Tourist attractions in the East

Trincomalee district

The Nilaveli beach, the Pigeon Island and Somawathi National Parks, Hot Wells in Kanniya, Thiriyai Velgam Vihara, Thirukoneswaram, Fort Fredrick and Ales Gardens

Batticaloa district

Kallady beach, Pasikuda and Kalkuda, the Batticaloa lagoon, the Dutch Fort area and Lady Manning Drive

Ampara district

Arugambay beach, the Pottuvil lagoon, Panama dunes, crocodile point, Sastravela lagoon, the Lahugala and Kumana National parks, Bovattegala and Kudimbigala and Magulmahavihara.

East ready for tourist influx

by Lalin Fernandopulle

Thirukoneswaram Kovil

The foundation has been laid for tourism development in the East which is now gearing for the influx of tourists to the region, said Project Director, North East Coastal Community Development Project (NECCDEP), S. M. Croos.

He said extensive road development carried out in the East would be an impetus to the growth of tourism in the East coast which has some of the most attractive beaches, sand dunes, lagoons and nature reserves in the world.

“While many of the bridges in the East have been reconstructed work on a few are nearing completion.

The three decade war destroyed many of the bridges and brought road transportation to a complete halt”, Croos said.

Strategic plan

The Strategic Tourism Development Plan for the Eastern province is a project of the NECCDEP funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Sathurukondan Wetlands

The objective of the plan is to promote responsible tourism while improving the livelihood and recreational opportunities for the people in the East.

“Hotels that could accommodate a large number of visitors should to be built to cater to the influx of tourists to the East.

The guesthouses and ‘home stays’ should be converted in to large resorts and boutique hotels”, Croos said.

“People in the East are relieved and live a happy life. Lifting of travel restrictions have made transportation easy and normal activities to resume”, he said.

Immediate Past President, Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, Srilal Miththapala said the East coast has immense potential for tourism in Sri Lanka but there has to be more hotels and resorts to cater to the influx of visitors.

The development of the Kanniya hot wells, beautification of Batticaloa and the Kallady beach, improving beach access roads and handicraft training for women in Arugambay, a visitor centre in Pottuvil and hotel staff training are some of the proposals of the NECCDEP tourism development plan for the East.

Beautification

The Kallady beach beautification program includes parking space, development of access roads, a children’s park, cabanas, seating arrangements and tree planting.

Kanniya Hot Wells

Pottuvil Lagoon

The Batticaloa beautification program includes developing roads, bridges and protecting nature reserves.

Batticaloa is the second largest city in the Eastern province with a population of around 90,000 people.

The district is made up of Tamils 91.8 percent, Muslims 5.15 percent, Burghers 2.8 percent Sinhalese 0.25 percent.The sandy beaches of Pasikuda and Arugambay popular for wind surfing, whale watching and scuba diving, the Kumana and Lahugala national parks and the cultural and religious sites make the East a unique destination for tourists who love to revel in eco-tourism.

Tourism has been recognised as a major contributor to the economy and it is expected to be the number one foreign exchange earner to the country.

Tourist arrivals recorded a 48 percent growth during the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2009.

A campaign has been launched to lure visitors from non traditional markets.

Hotels are being refurbished and more rooms are being built to meet the 2.5 million tourist arrival target by 2016.

Kumbuk River among world's top 20 unusual hotels

Sri Lanka's Kumbuk River lines up alongside Dubai's landmark Burj al Arab and the Galactic, the first-ever hotel in space, in a list of the world's top 20 most unusual hotels, announced by an international portal dedicated to the unusual and the audacious.

Nestled on the banks of a lively river on the edge of Yala, Kumbuk River, a 16-acre eco-resort in Buttala, is Sri Lanka's highest-awarded tourism brand and continues to be in the eyes of the world media. Made famous by a 40 foot-tall, two-storey eco-villa in the shape of an elephant, Kumbuk River has won a Travel Oscar as the world's leading eco-lodge at the coveted World Travel Awards.

Kumbuk River Eco Extraordinare

It has also been picked by Times-Online as one of the world's best green places and been included by Rough Guides in a special book titled "Clean Breaks: 500 new ways to see the world." This spectacular and exclusive up-market eco-lodge also includes two other chalets in its sprawling location.

In its latest exploit on the world stage, Kumbuk River (www.kumbukriver.com) joins 19 other amazing hotels ranging from the world's most costliest and dazzling to the most audacious small wonders. The majority in the hot list is from Europe and USA while only Sri Lanka and Japan figure from the Asian continent with Japan's famous high-tech 'Capsule' hotel taking the honours for Asia along with Kumbuk River.

For many people a hotel is only a place for having a sleep.

These are the top 20 most unusual hotels in the world that will give you a most entertaining destination for your next great vacation, say the website's authors in presenting their choice of the world's craziest and the most unusual hotels.

The most breathtaking among the pick may be The Galactic scheduled to open in 2012. The well-heeled guests arriving at the space hotel will be charged $4.4 million for a three-night stay at the first hotel in space - eight-week training course on a tropical island included.

Also in the list is Mardan Palace Hotel in Turkey. What makes it 'crazy'? Its sheer cost: it is billed as Europe's most expensive hotel.

It cost roughly $1.4 billion to build, and Mariah Carey, Sharon Stone, Richard Gere and Paris Hilton all attended its opening, according to Luxury Travel Advisor.

A stay at this hotel on the Turkish Riviera could run you up to $18,000 per night.

At the Mardan Palace Hotel, "it takes half an hour to cross the pool (by gondola, naturally), the spa has a room full of real snow, and the bathrooms have gold-plated mirrors on the floor".

Kumbuk River first opened as a US$500-per-night exclusive eco-hideout but offers special packages to locals starting at Rs. 3,500.

This extraordinary eco-resort put Sri Lanka on the global map of tourism even before the war ended, making the government to hail it as a true Sri Lankan wonder.

Kumbuk River is a CSR initiative by The 7th Frontier , an integrated communications solutions provider and brand strategy specialist, headed by young visionary Dinesh Watawana, a former international correspondent and a military analyst.

uly 19, 2010, 7:03 pm 

"Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning," contemporary American author Diane Ackerman could have not been more apt. Identifying the need for children in the areas surrounding their hotel to have an inspiring area to play, learn and grow, Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo undertook to restore the Children’s park in Slave Island. Volunteers from every department of the Hotel’s operation got down and got their hands dirty, mowing grass, clearing drains, sandpapering and painting. The highlight of the park was a life-sized elephant that was revived from its tired state, much to the children’s delight!

The safety standards of the hotel were extended to this Slave Island playground for a day. Improvements made to the park were more than cosmetic, with swings and see-saws being repaired by the engineering crew with the assistance of the rest of the team. After a detailed inspection of the park by the Colombo Municipal Council, the General Manager of Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, Neroy Marso and his team, were applauded for the noble gesture and work carried out by them.

The Hotel firmly believes that charity should begin close to home. Following this principle, this is just one of a series of investments the hotel has made in the local community. Besides other routine maintenance work carried out by the Hotel, previous initiatives included fitting a fully equipped computer room in one local school, providing sewing machines to another and books to the library of yet another. The associates of the Hotel find the experience tremendously rewarding and maintain close contact with the beneficiaries even after their assignments come to an end.

Strong rupee weakens hearts

The Central Bank has applied the breaks to a further appreciation of the rupee against the dollar but dealers are concerned the currency is under pressure to appreciate in the medium term, which could make life difficult for exporters.

Dealers said the rupee was under pressure to appreciate further last morning with exporters converting their dollar holdings.

The dollar traded at Rs. 112.74/78 during the day after opening the day’s trading at Rs. 112.77/79, dealers said.

"Some exporters were converting their dollars and this created some pressure for the rupee to strengthen further against the dollar, which would have happened if not for intervention by state-owned banks," a dealer told The Island Financial Review.

Last week, the rupee reached its strongest position against the dollar in a year. "The week began with the dollar trading at 113.05 but it fell against the rupee, trading at Rs. 112.75/84, the strongest since the war ended. State-owned banks intervened to prevent a further appreciation of around 30 cents," a dealer said.

State-owned banks intervene in the market to carry out the policy objectives of not preventing the rupee from gaining too much against the greenback.

"If the rupee appreciates too fast exporters would suffer because their real incomes would fall. And given the production costs in the country our export sector could be severely undermined by a strong rupee," another dealer said.

"Most of our competitors in the region are depreciating their currencies and this makes it difficult for exports to maintain their competitiveness. Moving forward, we are concerned about the appreciation of the rupee and the impact it would have on export sector," another dealer said.

Dealers said the Central Bank was attempting to maintain a stable exchange rate, but an increase in foreign inflows would make its task difficult.

"What we are seeing right now is foreign investments into government securities and the stock exchange. We are seeing very little in terms of long term foreign direct investments at the moment, but once they pick up, and remittances and export earnings improve, the rupee would be under real pressure to appreciate," a dealer said.

The plus side of a stronger rupee is that it would be less expensive for the government to finance its servicing of foreign borrowings. Also, imports would be cheaper, which means inflation would not be under pressure from rising import bills.

"The rupee is not appreciating, or under pressure to do so, because our productivity as a nation is improving. The rupee is appreciating, for the most part, because of short term foreign investments that can easily be taken out. This should be a matter of concern," a dealer said.

An economist argued that the rupee was allowed to appreciate at the expense of the export sector so that the government could pay its debts. "This makes sense, but for how long can this continue. We should remember that the export sector is necessary if the country is to increase its wealth," an economist said.

However, officials argue the rupee’s strength was determined by the market. "We are intervening to prevent the rupee from appreciating further as this would hurt exporters," an official said.

Sri Lanka’s trade deficit expanded by 122.2 percent during the first four months of this year with imports picking up faster than growth in export earnings, with apparels declining 11.6 percent, latest data from the Central Bank showed.

Export earning grew 10.7 percent to US$ 2,307 million for the period from January to April 2010 but the largest export earner, apparels, saw a 11.6 percent drop in earnings to US$ 930.7 million from US$ 1,053.2 million last year.

Import expenditure grew much faster at 42.9 percent during this period to US$ 4, 191.9 million from US$ 2,933.1 a year ago. The petroleum bill grew by 112.9 percent to US$ 1,034.7 million from only US$ 434.7 million last year.

The trade deficit grew by 122.2 percent to US$ 1,884.9 million from US$ 848.1 million.

Worker remittances, which grew 14.5 percent to US$ 1,198.8 million from US$ 1,046.9 million last year, was not enough to cover the trade deficit as it did for most of 2009.

Exporters were disappointed the mini-budget for 2010 failed to provide any relief to their struggling businesses, but several top officials said the budget gave an indication as to what the government planned to do.

Ministry of Finance and Planning Director General for Fiscal Policy S. R. Attygalle, told a post- budget seminar at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce that imported raw materials would be given tax concessions while imported goods that can be produced locally would be heavily taxed.

Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundera said the government was planning to discourage exports in their primary forms. He said creating value added exports was the only way for Sri Lanka to establish 10 industries earning more than US$ 1 billion a year.

Hotels ready for winter season Industry targeting 600,000 tourists this year:

Hoteliers expect tremendous growth in tourist arrivals during this winter season. They expect high earnings for this season. Speaking to the Daily News Business Colombo City Hotelier’s Association (CCHA) Vice President Amal Goonetilleke said the tourism industry has shown a 50 percent growth and is one of the fastest growing industries in the country.

Sri Lanka’s game parks popular among visitors. ANCL file photo

“Sri Lanka could expect that the winter season will be rewarding,” she said.

The European market is selling the winter bookings in August, but with the present trend in the bookings there will be a tremendous improvement comparatively to last year, she said.

As the business is picking up hoteliers are also upgrading their products and services to compete with the other countries. The initiative taken by the Government by introducing a minimum room rate for the hoteliers impacted positively. Earlier the rates were around US$ 40 to 50 including taxes.

At present the average room rates in five star hotel is around US$ 85 and by January next year it will be increased to over US$ 100. This will provide a better chance for the hotel industry to compete with the other countries in the region.

The tourism industry is performing extremely lucrative. The number of tourist arrivals during the first six months recorded 278,652 which is an increase of 48.4 percent compared to the same period last year, Tourism Development Authority (TDA) Director General S. Kalaiselvam told the Daily News Business.

He said during the month of June there was an increase of 47.9 percent tourist arrivals compared to 30 percent in the corresponding period last year. The increased tourist arrivals were mainly from India and the United Kingdom.

“We are targeting 600,000 visitors this year and are confident that the industry will achieve the target without difficulty.

“Already there are many inquiries for the winter season and this indicates that the tourism industry is poised for a rapid growth in the years to come,” Kalaiselvam said. The hoteliers are confident in re-investing their revenues to refurbish the hotels and upgrade them to cater to the expanded demand.

There will be no rooms added to the hotel industry during this year since planning and construction need at least one and half years.

However, there will be additional rooms by 2012.

Arugambay Travels and Tours opens office

M.A. Phakurdeen - Addalaichenai group corre.

Foreign Affairs Director of Germany Dr. Norbert Schurgers opened the Arugambay Travels and Tours Office presenting a school kit to a child in Arugambay. Pictures by M.A. Phakurdeen

Arugambay Travels MD A.M. Jaufer

Arugambay Travels and Tours opened their office in Arugambay recently. The office hopes to help tourists who visit Arugambay and Ulle to provide them with the first-hand information to spend their holidays in a most useful manner.

The Office housed at Arugambay – Ulle Main Street was office opened by Foreign Affiars Director Germany Dr Norbert Schurgers in association with Dentists without Limits Foundation – a German Nonprofit Organization. Stiffer/ Founder and President Dr. Claus Macher and the Managing Director – Surgeon – Translator Tuul Sodnompil, Nurnberg (Germany) – Sri Lanka Friendship Association Amana Haniffa and the delegates from Germany. Dr. Norbert said that he was happy to open this office which has been a long felt need of the foreigners who had hitherto been deprived of the facility of getting any sort of information to tourism in Arugambay. Tours Ltd. Managing Director A.M. Jaufer said that his intention to open this Office was to help the tourists and guide them in a proper way in order to enjoy the natural beauties of Arugambay, Ulle, Kumana and suburbs which is famous for safe surfing, sun bath and watching birds and animals in Lahugala.

He regretted that hitherto the tourists’ who make frequent visits here had to undergo hardships as they are not given proper guidance. They were also not in a position to stay in the restaurants as they wish and according to their financial stability.

He assured that he would take all possible action to overcome these shortcomings.