Travel

Lanka to be on US map for tourism and investment- Ambassador Wickramasuriya

By Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Sri Lanka will be promoted as an investment and tourism hub in the United States to spearhead economic growth in the country said Sri Lankan Ambassador to USA, Jaliya Wickramasuriya.

Ambassador Wickramasuriya hands over a token of appreciation to a tourist.

He said Sri Lanka is one of the preferred destinations among travellers of the United States and added that the number of visitors from the US had been low due to lack of awareness about the country.

Wickramasuriya said Sri Lanka is at its prime to promote the country as an ideal location for trade tourism and investment. The completion of the protracted war has brought rich dividends to the country.

“The Sri Lankan Embassy in the US will launch an aggressive campaign to promote trade and tourism in Sri Lanka. A high powered delegation comprising investors and companies doing business in India and Singapore will be visiting Sri Lanka mid October under an initiative of the embassy”, he said.

The Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) delegation will promote public private partnership discussions among Sri Lankan and US companies.

The Assistant US Trade Representative will be participating at the discussions.

A group of 25 US travellers visited Sri Lanka last week under a tourism promotion program launched by the Sri Lankan Embassy in the United States for the first time.

The travellers were from the International Club of Networking which has a membership of around 40,000 who are connected to the high end travel market of the USA.

“The objective of the Lankan embassy is to promote Sri Lanka as the safest and best location for tourism and investment.

Around 600,000 US travellers have shown interest to visit Sri Lanka following the end of the war and peaceful and calm environment in the country”, the Ambassador said.

He said the already many US citizens have responded to invitations to visit Sri Lanka following the successful visit of the high end and influential group of US travellers to Sri Lanka.

“The US travellers had taken over 40,000 photographs of some of the pristine locations across the country and these pictures have made a tremendous impact on USA about Sri Lanka”, he said.

“US tourists had thought that Sri Lanka was too far to travel and instead opted to visit Maldives, Thailand and India.

There will be a marked growth in the number of US travellers to Sri Lanka this year”, Wickramasuriya said.

The ambassador said that he plans to hold regular meetings with travel writers and tour operators in the US to share their experience about Sri Lanka.

He said special tour packages will be arranged for US travellers to visit Sri Lanka. The embassy hopes to bring around 250 US visitors to Sri Lanka during the ambassador’s visit next year.

PJ Hotels commences organic farms, suite huts in Vakarai

Farms which are totally organic together with beach bungalows using bio-degradable material in the Eastern and Northern beaches are the concept of Chairman of PJ Hotels (Pvt) Limited Prasanna W Jayewardene. Farming or agri-tourism combined with integration with the community in real terms is the base of the concept.

“We are fortunate to have sourced a number of beach lands being bought by a family living abroad.

They while financing the operations will leave concept design and management to PJ Hotels. Our forty years of experience both here and in a number of other counties in a wide spectrum of hotels was the factor that decided them,” said Jayewardene. “Besides, the fact that everything from food preparation, to house keeping and maintenance will be out sourced to people in the community and alternate renewable energy sources, of wind, solar and dendro power will be used at the second stage was of interest to the financiers,” he said.

10 farms are to be completed within the next three years, with a total of 250 suite huts as the target.

The suite huts will be sold at prices ranging from US $50 to 100 and will cost only US $ 5000 to build as opposed to the US $ 100,000 to 150,000 being talked of for a new room by traditional charter hotel operators.

“Our Chairman in spite of personal health issues has conceptualized so much over the years and is most motivated now by the development taking place across the country to enrich the lives or all Sri Lankans. We should again think outside the box using our Japanese, American and Italian consultants to bring about an excellent business model which will benefit not only the environment but also former war zone communities is the source of his commitment.

Of course the jewel in our crown will be the ‘Isle Of Agnes’ which will sell at US $10,000”, said Executive Consultant and spokesperson for the PJ Group Amara Galagoda.

“We are working very hard to get the designs and operation of this very different concept fine tuned.

We can see a few hiccups but are all very motivated as a team by the extremely positive outlook of officials and the people we are working with from these former war zones,” she concluded.

Qantas increases premium economy

IN another sign that premium travel is picking up, Qantas plans to expand its premium economy seating on international flights.

The airline said today it would retrofit six two-class Boeing 747s with 40 premium economy seats to service the Frankfurt and Tokyo routes.

The new seating is expected to be available on the Tokyo route from October and Frankfurt from February.

The airline currently offers premium economy on Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles and Buenos Aeries flights and says it has had a good response since introducing it in 2008.

The cabin gives customers priority check-in, wider seats, more leg room and upgraded service but they pay significantly more than the cheapest seats in economy.

Qantas said launch fares would start at $3999 on the Frankfurt route and at $1999 on Tokyo.

Special student fare to UK

Emirates has announced a special one-way fare from Colombo to London and Manchester to support Sri Lankan students travelling for higher studies to the UK.Priced at Rs 51,500 inclusive of taxes, this exclusive student fare is available for bookings up to September 30 and is valid for travel up to October 15, the award-winning Dubai-based international airline said. Students who purchase tickets would also be eligible for a 20 percent discount on Student Guard Travel Insurance from Chartis Insurance, an insurer present in 160 countries and jurisdictions.Among other additional benefits unique to Emirates passengers is a generous baggage allowance of 30kgs on Economy Class, convenient connections to Heathrow and Gatwick in London and to Manchester, and the chance to experience the Emirates A380 on some of the flights.

China Eastern Airlines flies to Colombo

by Sapumali GALAGODA

The inaugural flight of China Eastern Airlines from Kunming to Colombo by Yunnan Company Ltd with six delegations of 180 people touched Bandaranaike International Airport on August 31.

Governor of Yunnan Province Qin Guangrong

“Initially China Eastern Airlines will fly thrice a week to Sri Lanka with the possibility of increasing five or six flights a week depending on the load factor said Ambassador for Sri Lanka in China Karunathilaka Amunugama, opening the session on tourism at the inauguration of the Sri Lanka Yunnan (China) Exchanges and Cooperation Promotion last week.

Ambassador Amunugama said that promoting Yunnan and Sri Lanka is a two way process and will be of mutual benefit. He said that according to CNTA estimates last year 54m Chinese travelled while it will increase by a further 4m this year.

He said that in Yunnan lodging is very affordable while there are plenty of sites to visit. Kunming is a good destination for shopping and site seeing.

Governor of Yunnan Province Qin Guangrong said that Yunnan Province and Sri Lanka should further strengthen cooperation in the fields of aviation and transportation to facilitate two way traffic between Yunnan and Sri Lanka.

He said that Yunnan the most beautiful and the closest Chinese Province to Sri Lanka is a tourist destination with it’s historical significance.

There are 25 ethnic groups living in Yunnan, the largest number of ethnic groups in China and each ethnic group has a unique culture.

Natural beauty of the province together with its sites of historical significance, agreeable climate has made it a sought after destination with over 120m domestic and international tourists travelling to the province in 2009.

At the end of the inauguration there was a cultural show depicting the various dances and songs of the 25 different ethnic groups in Yunnan Province.

DHL launches LCL service from Colombo to Montreal

DHL, the logistics company, announced the launch of its direct Less than Container Load (LCL) service from Colombo to Montreal. The direct service will enhance the company’s strong presence in both Canada and Sri Lanka where Canada-based customers will benefit from an expanded DHL service portfolio and access to Sri Lanka’s vast natural resources in a secure and efficient manner.

The LCL service will serve to bolster the significant trade volumes between Canada and Sri Lanka. Bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to CAD$450 billion in 2009. Canada and Sri Lanka have a long history of bilateral trade relations. Among Sri Lanka’s top exports to Canada were apparel and clothing accessories, tyres and tea, while top imports included dried leguminous vegetables, muslin and wheat.

Operated by Danmar Lines, DHL Global Forwarding’s in-house carrier, the new service from Colombo will facilitate trading activities with Canada and benefit business enterprises with the shorter transit time of 23 days from South Asia. The direct service can reduce the risk of damage, loss and other contingencies, resulting in enhanced security for customers’ shipments.

Chief Executive Officer, DHL Global Forwarding, South Asia Pacific, Amadou Diallo said, “The launch of DHL’s LCL service from Colombo to Montreal is timely as more businesses pick up steam amidst the global economic recovery. Colombo is a key part of our LCL network in South Asia as it serves as the natural hub for Bangladesh, India and Pakistan connected to this service through our feeder network. With the shorter transit time, the new direct service will undoubtedly help our customers extend their global reach in a cost-efficient manner while still benefiting from our service flexibility and reliability.”

Head of LCL Management Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding, Clas Thorell said, “The launch of this direct LCL service from Sri Lanka to Canada underscores our forward-looking march ahead as DHL expands its global LCL network. It’s part of our continuous effort to deliver quality customer service. As our LCL network continues to grow, we are committed to further strengthen our position as the global LCL industry leader.”

DHL’s operates the world’s largest LCL network with close to 2,000,000 cubic metres of LCL freight handled annually via 45,000 point pairs within the DHL in-house system.