Financial Times

The Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) has approved 66 new tourism-related establishments between January and May this year, the board said.

This includes six hotels, 26 guest houses, eight restaurants, 19 travel agents, one tourist shop, two spice gardens, two bed and breakfast units and two heritage homes.

The six hotels are - Hanthana Shadow (13 rooms), Mabima Village (40 rooms), Ambalama Leisure Lounge, Hanwella (14 rooms), The Palms, Beruwala (106 rooms), Talalla Retreat, Gandara (32 rooms) and Galway Beach, Beruwala (54 rooms).

The board said in a press release that the increase in room capacity is 259 with an investment of Rs. 665 million while the employment creation is 358.

At present, there are 16,000 rooms and SLTB is planning to increase the room capacity to 25,000 rooms by 2010 to accommodate 1.5 million tourists.

The newly registered 26 guest houses have 238 rooms with a total investment of Rs. 287.5 million.

The total investment in the 66 establishments would be Rs. 1.0 billion.

Lanka Tiles Ltd last week informed the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) that the potential net loss to the company as a result of a fire on July 3 is estimated at Rs 2 million and this may not be considered as significant.

Muller and Phipps (Ceylon) Limited told the CSE that they are unaware of any unusual trading in its shares and also that there aren’t any material information which could affect the trading of the company’s shares.

Tess Agro Limited also told the CSE that with regard to the trading of 1,820,300 shares it was not aware of any unusual trading and that “there aren’t any material information disclosed other then the circulation of the company accounts for the 2005/2006.” (LA)

The Sri Lanka Tourist Board said last week that an aggressive campaign in France to re-attract tourists to Sri Lanka has worked due to a collaborative effort between the Board offices in Colombo and Paris, the Sri Lankan Ambassador in France, the French Ambassador in Sri Lanka and the tourism industry in France.

Despite the effect of the negative travel advisory issued by the French Foreign Ministry, local authorities with partners organisation worked together to put Sri Lanka back on the map as a destination for French tourists

Starting with the newly refurbished offices in the centre of Paris, the publication of many thematic brochures in French (the latest being brochures dedicated to Ayurveda/Spas and Marriages/Honeymoons, and a proactive web site (www.srilanka.fr), the Sri Lankan image has certainly been boosted. “Coupled with a close collaborative effort with SriLankan Airlines in Paris, the country is being perceived as upmarket, progressive and innovative in the tourism field,” said Udaya Nanayakara, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourist Board.

The Board said in a statement that over 61 French travel agents visited Sri Lanka on three separate familiarization tours, organized jointly by SriLankan Airlines and the Tourist Board in June. These agents were taken to the premier tourism sites in Colombo, including the cultural triangle, the hill country, beaches and national parks.

A Chasse aux Trésors (treasure hunt) for 60 plus travel agents is scheduled in October, where participants will be given clues and in the process visit the tourism sites to locate prizes. The board has initiated a unique programme to invite the CEOs of the top 15 tour operators in France along with SriLankan Airlines and personally visit the island and see for themselves what Sri Lanka has to offer.

“While in Sri Lanka they will be meeting all stakeholders in the tourism industry and offer their advice/suggestions and the occasion will present itself for an interactive strategy-making session whereby best practices will be discussed and thus Sri Lanka can better position itself as a tourism destination in France,” the statement said.

Another familiarisation tour for 15 travel agents has also been scheduled for end September with the participation of Etihad Airways and the Tourist Board in its organisation.