Elephant Reach Plans Three more Hotels to Promoting Agro, Spiritual & Eco Tourism in the Face of Increasing Demand

20th April 2011, www.dailynews.lk, By Indunil Hewage

Elephant Reach Hotel, which is a subsidiary of Lanka Hotels and Travels (Pvt) Ltd is looking forward to expand its presence locally by adding three more major tourists hotels in the years to come.

Elephant Reach will add another 21 rooms while upgrading the existing 35 rooms. In addition Elephant Reach will construct a spa and a museum for elephants with Rs 100 million worth of estimated investment.

Speaking to Daily News Business Lanka Hotels and Travels Operations Director Malinga Fernando said Elephant Reach will be promoting agro, spiritual and eco tourism in a dynamic manner in the face of increasing demand from local and foreign travellers for these areas. "It is sad to note that the world has identified Sri Lanka a low budget destination.

"This is a very damaging for the future of the tourism industry," he said.

"There are ample opportunities to promote spiritual tourism in Sri Lanka with tourists' keenness and inquisitiveness for Buddhist philosophy. In addition, we find it difficult to promote and expand the tourism industry in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country due to lack of transport facilities and it is the duty of responsible authorities to look at the civil aviation sector seriously to promote the tourism industry," Fernando said.

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Jetwing Goes Public with Five New Hotels in Yala, Dambulla, Trinco, Jaffna and Colombo

13th February 2011, www.sundaytimes.lk

The Jetwing Group has plans to go public with the five new hotels it’s putting up this year.

“Hotels in Yala, Dambulla, and Uppuveli in Trincomalee and Jaffna, and a Colombo unit are on the cards for Jetwing this year and we plan to go public after we complete a private placement for them,” Hiran Cooray, Chairman Jetwing Hotels Ltd told the Business Times.

He said that all these hotels together will cost Rs. 4.5 to Rs. 5 billion, adding that the company has not yet finalized the modalities of listing publicly, but is discussing it. “We may list all the hotels together or do it individually,” he said.

Mr. Cooray said that while Yala and Dambulla properties are being handled by the group alone, the hotels in Jaffna, Trincomalee and at Ward Place Colombo (which will be a business hotel) will be handled with partners.

He said Jetwing has upgraded all of its hotels except for St. Andrews in Nuwara Eliya, which they’ll be doing this year. He said the company has taken a ‘firm’ decision not go to the Maldives as they feel the market there is saturated.

Mr. Cooray said that the hotel they were planning in India didn’t get the Indian authorities’ approval and this project is now at a standstill. About two years ago, Jetwing signed a management contract with Kerala Balers (Pvt) Ltd, a coir exporting company to manage a hotel in Kerala.

However, Mr. Cooray noted that Jetwing is quite strong internationally. “We have a hotel in Vietnam and we are managing one in Luang Prabang in Laos,” he said adding that Jetwing will focus on expansions within the island, while also looking out for international projects.

“The new hotels will complete the entire circuit around the country,” he said adding that Jetwing is open to explore other areas related to tourism.

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Two More zones Open at Yala National Park, the Second Largest in Sri Lanka

03rd January 2011, www.island.lk, By Ifham Nizam

The Ministry of Agrarian Services and Wildlife had taken steps to open two more zones at the Ruhuna (Yala National Park) this month to give a further boost to tourism.

Minister S. M. Chandrasena told The Island that the Zone 2 and 3 would be opened this month.

He said a strategy would be worked out to prevent disasters resulting from man-elephant encounters. "I see this conflict as one between farmers and elephants. Elephants suffer due to their habitat loss while farmers lose economically owing to damage caused by wild elephants."

In Yala, the Minister said, only the Zone 1 located 300 km south of Colombo, had been opened for the public in the past due to terrorist threats that prevailed at that time.

But, the entire park was now open to visitors, he said.

Yala, situated in the southeast region of the country in the Southern Province and Uva Province, is the second largest national park in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's Aitken Spence to Invest $78mn on Hotels

12th July 2010, www.dailymirror.lk

Sri Lanka's Aitken Spence group is planning to put 78 million US dollars in to the leisure sector after a war ended in Sri Lanka with new hotels in the south western coast being started first, an official said.

"We envisage a post-war investment around 9.0 billion rupees (78 million US dollars) given the opportunities that we have," Aitken Spence director Gehan Perera told a forum organized by Acuity, an investment bank.

A 30-year war which had hamstrung tourism ended in May 2009, and arrivals are up over 40 percent this year. Aiken Spence owns or operates 27 hotels with 2,020 rooms in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Oman.

The firm will refurbish and expand a 94-room hotel in Kalutara, formerly known as Golden Sun which it only managed at first but has since taken full control after a Singapore based shareholder sold out.

A hotel in Beruwala is being done up and will be relaunched as Heritance Mahagedera in early 2011 positioned as a 64-room specialized Ayurveda (a traditional South Asian healthcare system) resort.

Its premium hotels, branded Heritance, includes a 5-star resort next to a lake in Kandalama in central Sri Lanka, a former tea factory in the central hills and a beach resort in Ahungalle in the south western coast.

Perera said a 10 acre land next to Heritance Ahungalle was slated for development. Earlier reports have said the group was planning a venture there with the Six Senses leisure group.

"We have another seven acres next to Heritance Mahagedera in Beruwala. This is also under discussion," Perera said.

"In Nilaweli (in north eastern Sri Lanka) we have a little over 100 acres. It is also on the drawing board. We are looking at a fairly integrated development there."

Perera said the group was looking at Yala in the deep south of the country, where a popular national park is located and was also scouting for more opportunities in the north. In addition to Nilaweli it was also looking at more projects in eastern Sri Lanka.

The government recently gave land to developers in Pasikuda and another tourism zone in Kuchchaveli has also been opened.

Sri Lanka on Google Maps - Areas of Development Activities, Cultural, Religious and Leisure

Adamas Peak : Religious/Cultural

Anuradhapura : Religious/Cultural/Leisure

Arugam Bay : Leisure (Surfing)

Batticaloa : Investment/Leisure (Beach)

Colombo : Investment / Commerce

Galle : Cultural/Leisure (Beach)

Hambantota Magampura Port (Harbour) : Investment












Hikkaduwa : Leisure (Beach)

Jaffna : Religious/Cultural/Investment/Leisure

Kalpitiya : Investment/Leisure (Sea)














Kandy : Religious/Cultural/Leisure/Investment

Kataragama : Religious/Leisure

Kumana - Yala East National Park : Leisure (Wildlife)

Maankulam : Investment

Mannar : Investment/Leisure

Mattala (New Airport) : Investment

Negombo : Leisure (Beach)

Nilaveli : Leisure (Beach)












Norochcholai : Investment/Energy

Nuwara Eliya : Leisure

Pasikuda and kalkuda : Investment/Leisure (Beach)

Polonnaruwa : Religious/Cultural/Leisure

Pulmoddai : Investment

Sigiriya : Cultural/Leisure










Sinharaja Forest Reserve : Nature

Trincomalee : Investment/Leisure (Beach)

Wilpattu National Park : Leisure (Wildlife)

Yala National Park : Leisure (Wildlife)

See Also:
• Sri Lanka Links
• Map of Sri Lanka

UK Boosts Sri Lanka's Popularity with 16.9% Arrivals Increase, End Of Country's Conflict Aids Tourism

07th October, 2009, www.eturbonews.com, By eTN Staff Writer

The Indian Ocean island welcomed the highest number of British tourists in 2009 during the month of August, representing an increase of more than 1,000 visitors over August last year. Sri Lanka recorded a 16.9 percent increase in UK arrivals and a 32 percent increase in arrivals for the month across all destinations.

According to the Sri Lanka Tourist Promotion Bureau, forward bookings indicate a strong finish to the year helped by the end of the conflict in the country and the subsequent relaxation of the FCO advice, which has opened up additional major tourist attractions such as Yala National Park, Trincomalee, and Arugam Bay.

Sanjika Perera, UK director of tourism commented: "We are delighted that people have chosen to visit over the last few months, showing the renewed confidence in Sri Lanka as a safe and value for money destination.

"We have worked on a persistent promotional campaign in conjunction with the hotel industry back home and with our airline and tour operator partners in the UK, and the results have been very positive. To have improved visitor figures during the recession shows that the British public are aware of the diversity that Sri Lanka offers and keen to experience an Indian Ocean break, at an attractive price."

Image via lankajournal.com