of the HLM-ENV gives us much needed scope to further develop our strong industry cooperation with governments through the UN framework,' said Bisignani. IATA

Pathway to university education in travel and tourism

The DTTEHM is a multi-disciplinary diploma level programme.

It is specially designed to respond to the industry demand for multi-skilled travel and tourism professionals who are able to take responsibility for a wide range of complex industry processes by improving their knowledge of theoretical concepts, issues and policies through an interactive and application-oriented approach.

The diploma provides opportunities for the integration of knowledge and skills with hands-on practice of the different fields of the industry, by providing practical and analytical competence in socio-economic, ecological, marketing, managerial, accounting and legal aspects of travel and tourism. It focuses on hotel management, ticketing, information technology and other related fields as they strive to meet the challenges of changing global trends in the travel and tourism industry today.

The course targets those who are already engaged in the travel and tourism fields at different professional levels and also those who aspire for a career in the travel and tourism sector.

This course gives an opportunity for travel and tourist sector personnel who have not had the opportunity to gain a university education to benefit from studying at a well recognized national university in Sri Lanka

Galadari to revamp next year

Galadari Hotel is planning an ambitious refurbishment project next year which includes renovation of rooms, lobby and the restaurants, said General Manager Sampath Siriwardena.

'We are planning to add new restaurants as well and the dawn of peace in the country will see the tourism industry boom in time to come'.

'Already we have had a good July and August where the hotel experienced an 80% increase in arrivals over last year'.

Most of the travellers were from the Middle East who were here to enjoy their summer vacation.

Siriwardena said, that Sri Lanka should promote the country in the Middle East and in India where there is much potential.

The MICE market in India is very good as there are 126 flights a week to and from India as well as visa on arrival. In addition the high cost of Indian hotels also makes Sri Lanka a potential destination for MICE marketing.

He said that Sri Lanka hotels are 5-6 times cheaper than Indian hotels therefore Sri Lanka is a favourite destination for MICE in India.

Sri Lankan families residing overseas will be in the country during the Christmas vacation and our hotel has already received a lot of bookings from USA and Australia.

Therefore there will be a lot of activity during the holiday season.

He said, that since the world recession is still on though there is peace in the country there will not be a huge increase of tourists this year but 2011 will be a great year for the industry and we as partners in the industry should be ready to take on the influx .

By that time the infrastructure facilities including the highways from Colombo to Kandy, Colombo to Katunayaka and the Southern highways should be ready while additional hotel rooms too should be available.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary the hotel has lined up several projects which includes celebrations community projects as well many other activities.