Ban reversed; morning safaris permitted into Wilpattu National Park

The decision to ban safaris into Wilpattu National Park on account of the ongoing drought has been reversed by the WildlifeMinister after extensive consultations with the Minister of Tourism and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO). 

SriLankan Airlines achieves success in crackdown on human-trafficking at BIA

Human smuggling, the illegal transfer of people over national boundaries, is a huge problem worldwide. A considerable portion of this illicit traffic takes place through international airports, despite the many stringent measures in place to prevent these activities. 

LOLC group gives Sri Lanka its first Club Med resort

The most luxurious global vacation brand, Club Med, has been gifting its clients the core emotion of happiness during their stay at its 80 exclusive properties around in some of the most beautiful natural settings in the world. 

SLITHM graduates score zero unemployment

The Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) may well be the only seat of higher educational learning in Sri Lanka with two significant milestones in its 50 year existence. 

Aitken Spence Travels named SL’s leading DMC at World Travel Awards

Aitken Spence Travels was named as Sri Lanka’s leading destination management company at the 24th annual World Travel Awards held in the Maldives recently.

Advantis Bunkering receives OHSAS 18001:2007 certification

Advantis Bunkering was recently awarded the International Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series certification or OHSAS 18001:2007 by Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company.

Colombo Dockyard delivers ‘Elutharakai’ passenger ferry to Jaffna

Colombo Dockyard successfully delivered the 40-passenger ferry built for the Jaffna District Secretariat recently at the Colombo Dockyard premises.  

Emirates’ A380 flight to Colombo, an important signal for tourism industry

Emirates’ much-anticipated one-off A380 flight to Colombo on August 14 reflects the airline’s commitment to the destination and its tourism industry and is an opportunity for Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to show the world that it is ‘A380-ready’ for when demand for travel to Sri Lanka necessitates scheduled flights with this iconic twin-deck super-luxury airliner, says Emirates Area Manager Sri Lanka and the Ma

SriLankan achieves superior level of on-time performance in 2017

SriLankan Airlines has recorded a consistently superior on-time performance during the first six months of this year, in comparison with its peers. The latest statistics by the global flight data tracker Flightstats.com ranks Sri Lanka’s national carrier as the fifth most punctual among 40 of the world’s leading airlines.

Singapore Airlines 1Q profit improves on higher revenue

Airwise: Singapore Airlines reported a higher operating profit for its first quarter, as group revenue rose 5.6 percent.Total revenue for the quarter to end June came in at SGD$3.86 billion, from the previous year period’s SGD$3.66 billion. Operating costs rose 3.4 percent to SGD$3.58 billion, resulting in an operating profit of SGD$280.8 million.

Mastercard invites cardholders to explore the world with Emirates

Mastercard announced its partnership with Emirates to offer additional savings on economy and business class tickets. 

How boutique properties can stand out in a crowded market

Sri Lanka is witnessing a surge in tourism that has the potential to make it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The country attracted over two million tourists in 2016, generating revenue of over US$3.5 billion, up by 14 percent from the previous year.

Cinnamon Future of Tourism Summit to explore technology, innovation and authenticity

The Cinnamon Future of Tourism Summit will be held on 26 September as a one-day conference that will deliberate and draw examples from the best practices around the world on the theme ‘Innovation, Technology and Authenticity’. 

Emirates recognised in FTE Airline Passenger Experience Power List 2017

Emirates has been recognised in the Future Travel Experience (FTE) Airline Passenger Experience Power List 2017. 

John Keells Hotels June quarter in red due to resort refurbishments

John Keells Hotels PLC (KHL), the hotel and resort operator of Sri Lanka’s largest business conglomerate John Keells Holdings PLC, posted a Rs.230.94 million net loss for the first quarter of 2018, nose-diving from a Rs.83.93 million net profit year-on-year (YoY) due to refurbishments and reconstruction.

IndiGo appoints Hemas Aviation as General Sales Agent for Sri Lanka

In its endeavour to expand and strengthen its presence in international markets - IndiGo, India’s largest and fastest growing low-cost carrier has today announced the appointment of Hemas Aviation as their General Sales Agent (GSA) in Sri Lanka. 

Hayleys Advantis invests in mega distribution centre

Hayleys Advantis Limited broke ground for a mega distribution centre (DC) in Kotugoda last week, paving the way for the construction of the largest facility of this nature in the country with a foot print in excess of 500,000 sqft. 

Afghan woman flying around world solo now in Sri Lanka

Shaesta Waiz, the youngest woman to complete around the world solo flight landed in Sri Lanka on July 27th.  

IOSL and CIM organize workshop for marketers in shipping and logistics industry

?The ?Institute of Shipping & Logistics  (IOSL)? is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year ?and ?a series of events/workshops ? have been scheduled? to showcase ?this milestone.??

Etihad Airways records US$ 1.87bn net loss in 2016

Etihad Airways announced its 2016 financial results, recording a net loss of US$ 1.87 billion on US$ 8.36 billion in revenues as one-off impairment charges and fuel hedging losses weighed against a solid performance of the core airline.  

Shipping and logistics expert Waidyaratne elected CASA Chief

The Ceylon Association of Shipping Agents (CASA) announced that Ruwan Waidyaratne, Managing Director – Hayleys Advantis Limited, had been unanimously elected as its Chairman for 2017/18 at the Association’s 51stAnnual General Meeting (AGM) held recently.

MV Toledo Triumph makes maiden port call at CICT

Evergreen Line vessel MV (Motor Vessel) Toledo Triumph with the capacity of 14,000 TEUS made it’s maiden call at Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) recently.

Qatar to boost Colombo service to four daily non-stop flights

Qatar Airways has announced it will introduce a fourth daily non-stop service from Doha to Colombo from 1 August 2017. 

WISTA arranged panel discussion on National Maritime Policy and way forward

 Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) - Sri Lanka arranged a panel discussion on “National Maritime Policy and way forward” following their Annual General Meeting held at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on 13 July 2017. The aim of the discussion was to discuss the views of the members to make submission to the Ports and Shipping Ministry in formulation of a Maritime Policy to support the current bus

Shangri-La’s Hambantota Resort and Spa celebrates first year anniversary

Shangri-La’s Hambantota Resort and Spa, celebrated its first year anniversary with the launch of its golf membership earlier this month, and more recently a most memorable cocktail and dinner event held at the Sunset Beach and Artisan Village. 

Etihad Airways increases frequency to Egypt and Nigeria

Etihad Airways is adding year-round flights between its Abu Dhabi hub and both Cairo and Lagos later this year to cater to growing demand to and from the United Arab Emirates.

SriLankan reaches milestone launching latest connection to Coimbatore

SriLankan Airlines reaches an exciting milestone last Sunday as it launched a new four-times-a-week service to Coimbatore. This took SriLankan’s online destination count to 41, the highest ever in Sri Lanka’s aviation history.

Dhanusha Marine opens Rs.300mn boat building factory

The second boat building factory of Dhanusha Marine opened July 7th 2017 in Kalutara.  This is in collaboration with Hyundai En Tech and Hanil Ship Building Company, Korea with a Rs.300 million investment. Managing Director, Dhanusha Marine, G. S. Fernando said, “Our production target under this project is to manufacture around 100 boats in the first year of operation. We will introduce new technology for fishing boat manufacturing and

Romesh David appointed new SAGT CEO

The Board of Directors of South Asia Gateway Terminals, Port of Colombo, at their meeting held on July 20th, has appointed Romesh David as SAGT’s new CEO in succession to Erwin Haaze.

Emirates adds flights to Khartoum increasing connection options for customers

Emirates has announced it will increase the frequency of flights between Dubai and Khartoum from five to seven a week starting August 8th.