SRI LANKA
Day tsunami of 2004, still run deep in the country.
There is a lot of poverty, in rural areas in particular, and some tourism experts have expressed concern that uncontrolled growth in tourism is putting communities and the environment at risk. Happily, Sri Lanka’s more forward- thinking operators and hotels are taking steps to improve their environmental performance, and to devise excursions and experiences that benefi t local people while offering holidaymakers an authentic taste of Sri Lanka. In the Cultural Triangle, ‘village walks’ that help local farmers and fi shermen profi t from tourism are now available at several hotels. At Rainforest Eco Lodge in Sinharaja
Rainforest or Heritance Tea Factory in Nuwara Eliya, guests can learn how these properties are striving to improve living conditions for the impoverished Tamil people who work on their tea plantations. UK charity The Travel Foundation supports various tourism-related projects in Sri Lanka, including a four-year programme that has helped 360 hotels on the island reduce their carbon footprint. The ‘Greening Sri Lanka Hotels’
project recommended simple initiatives such as low-fl ow water taps, LED light bulbs and colour- coded light switches. Another of the Travel Foundation’s
projects has focussed on the issue of hassle on the beaches of the west coast. The foundation has helped to train the men who work on the beach selling excursions, so that they understand tourists’ needs better, and work a rota-system instead of competing for business. Clients can support the qualifi ed beach operators that work at Bentota Beach Hotel, Avani Bentota, Cinnamon Bey Beruwala and other hotels (they wear offi cial t-shirts, specifi c to the hotel they’re associated with) by going on a riverboat cruise and other trips with them. Sri Lanka offers some of the best wildlife-watching in the world, with
Opposite page: Sigiriya monks at Lion Rock; picking tea near Nuwara Eliya; a west coast beach This page: Cinnamon Wild Yala Hotel; Centara Passikudah beach; a Sri Lankan festival; a Yala leopard
“Beautiful products to buy include lace, straw bags, batik, and jewellery made with sapphires. Often you can watch the craftsman or woman at work, and you feel like you’re giving back to local businesses”
ZOE BLETCHLEY, DESTINATION MANAGER INDIAN OCEAN AND MIDDLE EAST, HAYES & JARVIS
leopards, elephants, blue whales, and more than 400 recorded bird species. But unscrupulous guides and jeep drivers might get too close to the animals, or let passengers get off the vehicle inside the park. Clients should insist upon sticking to the rules, and not tip drivers who break them.
What’s new Airlines: British Airways’
Gatwick-Colombo service fl ies via the Maldives and offers twin-centre opportunities. SriLankan Airlines has completed a two-year refurbishment of its business class cabins while Emirates, which offers regional departures in the UK, via Dubai, increased the frequency of its Dubai-Colombo route in the summer.
The launch of domestic airline Cinnamon Air in July means scheduled fl ights are now offered from Colombo to Koggala on the west coast; Dikwella on the south coast; Trincomalee and
December 2013 49
Batticaloa (for Passikudah) on the west coast; Kandy in the highlands; and Sigiriya in the Cultural Triangle. Hotels: Hyatt Regency, Marriott,
Sheraton, Shangri-La, ITC Hotels and Raffl es are all in the pipeline for Colombo. The former InterContinental was relaunched as The Kingsbury last year while the colonial-style Galle Face Hotel is also undergoing a major refurb.
Jetwing will open Jetwing Yala in 2014 and the John Keells Group is rationalising its Cinnamon and Chaaya properties to bring
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