Investors from India, Italy and UK have expressed keenness in developing the sparsely inhabited coastal bay village of Kalpitiya and its surrounding islands in to a niche tourist destination. Sri Lanka Tourism envisages that the Kalpitiya bay will be developed on strictly environmentally friendly and ecologically sound guidelines.

The proposed Kalpitiya Integrated Tourism Resort Development Project (KITRDP) under the stewardship of former Ambassador Bernard Goonetilleke, is expected to take off with an investment in the range of Rs. 40 billion. KITRDP involves the development of 4,000 acres in Kalpitiya which also include 14 small islands. The aim of the project is to convert the area in to an up market luxury resort with theme parks, cable cars, golf courses, and around 4,000 luxury villas. Also to include conference facilities and other high end visitor attractions to make these sparsely inhabited islands in to a much sought after stand alone tourist destination.

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'Galle Season 2008' will see a reawakening of the spirit of Galle with an emphasis on tradition. Focus of attention will be the majestic Galle Fort around which the festivities will be held. Built during the rule of the Dutch, the Galle Fort's history and mystery will be showcased among other attractions from 23rd to 29th December.

Undefeated by the Asian Tsunami of 2004 which left much damage in its trail, Galle today has come back with a new sense of revival and continues to pulsate with the old world charm and slow pace it has been known for. It's the place from which one can visit the beach, temples, beautifully renovated old buildings converted in to tourist lodging, or take a trip interior into wild life reserves and rain forests.

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Pursuant to discussions initiated by a former ambassador for Japan in Sri Lanka HE Akio Suda and the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, one of Sri Lanka's most distinguished foreign ministers, the 'Sri Lanka Cultural Heritage Exhibition' is on from 17th September to November 30th, at Japan's most prestigious museum, the Tokyo National Museum.

Former Japanese ambassador Akio Suda is known to have, a deep appreciation of the rich cultural heritage of Sri Lanka. Desiring fellow Japanese to experience the richness of the Sri Lankan heritage, initiated the discussions with the intervention of the then foreign minister, which has come to fruition now. Popular Japanese news paper Yomiuri Shimbun, are the sponsors of the event.

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The Sri Lanka Chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association will join the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau in organizing specialized training of personnel for the Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conferences and Exhibitions sector. The regional hotels associations will also join in as partners from October gearing staff to be equipped as fully fledged professionals of an international standard.

Meet in Sri Lanka: the special campaign targeting the Indian MICE outbound traffic is to be unveiled at the PATA convention in Hyderabad this month. The unique feature in this exercise is the linking up of the advertising to business transactions where the Indian Corporate and Meeting planners could access special packages offered by Sri Lankan MICE operators through www.visitsrilanka.net, the official website of Sri Lanka Convention Bureau.

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A Sri Lankan survivor of the Asian Tsunami, a 22 year old, is making headlines in Britain for his unusual skill in being able to surf on his head.

Dulip Kokuhannadige has delighted crowds on Bournemouth beach, by performing a headstand while riding the waves on his surfboard, a skill he learnt in Sri Lanka. Having gone to the UK on falling in love with a British aid worker and marrying her, Dulip stayed on after the relationship ended, hoping to show his talents at Europe's first artificial surf reef later this year.

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Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) formalized plans to initiate a two and a half year technical cooperation project for the development of Culture - Oriented Tourism in Sigiriya (Project COTS).

The project COTS is initiated by the Government of Japan to extend assistance to several projects in the vicinity of a new museum construction at Sigiriya, includes installation of display equipment in the museum, infrastructure development and human resource development for tourism operations.

The "Project to construct a New Sigiriya museum" is been implemented under the counterpart fund scheme of the Government of Sri Lanka, a scheme which delivers developmental assistance through turning foreign aid into reserves of domestic currency where recipient Governments can use these finances to improve infrastructure facilities. The museum is expected to be opened to the public by mid 2009.

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With the recent upgrade of the travel advisory on Sri Lanka, Belgian Tour Operators have begun extensive marketing campaigns targeting winter travellers.

The up coming winter season is expected to bring in the numbers expected to Sri Lanka. A positive and resilient industry is all geared and ready to delight visitors, with a myriad of offers and is ready to showcase Sri Lanka's tantalizing treasures.

All are eagerly looking forward to the North and East too will be easily accessed and enjoyed by visitors.

Initiated by the Deputy Minster of Tourism, one of the world's largest hotel chains, Jumeirah Group will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hotel School of Colombo to train hotel staff for the international chain. The Hotel group owns and operates world's only seven star hotel Burj Al Arab, and has estimated that they need 60,000 employees in the next five years for their hotels.

The alumni of the Hotel School of Colombo, has enriched its reputation as one of Asia's leading providers of human resources to the hospitality industry. For details visit www.ceylonhotelschool.com

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) held their first Business Leaders Forum aimed at "Inspiring and involving high potential business leaders in ecosystem and biodiversity conservation."

The first in the series of lectures were delivered on September 10th at the Trans Asia Hotel by Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism Renton de Alwis titled "Climate Change and Tourism: Sri Lanka's response". Among the other speakers were Dr. Ranjith Mahindapala, Country Director, IUCN, Dr. Shirani Yasaratne, Regional Director, Business for Nature Project, IUCN and Prema Cooray, CEO / Secretary General of the CCC. The event was attended by key business leaders.