Murali N. Krishnaswamy Courtesy The Hindu Jaffna will be the second destination in Sri Lanka for IndiGo, after Colombo Air links between Chennai and Jaffna, Sri Lanka, were strengthened on Sunday, September 1, with private airline IndiGo beginning a once daily turboprop ATR72 service (6E1177/6E1178). The former Air India subsidiary and current Government of India […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror In an effort to ensure international visitors do not face inconvenience in obtaining the relevant permits to enter Sri Lanka, in the absence of an eVisa platform, arrangements have been made to resume the issuance of tourist and business visas through the Sri Lanka missions overseas.  The tourism industry stakeholders, in […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Aug 3 (AdaDerana) – The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has won the Best International Tourism Board” accolade at the Global Tourism Awards 2024, organized by the Travel World Online (TWO). The Global Tourism Awards 2024 was held on 2nd of August 2024 in New Delhi, India. The Global Tourism Awards serve […]

Courtesy Hiru News Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Lands, Somarathne Vidanapathirana, stated that 1,095,675 tourists have arrived in Sri Lanka as of July 15, 2024. He expressed optimism that the country could surpass its 2018 tourism peak, achieved post-war, if current trends continue. He highlighted the significant setbacks the tourism industry faced due […]

Courtesy The Indian Express The loss of livelihood and future prospects of the complainant’s wife were also taken into account Written by Anushka Khare The Delhi Consumer Commission earlier this month directed travel companies Thomas Cook and Red Apple Travel to pay Rs 1 crore as compensation to Yogesh Saigal for the death of his family members […]

Courtesy Adaderana Qatar Airways will be increasing its Sri Lanka-Doha flights from the current five-daily flights schedule to six-daily flights, starting 10 July 2024. “The increase in flights further demonstrate the award-winning airline’s dedication to providing more choices and better connectivity for all passengers flying to and from Sri Lanka”, a statement added. The additional […]

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM Spokesperson for the United Sri Lanka Association To : Hon Chris Bishop MPMinister of Housing Government of New Zealand.Dear Chris,Thank you for agreeing to advocate to achieve the above objective. The basis for this request is as follows:1. There is an urgent need to improve connectivity between New Zealand & Sri Lanka, […]

Courtesy Adaderana The owner of a street food eatery in Aluthkade, who was arrested for price-gouging a foreign tourist and behaving in a verbally aggressive manner, has been granted bail. When the accused was produced before the court earlier today (17), he was ordered to be released on a cash bail of Rs. 50,000 and […]

By CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA Colombo, April 12 (Daily Mirror) – Tim Tense, a Belgian traveller exploring Sri Lanka, recently shared a troubling encounter from his visit to Kalutara. According to Tim, he fell victim to a scam at a local restaurant, where he was charged an exorbitant Rs. 1,000 for a single Ulundu Vadai and a […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, April 12 – Sri Lanka’s recovery could be stalled by abrupt policy changes after elections later this year even as the economy showed signs of stabilising, the Asian Development Bank warned Friday. The island nation weathered an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022 that forced a foreign debt default as well […]

Courtesy BorneoBulletin COLOMBO (XINHUA) – Sri Lanka recorded its highest monthly income from tourism in four years in January, according to the latest data issued by Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The central bank’s Economic Research Department said in a report released on Friday that in January, the South Asian country earned USD342 million from […]

Courtesy Adaderana February, 20, 2024 Tourism in Sri Lanka is on a high growth trajectory following a boost in Sri Lanka’s potential as a must-visit destination. Visa free travel for tourists from China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan has provided the right nudge for tourists to put Sri Lanka on the top of […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka developing Ramayana Trail to boost tourism from India – Tourism Minister Tourists from India topped the list of countries visiting Sri Lanka in January 2023 and the island nation was positive about surge in religious tourism with consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Sri Lanka was also working on Ramayana trail […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, Jan 18 (Daily Mirror) – The passenger ferry service between India’s Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai in Jaffna will be initiated this week, Controller General of Immigration and Emigration I.S.H.J. Ilukpitiya said. Addressing the media, he said that so far, the initial programmes required to initiate the service have been completed, and […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka has seen more than 200,000 tourist arrivals in the month of December alone, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said in a post on the social media platform X. He noted that this is the highest number of monthly tourist arrivals the country has recorded over the past four years. Figures in the […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka received over 1.4 million tourists by the end of the third week of December, the latest statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) show. The SLTDA weekly report on tourist arrivals released on Saturday shows that 1,404,998 tourists have arrived by Dec. 21, 2023. According to the report, […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka is one of the most preferred and favourite destinations for Russian tourists, said Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Sri Lanka, Levan S. Dzhagaryan. Dzhagaryan indicated an estimated 200,000 Russian tourists are likely to visit Sri Lanka in 2024 and air connectivity too would be further strengthened. […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka is trying to attract Arab visitors by promoting the travels of the famed 14th-century explorer Ibn Battuta, Colombo’s envoy to Riyadh said on Saturday. The famed Moroccan explorer’s ship arrived in the northwestern port of Puttalam from the Maldives in September 1344. At that time, Puttalam was under the rule of […]

Press Statement Sri Lanka High Commission Canberra The High Commission of Sri Lanka in Canberra in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau hosted a vibrant evening reception to a selected number of outbound tour operators in Canberra on 06th December 2023 at the Sri Lanka High Commission premises. The key objective of this event was to […]

Courtesy The Telegraph  online Aimed at boosting the tourism sector, Indian tourists – the largest inbound group – to Sri Lanka, would receive free tourist visas with immediate effect, the Department of Immigration and Emigration has announced here. The facility follows a Cabinet decision from October to issue free tourist visas to travellers from India, […]

Courtesy Adaderana During the key note address at the ‘YPO Colombo Experience: Rediscover the Pearl’ conference held today (18) at the Shangri La hotel Colombo, President Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed his vision for transforming the economic landscape of the region. The President, who held discussions with the new Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, yesterday (17), expressed […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved visa-free entry for visitors from seven countries including India, China and Russia as a pilot project until 31 March 2024, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said. In a tweet, he said the Cabinet has approved visa-free entry to visitors from India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand with […]

Written by Arun Janardhanan  Courtesy The Indian Express The ferry will operate between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The transit time is expected to be three hours. The vessel to be used as the ferry is called Cheriyapani and it can accommodate 150 passengers. (Twitter/@KRD_forum) The much-awaited passenger ferry service between […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Sept 21 (NewsWire – Minimum prices for meals offered for residential guests at tourist hotels in the Colombo Municipal Council limits will be implemented from October, as per a Gazette notification issued by the government.  The Gazette, dated September 11, 2023, has been authorised by the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Sept 18 (NewsWire) – The Gazette notification on the introduction of Minimum Room Rates (MRR) for Colombo City Hotels will come into effect from October 01, 2023. According to the Daily FT, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Priantha Fernando has formally notified the General Managers of the hotels in this regard. The […]

By Antony Fernando Express News Service Courtesy The Indian Express The service covering around 60 nautical miles will start from Nagapattinam Mini Port, sources said. Each ferry will carry around 150 passengers. Published: 21st September 2023 08:45 AM  |   Last Updated: 21st September 2023 08:45 AM  |  A+A A- NAGAPATTINAM: Efforts are on by the Union government’s Shipping Corporation of India to […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka has been listed as one of the 50 best islands in the world for travel for 2023 by Big 7 Travel. The island nation was ranked 13 in the annual round up of the world’s best islands. Sri Lanka has been off the tourism radar for a few years […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror While Sri Lanka has secured the bid to host a prestigious travel awards show in Colombo, the officials visiting Sri Lanka to discuss the event had been greeted by unmanned service counters at the Bandaranaike International Airport. This was revealed by State Tourism Minister Diana Gamage who welcomed the officials representing […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel has confirmed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed by the relevant authorities of Israel and Sri Lanka in order to commence the air service of providing direct passenger flights from Tel Aviv in Israel to Katunayake. During a discussion held in this regard, Minister […]

By Feizal Samath Courtesy TTG Asia Sri Lanka’s decision to enact a compulsory minimum rate policy for Colombo hotels has led to a row between hoteliers and travel agents in the country. Set for implementation from August 1 this year, the policy requires five-star hotels to charge at least US$130 per room, excluding taxes; four-star at […]