TRAVEL

Lanka poised to achieve 2.5 m tourist arrivals

By Lalin Fernandopulle

The tourism sector recorded a spectacular growth this year compared to last year and the country is poised to achieve the target of 2.5 million tourist arrivals by 2016, said Regional Director-Sales Sri Lanka and Maldives, Taj Hotels and Resorts, Amal Goonetilleke.

Aasin and Salman Khan the main actor and actress of the film Ready Pic: Sumanachandra Ariyawansa

She said tourist arrivals from January to May this year recorded a 48 percent growth and hotel occupancy rate has been over 65 percent, compared to the same period last year.

"The tourism industry is confident that the target envisaged under the tourism development program could be achieved.

There is a concerted effort being made to achieve the target through aggressive promotions and infrastructure development", Goonetilleke said.

"Transportation is an essential component to attract tourists and to offer them a memorable holiday. Sea planes and railway facilities will entice tourists to the country and save time for a more fruitful and entertaining holiday", she said.

Goonetilleke said large investments are not necessary to resume operations of sea planes and added that what is required is expertise.

The operation of sea planes was halted due to security reasons. "Infrastructure plays a key role in the promotion of tourism.

The country lacks conference halls to accommodate a large number of guests. MICE tourism is a fast growing segment of the tourism industry for which there has to be sound infrastructure", she said.

Visitors from Japan, Belgium, Netherlands and Scandinavian countries are on the rise and steps have been taken to promote Sri Lanka in emerging markets.

Tourist arrivals from North and Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Africa, Middle East, South and East Asia and Australia have shown a marked increase this year against the figures of last year.

The number of tourist arrivals upto May this year is 233,922 and is expected to be around 600,000 by the end of the year.

Tourist arrivals during January to May last year was 157,495 and at the end of the year 447,000.

Indians dominate tourist arrivals and recorded around 45,000 visitors this year followed by the traditional markets such as UK, Germany and France.

The Indian tourist arrivals during the first half of last year was 25,000.

Goonetilleke said steps have been taken to develop the Kalpitiya Tourism Zone, the Western and the Central province and the North and the Eastern belt which are popular tourist destinations.

"Sri Lanka will be in the map for film shoots and tourism following the success of IIFA which brought immense pride to the country as one of the safest destinations for travel and entertainment", she said.

Indian cinema star Salman Khan returned to Sri Lanka following the success of IIFA to shoot his iconic film Ready. City hotels are crowded with Indian tourists since the conclusion of the IIFA last month.

World Spice Food Festival 2010

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

Several internationally renowned chefs will be flown to Colombo to participate in the World Spice Food Festival 2010 to be held from July 16 - 18. The foreign chefs will work alongside the best master chefs in Sri Lanka to showcase culinary expertise from around the world.

The event will coincide with the Hawker Street food festival to be held at Green Path from July 16 to 18 allowing visitors an opportunity to sample food from around the world.

Some of the chefs who will be preparing dishes at the World Spice Food Festival

The annual event is hosted by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority in collaboration with the HSBC. The event is expected to draw more than 10,000 visitors this year.

The food festival is open to both local and foreign tourists to gourmandise Indian, South African, Malaysian, Indonesian, Philippine, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Mediterranean, Singaporean, Chinese, Egyptian and Sri Lankan specialities.

The Director General of Sri Lanka Tourism Authority S. Kalaiselvam said at a media briefing recently that a 50 percent increase in tourist arrivals have been recorded during the first five months of the year.

"If the trend continues we will have around 600,000 tourists this year, a 30 percent increase compared to last year.

For the first time the highest number of tourist arrivals will be recorded this year. In 2004 there were 550,000 arrivals in the country. He attributed the influx of tourist arrivals to peace and political stability in the country.

He said the government is targeting 2.5 million tourist to visit the country by year 2016.

History has shown that people from foreign countries have come to Sri Lanka in search of local spices.

"We have a unique proposition that attracts people to Sri Lanka.

That is why we organised the World Spice Food Festival in collaboration with leading hoteliers and leading travel agents to the country this year," he said.

The World Spice Food Festival was first organised in 2005 as an annual event based on Sri Lanka's reputation as an island abundant with spices and to create dining options for tourists and locals while providing an opportunity for Sri Lankan chefs to interact with foreign chefs to exchange culinary know-how.

The Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Authority, Upali de Silva said the World Spice Food Festival has been organised to provide tourists several dining options and for culinary experts to share their expertise.

The event will take a festive atmosphere with live music and cookery demonstrations.

The Greenpath road will be closed from 16 to 18 July.

The principle sponsor of the World Spice Food Festival is HSBC Colombo.

HSBC CEO, Nick Nicolaou said HSBC takes pride in being associated with an event that brings together a range of culinary delights from diverse cultures which is very much in line with what HSBC offers as the world's local bank.