BY BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI  ASSOCIATED  PRESS Courtesy The Modesto Bee COLOMBO, SRI LANKA Arrival of tourists to Sri Lanka has rapidly declined in June, dealing a severe blow to the Indian Ocean island nation’s lucrative tourism industry in the aftermath of the Easter bombings that killed more than 250 people, the state-run tourism agency said Wednesday. […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, June 20 (Daily Express): The Sri Lankan tourism industry is on the hard road to recovery from the devastation caused by two very violent episodes in April and May and the political crisis which these triggered. The April 21 multiple suicide blasts, allegedly carried out by local affiliates of the Islamic State […]

Courtesy Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-tourism/rooms-50-off-and-ads-in-russia-sri-lanka-woos-tourists-after-attacks-idUSKCN1TB0KZ COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s battered tourism industry is trying to woo visitors back to beaches deserted after deadly Easter bombings, slashing hotel rates and pushing promotions in key markets like Russia. Tourism, which accounts for 5% of Sri Lanka’s gross domestic product, tanked after Islamist bombers on April 21 attacked luxury […]

ABTA The Foreign Office has changed its advice for Sri Lanka and no longer advises against all but essential travel to the country. It is currently low season for Sri Lanka, meaning very few people will have had holidays booked for this time. Travel providers will now review the advice and make decisions as to when they […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals in May fell 70 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 37,000 in the aftermath of Easter Sunday attacks, with the largest decline in arrivals recording from China. We have been talking about hotels going empty and westerners not visiting Sri Lanka. However, with safety being restored, we see numbers […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, May 30 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka targets at least 2.5 million tourists this year after several countries eased their travel advisories which were issued after deadly terror attacks killed over 250 people on the island last month, a minister said. Sri Lanka’s Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs John […]

By Meera Srinivasan/The Hindu Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, May 28: Sri Lanka, Japan and India on Tuesday signed an agreement to jointly develop the East Container Terminal at the Colombo Port. The signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) is significant, given that India and Sri Lanka were negotiating a potential partnership on the project, although […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said that the number of monthly inbound flights at the Bandaranaike International Airport has been reduced by 300.   Making a statement in parliament, he said artistes including film directors who had made movies for Vesak and those who were planning to put up pandals and other decorations […]

Tim Johnson Courtesy Daily Beast In one moment everything changed on this island nation that until a couple of weeks ago enjoyed unprecedented peace and surging prosperity. Having landed a few minutes earlier here at Colombo’s international airport, our jam-packed flight from the Maldives is disembarking its crammed cabin, passengers marching down the arrival ramp […]

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Courtesy fox business In this Friday, May 10, 2019, photo, the 17th century built Dutch fort, which was a popular tourist site, stands empty in Galle, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was the Lonely Planet guide’s top travel destination for 2019, but since the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and luxury hotels, foreign tourists […]

Courtesy  Financial Tribune Iran traded 256,551 tons of non-oil commodities worth $141 million with Sri Lanka in the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2019) to register a 53.58% growth in tonnage and 8.22% decline in value compared with the year before, latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show. Iran’s […]

Courtesy Lloyd’s List Intelligence RO-RO TRANSHIPMENT OPERATIONS AT THE PORT. IN 2018, HIPG DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF RO-RO VESSELS HANDLED DURING THE PREVIOUS YEAR HIP is the latest addition to Sri Lanka’s network of harbours, currently being developed in different parts of the island. The expansion is an initiative of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), to […]

RANMINI GUNASEKARA Courtesy Ceylon Today The immediate implementation of the ‘Least Cost Long Term Solar Power Generation Plan’ will save a total of Rs 266 billion for the Sri Lankan economy, the Secretary of the Solar Industries Association (SIA), Lakmal Fernando claimed today (18). He said this at a SIA Press conference held in Colombo. […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, April 17 (newsin.asia) — Several Sri Lankan Airlines flights arriving at Sri Lanka’s Bandaranaike International Airport on Wednesday, were diverted to a southern airport due to adverse weather, local media reports said.Some of the flights included UL 315, which was arriving from Malaysia, UL 365 arriving from Jakarta and UL 303 arriving […]

By Ifham Nizam Courtesy The Island The government would go ahead with the proposed plan 2019 to establish 2700 MW of fossil fuel fired power stations by year 2020, a senior ministry official said. Ministry Secretary Dr. Suren Batagoda said that there would be 300 MW new LNG Combined cycle at Kerawalapitya by WindForce Consortium, […]

USA TODAY Sri Lanka aims to boost its tourism efforts by giving away free visas to travelers from more than 30 countries.  The small island nation off southern India will offer the promotion starting May 1 to travelers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia […]

By: PTI |Courtesy Financial Express Riyadh and Kathmandu are two upcoming international destinations for the airline. SpiceJet will launch direct flights from Mumbai to seven international destinations, including Colombo, Jeddah, Dhaka, Riyadh and Hong Kong. Direct flights would also be operated from Mumbai to Bangkok and Kathmandu. The no-frills airline would start the services from the end of […]

Courtesy latestbuzztoday.com Scientific studies show that sleep is one of the most crucial parts of living a happy and stress-free life, but many adults are still sleeping with inferior pillows. If you find yourself feeling tired or discouraged throughout the day even after a long sleep the night before, it’s probably due to you unknowingly […]

Panos Mourdoukoutas Courtesy forbes.com In dealing with China, Malaysia has dared to do something Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the Philippines didn’t: bring Beijing back to the negotiating table to cut the cost of the investment projects assigned to Chinese contractors. This week, China agreed to cut the cost of East Coast Rail Link project by […]

Courtesy Machinery Market. Rolls-Royce Power Systems (www.rrpowersystems.com) and Chinese company Dongfang Electric International Corporation have reached agreement on the supply of four MTU 12V 4000 R41 rail engines to be installed in ‘railcars’ made by CRRC (based in China and the world’s largest train manufacturer), and operated by Sri Lanka Railways.  This is the fourth […]

Courtesy Air Transport World New SriLankan Airlines CEO Vipula Gunatilleka is hoping to reach breakeven within three years by renegotiating aircraft leases, substituting the airline’s Airbus A350 order for A330-900neos, growing the network, and reopening destinations. Former TAAG Angola Airlines and SriLankan Airlines CFO Gunatilleka rejoined the Sri Lanka flag carrier in summer 2018 and became […]

RANMINI GUNASEKARA Courtesy Ceylon Today The continuous power cuts carried out by the Ceylon Electricity Board has adversely affected exports and potential Foreign Direct Investments, claimed Executive Committee Member of the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce, Dr. Krishanth Wisenthige today (10). He was speaking at a ‘Professionals for a Better Future (Viyathmaga)’ press conference […]

Courtesy Business Today The project was financed by the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) and the contract was awarded to the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation The Sri Lankan government on Monday inaugurated its fastest railway line, which has been built with the assistance of the Chinese government. Sri Lanka finished […]

Courtesy Renewables Now April 10 (Renewables Now) – The governments of Sri Lanka and Canada have signed a cooperation agreement for the construction of a 100-MW floating solar park in Sri Lanka’s Maduru Oya Reservoir. The pact between Sir Lanka’s Ministry of Power and Energy and Business Development and the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), a federal […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Power Cuts to the extent of 2 to 3 hours has been the order of the day and the news is just out that we are about to buy 500MW of Power from three Multinationals Agrico, V Power included, our estimated excess requirements for the next 5 years.. What is also important […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, April 9: The Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT) in which the China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited is a partner, has reported handling 2.65 million teus for the 12 months ending 31st December 2018, recording a 13 percent increase in its annual throughput and contributing 38 percent of the Port of Colombo’s […]

By Ananda Wickramasinghe View(s): In 2017, over 5000 young pregnant cows (heifers) imported from Australia and New Zealand, were sold to some farmers. They were assured that a cow would yield 20 litres/day. Within a few months, the farmers’ expectations started to shatter when the cows failed to produce the promised milk yields. Currently, farmers […]

Courtesy  travelmole.com Sri Lanka is to offer free visas on arrival to tourists from the UK and 30 other countries from next month. The country’s tourist office is hoping to build on a good performance for March, when visitor numbers increased by 5%. The free visa period will operate for six months from May 1. […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, April 8 (newsin.asia) – Over 240,000 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka in March, growing 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year, statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority showed here Monday.India, United Kingdom, China, Germany and France were Sri Lanka’s top five international touristgenerating markets in the month of March […]

By Dr. Janaka Ratnasiri Courtesy The Island In response to the writer’s previous articles on the present power crisis published in the Island of March 28th and April 05th, he has received from an investor some new information which would shed light on the real party behind the present power crisis. This investor claims that […]