| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 14/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 37 |
| Copyright: Other |
Sri lanka by david tarpey
Pack your trunk and say goodbye to the beaches
Beach bums turn into culture vultures
The ancient name for Sri Lanka was Serendib, from which sprung the word serendipity, meaning ‘happy and unexpected discovery’. Judging from the growing appetite among many UK visitors to explore the island, it would seem apt to restore the original title.Manos reports a 60% take-up of tour options among its clients, compared with 30% when the programme was introduced three seasons ago. The operator offers five tours including the three-night Nature’s Delights at Kandalama tour in the island’s northern central region. While staying at the Hotel Kandalama, clients visit places such as the famous elephant orphanage at Pinnawela, as well as the World-Heritage site of the Dambulla Rock Temple.
Manos has introduced four new hotels in Sri Lanka to its India/Sri Lanka brochure 2000/01.
These include the Goldi Sands, the Golden Sun Resort and the Mermaid Hotel and Club at Kalatura, and the Neptune Hotel in Beruwala. Based on two adults sharing a room at the Goldi Sands Hotel in Negombo, prices lead in at £749 per person.
JMCproduct manager Maria Croissier reported a 20% rise over last year in business to Sri Lanka for this winter.
JMC’s most popular tour from its 2000/01 brochure is the seven-night Classical Experience tour which leads in at £809 per person half-board.
Another growing trend among most operators in this region is to provide twin-centre packages. This usually means a week sightseeing in Sri Lanka before taking a one-hour flight to a beach resortin the Maldives.
First Choice product Group manager Emma Dauncey said this combination is proving popular, especially with the weddings market.
First Choice has added a new tour to its Indian Ocean and Kenya brochure valid from November. The four-night Colonial Sri Lanka tour includes many of the most popular venues but also visits a tea plantation and the town of Nuwara Eliya. A 14-night trip, split between the Colonial Sri Lanka tour and the Maldives resort of Olhuveli View, leads in at £1,179.
However, not all operators are reporting increased business. Unijet’s product manager John Riley believes fears about the island’s 17-year-old civil war have hit bookings.
Meanwhile, Thomson is pulling out of both India and Sri Lanka after next winter.
The company says this is part of a move based on cost efficiencies and the fact that many of its clients are interested in beach holidays and not in the tour-based programmes now so closely associated with destinations like Sri Lanka.
Fancy a cuppa? First Choice’s Colonial Sri Lanka tour visits a tea plantation
factfile
sri lanka
Further information: the Foreign Office advises travellers to avoid visiting the capital Colombo as it is sometimes the scene of terrorist attacks. Although most tour operators fly into Colombo’s airport, this is well outside the city. Otherwise, tours do not visit the capital nor the northern part of Sri Lanka where the civil war is focused.
Sample product: seven nights’ bed and breakfast with JMC at the Catarmaran Beach Hotel in Negombo costs £449 per person departing between December 12 and 17.