Though belated, I would not want to miss this opportunity to wish each one of you and your families the very best in 2011! Hopefully, you had a great X’mas vacation with friends and family. As I often say, that is the best time of the year as far as I am concerned. I love the feeling in the “air”, the giving and getting of presents, the carols, meeting friends and family and most importantly time to reflect on the year past and the blessings received from the birth of Jesus. Some of you may have spent it in Sri Lanka or may want to do so this year!

From around the 20th of December until mid Januray, Sri Lanka, especially Colombo its capital takes on a carnival atmosphere. Though a country with a majority (around 75%) Buddhist population, X’mas becomes a celebration for all, commercial and otherwise. There are many Srilankans living overseas who return “home”, many Europeans who want to escape their harsh, cold winters, there are the Asians who wish to take a short break in Sri Lanka’s fabulous beaches whilst hunting for bargains! This year though was not a typical X’mas time weather wise. We had incessant rain, causing floods in some parts of the country along with “chilly” weather. After 60 years Sri Lanka had its coldest day in mid January 2011 when the mid day temperature in the city of Colombo plummeted to 18 degrees centigrade! This however, did not deter the tourists who visited Sri Lanka in record numbers in 2010.

The main travel season that begins on the 1st of November have been keeping all of us very busy, and we thank each and every visitor for giving us that fabulous opportunity to show them around our Island home. We invite others to get in touch with us to show you a little part of paradise. The whales and the dolphins are showing themselves off, off the coasts of Mirissa in the South of Sri Lanka and Kalpitiya in the West. The Elephants have gathered in large numbers in Minneriya, the Leopards are roaming in the wilds of the Yala and the Wilpattu parks….. well, we invite you to come and enjoy Sri Lanka at this time of the year!

As I am writing this, the Galle Literary Festival is on, bringing in a large number of people from all over along with illustrious authors. Jetwing is also celebrating its JEEP (Jetwing Eternal Earth Programme) day on the 27th January in Galle this year. You can find more information on this in our website. We are also showcasing 4 of Sri Lanka’s best naturalists who are in the Jetwing team during this event as they are spearheading the Jetwing Research Initiative with 4 very interesting projects. We also opened our newly redeveloped Hotels Jetwing Sea (former Seashells) and Jetwing Blue (former Blue Oceanic) in Negombo this month.

Well, the rains have stopped, the sun is shining warmly and the people of Sri Lanka look forward to welcoming you! In case you have not made your holiday plans for 2011, we sincerely hope you will consider Sri Lanka as a preferred place to visit, do give it some thought please.

With Renewed wishes for a great 2011!

Sincerely Yours,

Shiromal Cooray
Managing Director
Jetwing Travels
Sri Lanka

Tourist arrivals up 46 percent last year

A total of 654,476 tourists had visited Sri Lanka last year, according to the Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority (SLTDA) sources. Tourist arrivals too had registered a 46.1 percent increase, the target set for the year of 600,000 tourists by over 50,000 arrivals.

Tourists arrivals amounted to 84,627 during month of December, being 48.8 percent compared to the same period last year. more

Hotels ready for World Cup

The local hotel sector is ready to cater to the heavy tourist flow during the Cricket World Cup 2011 which will feature some matches in Sri Lanka, a senior official said.

Sri Lanka is ready to provide enough accommodation to all the fans who are keen in participating in the Cricket World Cup next February and March, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) acting Managing Director Malraj Kiriella told Daily News Business. more

Visit Sri Lanka 2011: post and win competition
Jetwing, Sri Lanka Tailormade use social media sites to promote tourism

The year 2011 has been officially declared as “Visit Sri Lanka year” and a target set to bring in 2.5 million tourists by the year 2016.

Following on from the global communication campaign launched by Sri Lanka tourism to make this a reality, Jetwing Travels and Sri Lanka Tailormade will also be launching a Visit Sri Lanka 2011 – Post & Win competition which will be conducted online.more

Govt to import luxury trains

Govt to import luxury trains The Railway Department will import two luxury trains from China to promote tourism in the country, Sri Lanka Railway Planning Director Vijaya Samarasinghe said. The Department is looking into the possibility of providing facilities to hold various functions such as weddings, birthday parties and meetings within these trains.

This would be a novel experience to Sri Lankans too, he said. The Department will import two new luxury trains and equip them to meet these needs. The Department will make necessary arrangements to import these luxury trains in the middle of this year . more

U.S.supports Galle Lit Fest

The U.S. Embassy in Colombo has given a grant of $5,000 to bring 30 students and teachers from all over Sri Lanka to the Galle Literary Festival to be held at the end of this week. The participants come from the University of Ruhuna, Southeastern University, Sabaragamuwa University, and the University of Jaffna.

They will attend a full schedule of events at the festival, meet both national and international writers, and participate in special teambuilding sessions while in Galle.

For five years the Galle Literary Festival has brought together writers and readers from all over the world to Sri Lanka for free and open discussions about culture, literature, history and politics. Recently, the Festival has expanded its audience by introducing an innovative children’s program and other forms of community outreach that enable a wide variety of people with differing perspectives to learn from one another. We support these efforts and hope for broad and engaged participation at this year’s festival. Events like this one can help bring about fuller freedom of expression in Sri Lanka.

Whilst on holiday with us all our customers experience and have countless service encounters and experiences that truly delight them. We at Jetwing believe each of these encounters or ‘Moments’ are on opportunity for us and our staff to truly connect with them. Let us highlight bonds and friendships we have form with our clients that will never be forgotten…

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