TRAVEL

Visit Sri Lanka 2011 to woo travellers

by Sapumali GALAGODA

Sri Lanka Tourism together with the Ministry of Economic Development is taking steps to woo travellers to Sri Lanka next year under the theme Visit Sri Lanka 2011.

Accordingly, each month of next year has a special theme and activities related to the theme will be promoted, said Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa.

He said that January is dedicated to Community and Education Tourism, February - Sports and Adventure, March - MICE tourism (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), April-People and Culture, May-Religious Tourism, June-Weddings and Honeymoons, July- Culinary, August- Heritage, September-Nature and Wildlife, October, Health, Tourism, November-Beaches and December-Shopping and Entertainment.

Dr. Godahewa said that they will show the speciality and diversity of Sri Lanka to tourists.

Marco Polo 1200 years ago said that Sri Lanka is the best destination to visit and even today this has not changed.

We are a beautiful country with all products such as beaches, rain forests, animals, spanning across 65,000 kilometres.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that the Government would call upon Pradeshiya Sabhas to have a tourism village by January next year in time for the theme Community and Education Tourism.

President ASMET, Siri De Silva said that a calendar is being printed showing each month's theme.

SriLankan's air taxis to fly on scenic routes

A unique way to capture the natural beauty of Sri Lanka in just half an hour will soon be on offer when SriLankan Airlines introduces its latest service, the air taxi.

You don't have to be a visitor disembarking at BIA and taking an air transfer to a pre-scheduled destination. You can simply get on board an air taxi and glide over.

The taxi's take off from a water base either in the Negombo lagoon, the Kelani river, Koggala or Bentota and in half an hour you will see some of the most scenic views in Sri Lanka at 1500 feet to 3000 feet above sea level.

SriLankan Airlines' float planes will operate from several water bases around the country and have scheduled flights to all these destinations for visitors to the country from BIA.

Destinations currently on the cards are the Kelani river, Negombo lagoon, the Tissamaharama tank, Bentota, Kandy, Ampara, Nuwara Eliya, Koggala, Dickwella, and Dambulla.

The scenic route is expected to be a popular half an hour ride for families with children, an ideal opportunity to take a ride in an airplane and view the country's scenic sights from the clouds and for visitors to the country who wish to catch an aerial view of Sri Lanka.

A typical scenic route flight, taking off from the Negombo lagoon, will fly over the lush, verdant paddy fields and winding rivers of the western plains and cruise back to base, skimming over the western beaches of Wattala and Negombo.

A scenic flight taking off from Bentota or Koggala, will also cruise over its western plains and return to base over the famed Southern beaches of Sri Lanka.

If you choose to take off from the Kelaniya river with a view of the Kelani temple with its white dagoba, you will fly over the city of Colombo and then over the western beaches of Wattala and Negombo, back to Kelani river.

Head of Worldwide Sales Sri Lankan Airlines, Mohamed Fazeel said, "We are confident that these scenic routes will rejuvenate domestic tourism.

The plus is that it takes only half an hour to take a scenic route flight. We are primarily offering two kinds of flights.

One which transports visitors from the BIA to destinations of their choice while the other is the 30 minutes scenic flights which both reveal and showcase the beauty of the country".

SriLankan Airlines will initially operate two Twin Otter aircraft, each with a capacity of up to 15 passengers.

The scenic flights are available every weekend from Colombo and throughout the week from Bentota while special on-call scenic flights can be arranged for groups.

Sri Lanka is unfolding itself as it has never done before. Take to the skies and be part of it !

The MENA challenge: Coping with growth

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for coordinated efforts to deal with the challenges of growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). "Over the last decade, the carriers of the Middle East and North African region have grown from 5 percent of global traffic to 11 percent. Planned aircraft purchases of $200 billion over the next decade will support this growth to the foreseeable future. This expanding global presence brings with it the challenge of playing a larger role in the global aviation community," said IATA's Director General and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani.

The financial situation of the MENA carriers is improving. For 2010, IATA is forecasting a bottom line improvement of $1 billion on the $600 million that the region's carriers lost in 2009.

"We are expecting the region to make $400 million profits this year. A more cautious approach to capacity is helping to drive this improvement.

While demand is in line for a 21 percent increase over last year, the capacity increase has been limited to 15.9 percent," said Bisignani in a keynote address to the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) Annual General Meeting in Cairo, Egypt.

For 2011, IATA expects a fall in global profitability to $5.3 billion from the $8.9 billion that airlines are expected to make in 2010. IATA expects MENA carriers to follow the trend with a reduced 2011 regional profit of $300 million.

The small profit will be partially driven by an expected capacity expansion of 10.6 percent outstripping demand growth of 10.4 percent.

Bisignani highlighted five challenges of growth for the region:

Safety: The region's hull loss rate for Western built aircraft slipped from zero accidents in 2006 to 3.32 accidents per million flights in 2009. "At 4.6 times the global average of 0.71, that is a concern. The region's rapid growth must be accompanied with a strong safety record," said Bisignani who challenged MENA's governments to adopt IATA's two safety audits-the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO)-as part of national requirements. Egypt was the first government in the world to mandate IOSA, joined later by Lebanon, Syria and Bahrain, and soon Jordan.

Today, 35 MENA carriers are on the IOSA registry, including all 26 IATA members. MENA has also taken a leadership role on ISAGO. Lebanon will make it mandatory for ground handlers from June 2011 and 13 ground handlers in the region are already on the registry.

Infrastructure: The MENA region is planning airport construction totaling $100 billion, which includes at least eight new runways in the Gulf region.

"The industry and governments are investing in infrastructure to support the economic benefits of aviation's growth. But what is being built and planned on the ground is not being matched in the air. Military airspace covers 60 percent of the region, limiting capacity and forcing inefficient routings.

We must cooperate to open more of the region's skies," said Bisignani. IATA is also working on projects to redesign airspace in the Gulf area, facilitate more traffic for East-West traffic across North Africa, support ultra-long haul operations with more efficient routings, and complete the implementation of Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) across MENA by bringing Iraq on board.

Technology for Simplifying the Business: MENA is on target to meet the December deadline for 100 percent implementation of bar coded boarding passes which promises global savings of $1.5 billion. Airlines are 92 percent complete while airports are at 90 percent.

The region is home to seven airports that are already operating 100 percent: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Kuwait and Sharjah. Two countries in MENA are participating in IATA e-freight-the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt. The UAE is a global top performer as the originating country for 21 percent of all e-freight shipments.

"Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have all passed the high-level assessment and are expected to launch in 2011. The only hurdle is for governments to adapt their local regulations to facilitate modern business practices.

E-freight is a great competitive advantage with the capability to save the industry $4.9 billion," said Bisignani.

Government Involvement: Bisignani urged governments in the region to keep costs in check and create the regulatory framework to balance burgeoning long-haul opportunities with short-haul regional liberalization. Bisignani praised Tunisia's decision, following an IATA intervention, to eliminate its 10 percent import tax on jet fuel which conflicted with the Chicago Convention.