Diethelm Travel Sri Lanka organised a familiarisation tour to a group of 21 travel agents from Rewe Toursitik of Germany. The group arrived on the 07 May and will tour the island till the 14th.

A wonderful tour program is selected for them which will cover Negombo, Sigiriya, Kandy and Down South regions of the country.

The group was met at the airport by Diethelm staff members and representatives of Rewe.

Diethelm Travel Sri Lanka and the FTI Group, one of Germany’s leading tour operators today announced the operation of cruises between Dubai and Colombo calling at Muscat, Mumbai, Goa and Kochi next winter. The FTI BERLIN will thus becomes the first-ever cruise liner of its kind to sail to the Port of Colombo on a regular basis with its 4000 up-market Austrian, German and Swiss clientele over a period of four months.

Abbas Esufally, Chairman of Diethelm Travel SL, a subsidiary of Hemas Holdings PLC under whose purview Diethelm said that this cruise is unique, especially for Sri Lanka’s buoyant and rapidly growing tourism industry. “This is an exceptional project which will bring in high spending tourists to Sri Lanka. Given the profile of the mainly high-end clientele, a project of this magnitude is a vital shot in the arm for our tourist industry … from the simple batik sellers, mask makers and other simple artisans to Colombo’s restaurants and high-end hotels across the country. The dividends, in the long term, augur well for the local tourist industry. Not only will it boost the industry, but will also act as a viable spring board to showcase Sri Lanka as a multi-faceted and internationally attractive destination”.

FTI BERLIN, the 206 cabin flagship cruise liner of the FTI Group will call at and depart Colombo ten times between December 2012 and March 2013. It will cruise from Dubai / Colombo / Dubai (embarkation and disembarkation in Dubai and Colombo) with stops in Muscat and the Indian ports of Mumbai, Goa and Kochi.

The FTI BERLIN will arrive in Colombo for the first time on 05 December 2012. The approximately 400 passengers on each cruise will disembark in Colombo, while another 400 guests will start their cruise back to Dubai on the same route. All passengers disembarking or starting their cruise in Sri Lanka have the option of spending additional holidays in Sri Lanka – on the beaches or on round trips.

Says FTI’s Group CEO Dietmar Gunz, “Colombo is a great port of destination and departure for the FTI BERLIN in the upcoming winter season. We are assured to be successful with this innovative cruise routing between Dubai and Sri Lanka. It will support the touristic development in Sri Lanka a lot – as past experience has shown that successful ideas will attract more business”.

Esufally added that given the anticipated success of this venture, FTI Touristik is also exploring the possibility of including the ports of Trincomalee and Hambantota at a future date, thereby giving the project a greater dimension and taking it to a different level. “Past experience has shown that when a project of this nature is successful, other cruise operators follow suit, with the strong possibility of a ‘snowball effect’ in the cruise liner business opening Sri Lanka for rapid growth in the cruise market”, he said.

The FTI BERLIN with 206 cabins was built in 1980. Between 1986 and 1998 it played the leading part in the popular German TV-series “Das Traumschiff“ (“The Ship of Dreams”). The vessel accommodates approximately 400 passengers and provides two restaurants, a bar, a lounge and a beer garden. One outdoor pool, one indoor pool and a spa are available to the passengers as well as a fitness centre, sauna, solarium and massages.

FTI Group is one of the largest tour operators in Germany while Diethelm Travels is a subsidiary of the Hemas Group, Sri Lanka.

About the FTI Group : The FTI Group is one of the largest tour operator in Germany, FTI Touristik, as well as the short-term tour operator 5vorFlug, the car rental broker driveFTI, the online portal fly.de, the language travel agency LAL Sprachreisen, the Inbound Company Meeting Point International, the presenter for special offers BigXtra and the cruise-brand FTI Cruises. The Consolidator FTI-Ticket shop is responsible for the sale of scheduled flight tickets. Throughout Germany, about 10,000 partner agencies distribute FTI products. Under the umbrella of the one hundred percent subsidiary Touristik Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (TVG), the FTI Group has pooled their franchise systems. Another important distribution channel is the company-owned TV travel shopping channel sonnenklar.TV. The FTI Group, headquartered in Munich, employs with its subsidiaries approximately 2,500 people and in the fiscal year of 2010/11 it achieved a turnover of 1.47 billion Euros.

After paying attention to the growing tourism demand from the Middle East, SriLankan Airlines will start a direct daily flight to and from Kuwait from the 1st of May. Sri Lankan Airlines currently operates to 60 destinations in 33 countries across the globe from Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and South Asia to Southeast Asia, the Far East, Australia, North America and Canada.

The current Kuwait-Dubai-Colombo will be disconnected, but the direct Sri Lankan Airlines flight from Dubai to Colombo will continue, Lal Perera, Regional Manager of SriLankan in the Middle East and Africa has said.

The planned flight will depart from Kuwait at 9:55 p.m. daily and arrive in Colombo at 6:15 a.m. local time. Sri Lanka's national carrier will be operating a total of 47 weekly flights into the Middle East effective next month.

"In January and February 2012 alone, we noticed an increase of 42 percent in arrivals from the Middle East," Perera has said.

As per the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority statistics for this year show that 7,625 tourists arrived from Middle East, 42.3 percent increase from the 5,359 arrived during the same period last year.

This year’s “ICC World Twenty20” will be the fourth time this competition is held and it will also be the first World Twenty20 tournament held in an Asian country, the last three being held in South Africa, England and the West Indies respectively.

This international cricket tournament will be held in Sri Lanka between September 18 and October 7, and games are scheduled to be played in Colombo, Kandy and Hambantota during this period.

12 member countries are expected to take part. There will be 20 teams comprising both males and females and altogether 52 matches will be played in the tournament. The format will see four groups of three in a preliminary round. India and England are in the same group and will be joined by one of the Associate or Affiliate teams that qualify. The other qualifying team will be in a group with West Indies and Australia. Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh are the other two groups.

Club Hotel Dolphin brought honour to Sri Lanka by winning the ITS Red Star Award for the third consecutive year, By winning this award, Club Hotel Dolphin has been recognized as the very best in the country.

The ITS brand has the largest selection of hotels amongst the Tour Operators of the Travel and tourism division of REWE Group. The focus of the ITS program is on three-to-four star hotels. The ITS Red Star Award is awarded to the best and most popular 60 hotels worldwide. The selection for the award mainly focuses on three key factors - referrals from their guests, consistent high standards of service delivery, and high levels of guest satisfaction.
 
This club-concept hotel is located in the seaside hamlet of Waikkal and is just a half hour’s drive from the international airport and 90 minutes north of Colombo. This hotel has total of 150 rooms including 98 deluxe main rooms, and 50 individual cottages. The hotel has two pools – one of which is the largest pool in Sri Lanka. The hotel also offers to its guests a wide choice of activities such as tennis, squash, volleyball, badminton, darts, archery,
croquette and mini golf. The animation team keeps guests occupied with activities such as water aerobics, a club dance, bingo nights, karaoke evenings, fire limbos and animation shows. For those who prefer something more tranquil, a relaxing spa treatment or a lazy afternoon by the ‘quiet pool’ is available. Guests can also take an interesting tour of the Negombo churches that were built during the colonial period, or opt to visit Colombo on a shopping spree.
 
The REWE Group which presents this Award is a multi-national company and a diversified retail and tourism group based in Germany. Its current turnover is around 50.91 billion Euros, and it operates in 14 European countries and employs over 325,000 people in its trading and travel divisions. The hotel is managed by Serendib Leisure Management, a subsidiary of Hemas Holdings PLC.

The 04th Golf Course in Sri Lanka - “Eagles’ Golf Links” was declared open on the 07th January 2012. Owned and maintained by the Sri Lanka Air Force, the Eagles golf course unfolds its lush green fairways in the distant corner of China Bay, a few kilometers off Trincomalee.

The Eagles golf course is said to be truly complete with fairways extending down from par 3 to par 5 and challenges which include water hazards, sand bunkers, roughs and of course doglegs left and right. 

There is an outstanding and breathtaking view from the teeing grounds. Rising and sinking carpets of green, traditionally designed arch bridges and cozy shades of garden hedges will be a absolute delight when you walk along the fairways. 

China Bay - a treasure trove of history; where it was blessed with military presence since the time of the British. Now the home to one of Sri Lanka’s largest airfields which was needed to cover the world’s second deepest natural harbour. Trincomalee was one of two targets attacked by Admiral Nagumo’s fleet during the Second World War, however was deftly defended by the Royal Air Force. This tense military situation warranted a significant presence in Trincomalee, evidence of their presence can be seen in and around the general area having receded into being relics of a long lost legacy. The Eagles golf link simply blends in with history to link the days of yesteryear to a hopeful future. 

The aesthetically designed club house is standing at the beginning of the first tee, a great place for golfer who seeks relaxation the club house offers a unique sense of natural beauty. The lounge and open lawns recede into the bay and simply mesmerize any body, whether a golfer or not. The Eagles golf course also offers the services of luxury cabins which can be aptly termed as star class. This offers the golfer the chance to truly relax away from the hustles of a busy life. 

This course offers much more than ‘Golf’ - The calm and somber waters, that presents itself to the club house and the cabins offer a unique and novel opportunity for Angling - a side hobby which you might want to try out during the stay

An agreement was signed to construct a 350 meter tower - which will be the tallest tower in South Asia; today.  This multi functional tower hopes to provide facilities for 50 television services, 50 broadcasting services and ten telecommunication providers. Construction work hopes to be completed within 30 months.  

This eleven storied tower is planned to have a revolving restaurant on the fourth floor, This very unique restaurant where 600 persons could partake meals at a time and have a great viewing scenery of the Colombo city.

The huge Reception Hall is expected to accommodate about one thousand persons and this could provide a great opportunity to hold mega functions. 

The 350 meter Lotus Tower will be the tallest building in South Asia and the 19th tallest building in the world.  It will be 26 meter taller than the Eiffel Tower (324 meter in hight) and 17.4 meters taller than the 332.6 meter high Tokyo Tower.  The Tokyo Sky Tree with a height of 634 meters presently being constructed and scheduled to be completed in February this year will be the tallest tower in the world followed by the Canton Tower of China with a height of 600 meters.

Source -  www.news.lk

The award-winning National Geographic Traveler magazine`s November/December 2011 issue has picked Sri Lanka as one of the 20 best places to visit in 2012. 

It features Sri Lanka's luscious green tea plantations in the hill country, ancient Buddhist temples of Dambulla, Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Wildlife in Yala and the UNESCO`s world heritage site of Central Highlands that cradles the Adam`s Peak.

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-trips-2012/?fb_ref=.TtYdW--kIiI.like&fb_source=profile_oneline#/05-gallery-sri-lanka-tea-harvest_41297_600x450.jpg

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-trips-2012/sri-lanka-photos/ 

Tourism development announced today (02nd Dec’11); the much awaited launch of the former Dutch Hospital of Colombo Fort as a Shopping Precinct. This hopes to become the latest tourist attraction in the city. The old Colombo Dutch Hospital in Colombo Fort that was built by Dutch colonial rulers in 18th century.  

The property was converted into a tourist attraction while retaining its original Dutch architecture. As per records the hospital was said to be built during the rule of the Dutch from 1656 to 1796. A Dutch map drawn in 1732 shows the hospital at its present site. However, according to a description by Christopher Schweitzer (a German national who was in Sri Lanka serving the Dutch from 1676 to 1682), the hospital had existed since 1681

Source. http://srilanka.travel/index.php?route=event/travelnews&news=77 

A new clarification issued by immigration authorities issued on November 30 states that the existing facility of “Free Visa on arrival will continue until 31 March 2012 for those who are making travel arrangements before 31 December 2011.” This system will be in force alongside the new visa regulation under the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system that will be operational from January 1, 2012. Visitors will  need to apply online before 1st January 2011 to get this benefit.

It is recommended that tourists obtain their online visas prior to arrival, visa upon arrival is also available at a supplementary cost of US $ 5 in addition to the regular rate.

The new charge of US$ 10 for travellers from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries and US$ 20 from non-SAARC countries will be implemented.  According to the revised structure, children under 12 years of age and transit passengers stopping over for 48 hours in Sri Lanka would not be charged a visa processing fee.

Please visit www.eta.gov.lk for more information.

SOURCE : 4th dec11  -- http://www.sundaytimes.lk/111204/BusinessTimes/bt03.html

 

The Victoria Golf & Country Resort won the 'Best Golf Course in Sub - Continent' award for the fifth time this year, on the 12th edition of the Asian Golf Awards 2011.