A group of 80 travel agents, representing Thomas Cook, REWE Touristik, Berge & Meer and Sun Trips were in Sri Lanka from 8th to 14th June on a familiarization tour of the popular tourist sites of Sri Lanka.

For a couple of them it was a place they had visited before, which they found “ as charming as ever, nothing has changed” for many it was a first hand experience of the “small island big trip” they were selling at their counters back home. The agents were chosen based on their past performance in generating tourists to Sri Lanka.

On the final leg of the tour, after experiencing first hand the destination and its offer, on 13th June the group attended a workshop, where their experiences were consolidated with the knowledge of the products and services on offer. While everyone listened in earnest to the speakers what caught the attention was Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman’s statement “In a 25 year conflict not a single tourist targeted in an attack.”

A first timer to Sri Lanka Christina Geiger of ‘Reis Aus Reiseladen’ found the trip “A beautiful experience. Seven days is too short. I will come again for the full experience.”

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‘Middle East, MICE and Events’ the publication for meetings, incentive travel, conferences, exhibitions and events in the Middle East, in its 17th issue carries a story on Sri Lanka titled ‘ Middle Eastern promise’ -  a detailed feature on Sri Lanka’s many attractions as a MICE destination.  

Sri Lanka’s offer as a MICE destination of choice was introduced to the Middle East market at the ‘Arabian Travel Market’ last April. Featured within a month in the most prestigious publication for MICE’s in the Gulf region, the Sri Lankan offer will now be on the front burners and explored. For details visit www.memicee.com

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Sri Lankan Dilantha Malagamuwa, reigning champion of the Malaysian Super car series with his breathtaking wins, will join cricketing super heroes Arjuna Ranatunaga and Aravinda de Silva in promoting destination Sri Lanka a land like no other.

Japan based Dilantha races in his super cars, sporting a ‘Visit Sri Lanka’ message, proudly announcing to the world, his commitment to promoting tourism and travelling, to his motherland. On being named a Tourism Ambassador, a delighted Dilantha expressed that, he would continue to promote his country of birth as a destination of choice to travel to, and when on the winner’s podium will always be, proud to be Sri Lankan. Full profile on www.dilantha.com

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Sri Lanka Tourism’s initiatives to keep the destination carbon clean can now be viewed on line on visiting http://www.earthlung.travel

Please log on, view and make a concerted effort to mitigate your own carbon foot print.

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The Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall reverberated to the sound of classical drums; as a captivated audience stood motionless and mesmerized when Channa and his troupe of dancers presented “Thala”.

Having performed in most of the capitals of the world from Beijing to Bonn the Channa Upuli Dance Foundation, took four months off, from performances, to prepare for “Thala” a theatre production in Sri Lanka, after a lapse of nearly five years.

Opening with an item on drums, going on to present a collection of dance items from all the dancing traditions exclusive to Sri Lanka, the main highlight of the evening was the oriental ballet ‘Sigiriya’ bringing to the stage the historical story of King Kasyapa and his kingdom on the rock.

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With the upcoming test series between India and Sri Lanka, tourism is gearing up to showcase destination Sri Lanka and its myriad attractions to urge cricket fans, to follow their heroes, as they tour.

Sri Lankan Airlines joins Sri Lanka Tourism in offering the Indian tourists an “Individual price-based package” which would include air-fares, sight seeing, accommodation and local transportation and cricket match tickets.

India will be playing three Test matches and five ODI’s beginning July 23rd .

“It is heavenly here” said a message from seasoned conservationist and environmentalist, Renton de Alwis, Chairman - Sri Lanka Tourism, writing back to his colleagues in Colombo, from the Knuckles Range; 3500 feet above sea level, where he was with a group of 60 environmentalists, on ‘World Environment Day’ on June 05.

The participants, chosen from non-governmental organizations working at grassroots level in conservation work, attended a workshop and networking session at the ‘Knuckles Range Centre for Conservation’ to consolidate the activities of the various groups in to one cohesive plan and to be proactively engaged in environmental protection and conservation. For details on Knuckles Range visit www.knucklesrange.org  

Tigress Productions one of Britain’s largest and best known specialist producers of wildlife, science and adventure documentary programming, will be in Sri Lanka in July / August. They will be filming, a valued treasure of Sri Lanka; the world renowned tourist attraction ‘The gathering’ of elephants.

This seasonal gathering takes place each year in the north central province of Sri Lanka at Minneriya, in the latter part of July and in to August. With the onset of the dry season, the elephants sometimes numbering as much as 300 or more will move towards the Minneriya Lake in search of water and food. A treat for wildlife enthusiasts, eager to see large herds in the wild, providing a great photo opportunity for the more adventurous.

The delegation on tour in Sri Lanka in last week’s story comprised the President of the UNESCO General Conference HE George Anastassopoulos, Chairman of the Executive Board H.E Olabiyi Bablola Joseph Yai, and Armoogum Parsuramen Secretary to the Executive Board.

The tour was an initiative of the Sri Lanka Tourism office in Paris and was coordinated by the combined efforts of the Sri Lankan Embassy in France, Sri Lankan Airlines and Aitken Spence Travels.

The delegates visited five of the seven World heritage sites of Sigiriya, Pollonaruwa, Dambulla and Kandy in the UNESCO designated cultural triangle, and the Dutch Fort in Galle. In Dambulla, the delegates were guests of the Kandalama Hotel and in Kandy they stayed at the Mahaweli Reach and in Colombo at the Mt Lavinia Hotel.