Hambantota ushered into the digital age through a City App
View(s):President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on March 18th coinciding with the opening of the Rajapaksa International Airport in Mattala, launched the Hambantota City App at the airport premises.
The App running on Windows 8 provides travellers and investors a complete guide to Hambantota, according to a media release from Microsoft.
The app unveiled by the President is the first of 15 cities that will be included in Microsoft Sri Lanka’s ‘Window to Sri Lanka’ App development exercise, in a bid to help position Sri Lanka as a tourist and investment destination of choice among locals as well as foreigners. The President launched the App on a state of the art touch screen eWis computer, at the event.
The App also provides useful information about the economic potential of Hambantota, encompassing the rapid infrastructure developments taking place in the area and includes key information relevant to foreign investors such as airline schedules, business information and important contact details.
Microsoft Sri Lanka built the City Apps in close collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, in order to assist them in their mission to promote tourism in the country. The company has developed a series of city Apps under the name ‘Window to Sri Lanka’ which will provide tourists and locals travelling in Sri Lanka or planning their holiday here from anywhere in the world, a visual information guide and an interactive snapshot to the key cities to visit in Sri Lanka, according to the release.
The App, which includes high-quality pictures, important details, and maps will serve as navigators to the cities. The App lets users view information such as ‘Places to visit’, ‘Where to stay, eat, or shop’, in addition to ‘Important facts about the City’ and ‘How to get there’. It will contain unique aspects of each city to give the visitor an immediate sense of where to go and what to do depending on their interests.
Udana Wickremasinghe, Director ICT of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority appreciating Microsoft’s effort to boost the tourism sector, said, “From tablets to mobile phones, smart mobile devices will play a vital role in delivering rich content and accessibility to services such as online hotel booking to potential travellers. Therefore, this is an excellent move by Microsoft Sri Lanka to develop City Apps for windows 8 covering tourism attractions and related service in Sri Lanka to be used by visitors.”
Wellington Perera, Director DPE of Microsoft Sri Lanka, who spearheaded the initiative, said that the App is capable of playing a pivotal role in promoting Sri Lanka’s tourism, not only among international tourists but also among local travellers as well as investors.
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