HT Travel Welcome to our travel diary as we uncover the secrets of Sri Lanka – the mesmerizing Teardrop Isle nestled in the Indian Ocean. From ancient temples hidden in the jungle to golden beaches kissed by turquoise waves, this travel diary captures the essence of a land rich in culture, history, and natural beauty. […]

Courtesy The Satnadard Lydia Swinscoe Does Sri Lanka’s latest city hotel live up to the hype? Lydia Swinscoe checks in to find out Having spent over nine months in Sri Lanka, I’ve become fairly well acquainted with the Colombo hotel scene. There are the chains, some global, some local, which take up space in sprawling buildings and sky-punctuating towers, and […]

By Gayathri Kallukaran Courtesy Eastern Eye Both cases serving as stark warnings about the risks facing young travellers drawn into illicit drug operations abroad The arrests come amid heightened international scrutiny of cannabis trafficking involving young travellers A 21-year-old British woman has been arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly attempting to smuggle synthetic cannabis worth […]

By Feizal Samath Courtesy ttg Asia In a bid to carve out career opportunities for women in a male-dominated hospitality industry, a resort staffed entirely by women has opened in central Sri Lanka. Amba Yaalu at Kandalama is a 33-room resort led by 80 staff – all women in various positions, from resort manager to gardener. […]

Courtesy Times of Oman Listen Colombo: Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is on a promising trajectory, with the country inching closer to its ambitious target of 2.3 million tourist arrivals for 2024. The latest data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) reveals that 1,804,873 tourists have visited the island so far this year, with […]

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Courtesy The Daily Mirror WION- Aiming to cash on growing outbound Indian tourists, Sri Lanka and Australia have launched new initiatives to cash in on this. Sri Lankan Airlines has launched a unique package for Indian tourists- the “Ramayana Trail” that includes 50 significant locations in the country which is associated with the Hindu epic. These include Seeta […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka has been voted as the “Most Desirable Island in the World” according to the results for the 23rd Annual Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards. According to the travel magazine ‘Wanderlust’, Sri Lanka has risen from last year’s eighth place to take Gold in one of the Awards’ most thrilling turnarounds.  […]

Courtesy Interfax SAMARA. Oct 29 (Interfax) – Russia’s Red Wings Airlines launched direct flights between Samara and Mattala, Sri Lanka, on October 29, the press service of Samara’s Kurumoch Airport said. The flights are scheduled for every 10 days at 8 hours per trip. Boeing-777s will be the mode of transport for passengers according to […]

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 […]