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Greetings from
sunny Sri Lanka; from the land of many treasures,
a land like no other:
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Come the 19th
of May; the full moon day of the month, Sri Lanka will light up to
commemorate the largest Buddhist celebration in the world –
Vesak. The celebrations commemorate the Birth, Enlightenment, and Parinirvana
of the Buddha.
Sri Lanka
Tourism’s celebrations this year is a collaborative effort
with the Bentota Hoteliers Association and will feature a series of
events under project ' Vesak Celebrations 08', on May 19th
and 20th in Bentota and the adjacent village of
Beruwela. These two coastal villages in the South West of Sri
Lanka are renowned the world over for stretches of beautiful beach and
this May, it will, also be remembered for the ingenuity and creative
talent of its villagers. From an innate culture of hospitable warmth,
they will turn in to proud artistes of natural talent, as the events
unfold at the UDA grounds in Bentota and Beruwela.
The whole island will be
bathed in light, as nature’s light – the full
moon’s splendor combines with man made creative
illuminations. An over 2500 year old culture of spirituality and
creativity will once again revive the memory of the Buddha in the
hearts and minds of all during this time of the year.
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The great Hindu
festival of “Maha Kumbabishekam” was
held last week at the Kotahena Sivan temple with the participation of
74 Hindu priests representing temples all over the island and 10
invitee priests from south India.
This festival
held at least once in ten years is undertaken with great devotion to
invoke the blessings of Hindu Gods to bring peace and prosperity to the
country and its people. Large numbers of devotees gathered at the
temple premises to pay obeisance to the deities.
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At the recently
concluded Arab Travel Mart held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Sri
Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau joined SriLankan Holidays in promoting
destination Sri Lanka as a family destination with special incentives
for children.
“We are
pleased to announce this family-friendly package for the summer season
to encourage more Middle East visitors to our destination,”
announced Faizer Mustapha, Deputy Minister of Tourism, who was to lead
the delegation from Sri Lanka to the ATM last week. He went on to say
“This family-oriented promotion will be the norm throughout
the summer.”
SriLankan
Holidays’ General Manager, Amith Sumanapala said,
“We have tied up with three trade partners namely,
Connaissance De Ceylan, Jetwing Travels and Walkers Tours to give
holidaymakers a world of memories on the island holiday.” The
summer promotion is valid from June 1st 2008 to August 31st 2008. For
more details visit www.srilanka.travel
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Sri Lanka Calling
extends a warm welcome to Rotary International President Wilfred J
Wilkinson and Mrs Joan Wilkinson as they make their first visit to our
beautiful country.
Wilkinson who
leads an over 1.2 million strong; world’s largest, not for
profit, service organization, is also a strong advocate for world peace
through of Rotary’s humanitarian and educational efforts. On
this visit to Sri Lanka Mr and Mrs Wilkinson will honour the largest
project done by a single Rotary District in the history of Rotary
– building of 25 schools for the tsunami affected children at
a cost of approximately USD 12 million; encompassing every tsunami
devastated area of Sri Lanka.
http://www.rotary-srilanka.org/index.php?doc=27
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Emirates
Holidays, the largest outbound tour operator in the United Arab
Emirates, launched their Brochure 2008 at the Crowne Plaza,
Dubai Festival City in Dubai early last week.
Sri Lanka Calling
congratulate the team at George Steuarts International for winning the
“Most Supportive Agent’s Award” at this
prestigious event and wish them continuing success on their work in
promoting destination Sri Lanka.
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The entrance to the Lingguang temple at the
Badachu Cultural Park in Beijing drew thousands of intrigued Chinese
nationals to its precincts, by the huge replica of ‘Yapahuwa’
which was a striking piece of art that
adorned the venue.
Sri Lanka’s offer of national heritage,
sites of archaeological value, ancient civilizations and other natural
attractions were new to many visitors who indicated a keenness to visit
Sri Lanka.
Tea and handicrafts were
other attractions that drew crowds to the Sri Lanka Pavilion and many
young persons were seen in eager discussions with the travel agencies
present at the fair, for bookings to travel to Sri Lanka in the coming
months.
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Sri Lanka’s world renowned Ayurvedha
treatment methods for a healthier lifestyle will be further showcased
to the world through making the facility more widely available to
visiting tourists.
At a joint brainstorming session and workshop
conducted by the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine and the Ministry of
Tourism the avenues for giving further opportunities for practitioners
of Ayurvedha to offer their services in a more streamlined manner to
tourists was discussed.
This already high demand
form of treatment, known for its qualities of being healthier, more
holistic and with greater curative properties, is a very popular mode
of treatment and Sri Lanka has both the product and the service
resources to serve a wider market. This joint initiative between the
Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine is expected
provide an enhanced service to tourists travelling to Sri Lanka for
treatment.
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Ornella Denef and friend Nathalie were visiting
Sri Lanka in April this year and were guests at the Mahaweli Reach
Hotel in Kandy.
We at Sri Lanka Calling were delighted to receive
Ornella’s email from France and the beautiful picture. This
is some of what she said in her mail “I came back to France
Sunday and I have got so many good memories of Sri Lanka that it is not
the last time we go there I think.. I really enjoy Sri
Lanka’s life and
relationships……… and to wear the sari
was fantastic and there is no day since our return that we do not think
of Sri Lanka.”
Thank you Ornella!
We look forward to seeing you and friends back again in Sri Lanka soon
to enjoy another wonderful holiday.
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Please
note that a major web upgrading initiative of Sri Lanka Tourism is also
underway. We call on all tourism industry stakeholders to keep sending
us snippets of news so we could include them in the weekly newsletters,
we will bring to you on an improved format.
Sri Lanka Tourism wishes to thank all stakeholders for their wonderful
support and assistance and wishes to invite them to get involved with
'Sri Lanka calling'. Please send your articles to
stories@srilanka.travel
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