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Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka

(By Dhaneshi YATAWARA) — Declared as a nature reserve on December 5, 1969 and later in March 1988 upgraded to a National Park under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, Horton Plains and its forests were subjected to much discussion being affected by bio-pirates.

Spreading across over 3,169 hectares of land Horton Plains had been originally known as Mahaeliya and has been known as ‘Elk Plain’ in the colonial period. Mahaeliya was renamed as Horton Plains attributing credit to the British Governor of Sri Lanka Sir Robert Wilmot Horton (1831 – 1837).

Due to its unique biological and aesthetic value Governor Horton took steps to protect this plain following his visits. Though white shadows of the British rulers have long left our shores the names still remain.

“Contribution to the environment from the Horton Plains is immense being the catchment area of almost all Sri Lanka’s major rivers,” said Park Warden of the Horton Plains, G.U. Saranga. As he explained having the main hydro power plants with its reservoirs in close proximity of the plain proves its water retaining ability. Before the British destroyed the montane and cloud forests to cultivate tea, the Kings of Sri Lanka took special steps to protect these unique forest covers declaring it as King’s protected land. Ancestors knew these cloud forests were the heart beat of the environment.

Located between northern latitudes 6 degrees, 47 minutes and 6 degrees and 50 minutes and in the Eastern hemisphere between 80 degrees 46 minutes and 80 degrees 51 minutes, Horton Plains is at 2,100 metres above sea level, nestled in the highest tableland of Sri Lanka in the southern end of the central mountain mass. The annual average rainfall of Horton Plains exceeds 5,000 mm as it rains almost everyday.

Horton Plains is affected both by the Southwest and Northeast monsoons. The area is ‘dry’ from January to March with an average temperature of 15 centigrade. Ground frost is common from December to January. Minimum recorded temperature is between 2 – 3 centigrade. Wet Patana (grasslands) are combined with the montane cloud forests in making this undulating plateau. The western slope of the Horton Plains National Park comprises most extensive breath taking montane cloud forests.

Isolated park

“This is an isolated national park,” Saranga said. Which means it is not connected to a stretch of forests whereas other national parks are patches of regional forest cover. The 18,060 hectares of natural forest surrounding Horton Plains is a buffer zone to protect it from threatening human activities of border villages. The surrounding forests belongs to the Forest Department. Ohiya, Pattipola and Dayagama located closer to Horton Plains are situated over 11 kilometres from the park.

Horton Plains consists of four eco systems such as, Montane evergreen forests, grasslands, marshylands and its aquatic eco-system. The top soil of the plain has more humus as deterioration of organic material is less in the environment due to the low temperature. Thus the half deteriorated organic matter with lot of fibre mixed with soil acts as a sponge absorbing water rather than making it muddy and slippery. This specific marshyland feeds water mainly to Agara Oya, Bogawanthalawa Oya and Belihul Oya.

Agara Oya is one of the main tributaries of the Mahaweli River. Bogawanthalawa Oya begins from the Kelani River and Belihul Oya from Walawe River. Kirigalpottha and Totupolakanda Mountains, the second and the third highest mountains located within the same eco region, are the star grounds for some of the main rivers.

Before Horton Plains was a National Park, the Agricultural Department of the then Government commenced cultivating potatoes in these plains from 1950 to 1969. Parallel to this the Irrigation Department built a irrigation system which is known today as the Chimney Pond.

Fauna and flora

“In Horton Plains 50% of its species are endemic,” Saranga said highlighting the importance of protecting its bio diversity. Including ‘Binara’ (‘Exacum trinervium’) with its distinct purple flower and ‘Nellu’ (‘Strobilanthes sp.’) with blue mauve coloured flowers and intoxicating seeds, 744 plant species are nestled in Horton Plains; 5% of plant species found here are endemic.

The endemic ‘Keena’ (Calophyllum walkari’), ‘Syzygium rotundifolium’, ‘Syzygium sclerophyllum’, ‘Wal Kurundu’ (Cinnamomum ovalifolium’) and ‘Polkatugaha’ (‘Actinodaphne speciosa’) dominate the forest canopy which is approximately 20 metres in height. Rhododendrons (Maharathmal), commonly found in the plain, brings a sparkling beauty with its crimson red flowers.

The Drawf bamboo, smallest bamboo found in Sri Lanka, grows in marshy lands in the Horton Plains. Two invasive plants are common in Horton Plains introduced by the British. One is a tall thorny shrub with bright yellow flowers called European gorse and the other one a bright green fern named Warella. An African exotic grass called ‘Kikuriya’ (‘Pennisetum clandestinum’) is another fauna introduced by colonists for cattle grazing.

The sambur is Horton Plains flag species. They are found in large numbers during the hours of the day and in the evenings in their feeding grounds. The elephants are said to have disappeared from the area about 70 years ago. Though the grey slender loris was known to exist in the cloud forests the latest discovery is the red slender loris. There were early records of its existence yet no one saw the red slender loris alive until this year. Researches on ascertaining the number of loris in the cloud forests is on going. The leopard, otter, the long-tailed giant squirrel, the bear, monkey and the toque macaque are some noteworthy animals found in Horton Plains. Sighting the bird, Ceylon Arangaya (‘Myophonus blighi’) is a rare opportunity for a wildlife enthusiast. Numerous birds migrate from Europe and Northen Asia during winter to the highlands. Twelve endemic birds live in the Horton Plains.

Only two exotic fish species inhabit the streams, namely the carp and the rainbow trout. Many endemic crustaceans live in the aquatic eco-system of Horton Plains. Most of the amphibians living in Horton Plains are endemic. Though the reptile diversity is low in Horton Plains the Common Roughside and the Buff striped keelback common are in the Plains. Yet the agamid lizards are quite wide spread in Horton Plains.

Horton Plains is the only national park where visitors are allowed to trek along the tracks. Today Horton Plains attracts a large number of visitors each year, thus increasing the earnings. “There has been a slight decline in the number of local visitors to the plains this year. With terrorism wiped out from the country, the number of foreigners visiting the park has increased,” Saranga said.

“Local tourists had more places to visit with the end of war and I believe they less visited the traditional locations, such as Horton Plains. Parallel to this foreign tourists visiting Horton Plains showed a sharp increase in 2010,” Saranga added.

In 2009, 11,026 foreign tourists and 155,587 local tourists visited Horton Plains. Compared to the peak months of 2009 – the number of visitors doubled in this year. In February 2009 little less than 1,500 foreigners visited but in February over 2,500 visited. The highest number is in August. August 2009 number of foreign visitors was less than 1,500 but in 2010 it increased to over 3,000. “Though the number of local visitors is low at the moment we can expect it to increase in the months to come,” Saranga said.

There could be a threat to the environment due to the large number of visitors to the Plains. Especially in Horton Plains, where visitors are allowed to trek on designated path and are free to enjoy the beauty of the nature. Over enthusiastic visitors try to pick something this beautiful nature to take home. Birds, mammals, butterflies, lizards, plants and flowers are beautiful only in this breathtaking sceneries and not at one’s home. Visitors would pluck ‘binara’ flowers, Rhododendrons, ferns and twigs of trees on their tour and dump them close to the entrance on their return knowing very well the consequence of their illegal acts.

Environment

Montane forest blends with aquatic eco-system

Nature plants fauna and flora in its appropriate place and humans being a part of the nature is incapable in over ruling mother nature. With the season around the corner visitors to Horton Plains should take interest to protect this unique environment.

“Enforcing rules and regulations will help protect nature,” said Director General of Wildlife, Botanical and Zoological Gardens of the Economic Development Ministry, Chandrawansa Pathiraja. “With more visitors to parks it is important to protect the parks with proper entry/exit points. In the case of threats from smuggling of plants and animals we need different parameters to prevent it as smuggling goes beyond rules and regulations,” he said.

Under the instructions of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa discussions are in progress to identify the present requirements to protect nature as well as to implement the rules and regulations established for environment conservation.

“Under the instructions of the Minister we are working on to bring amendments to the existing fauna and flora protecting rules and regulations to further strengthen them as we see there are loopholes in the existing legal frame work,” Pathiraja added highlighting particularly the importance of protecting the declared areas.

“As many development activities are land based and as the responsible authority both for development and environment protection development works and environment conservation should be carried out hand in hand,” he said. As Pathiraja further explained authorities plan to demarcate the present forest boundaries and take necessary actions to conserve the existing forests in the country.

The Economic Development Ministry, under the purview of Minister Basil Rajapaksa, works with the theme of linking tourism and our natural resources without destroying them. “With the end to terrorist threats in the country foreign tourists visiting our National Parks have doubled now. We could be prepared for the next tourist season from October to November,” he said.

“Horton Plains, Yala, Wilpattu and Kumana are visited national parks by foreign tourists and we are in the process of upgrading the facilities for visitors,” he said. “We are improving the parks to international standards”, he added. Measures have been taken to upgrade facilities like accommodation, sanitation and water supply.

Proper awareness on implementing the regulations would help protect the Horton Plains which is home to many of the rare primitive species of the world.

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Germany relaxes travel advisory on Sri Lanka

Germany has relaxed its travel advisory to Sri Lanka from October 2010 following the improvement in the security situation in the country.

German Ambassador Jens Plotner told the media that Germany has relaxed the travel advisory after the war and it will be further relaxed from this month onwards.

The number of tourists to Sri Lanka is increasing rapidly and the country has become a popular destination due to its tropical charm and value for money. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has set an ambitious goal to attract over 2.5 million tourists by 2016.

According to Ambassador Plotner, the only area which Germany has not yet recommended its tourists to travel is the extreme North as foreigners are still not permitted to travel to Jaffna without ministry permission due to landmine clearing operations. “I hope this will be dropped in the near future. Once the state of emergency is completely lifted there will be a situation where there would be no specific travel advisory at all”, he said. Plotner further mentioned that Sri Lanka was popular as a destination and the country has the potential to develop as one of the best eco-friendly tourist destinations in Asia, and also the best country for Ayurveda treatment.

“Many German tourists visit Sri Lanka for Ayurveda treatment. This is another sector where Sri Lanka has a distinct advantage to popularise the country among tourists. This sector needs to be developed more”, he said.

The German Government has pledged nearly US$ 15 million for the country’s development activities, including the de-mining and poverty alleviation programs in the North and the East.

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Pigeon Island Resort, Trinco, Sri Lanka

We arrive, bolt down our lunch, change our clothes and head out to sea. We have been on the road since 4am, but the bracing breeze and the sea spray is wonderfully reviving. Ahead, Pigeon Island rises out of the water.

Beside me in the boat is Henry Logan-Smith, front office manager at the Pigeon Island Resort. We spend the next few hours exploring the beautiful island, dotted with aloe vera plants and blooming orange sea shoe flowers.

As we walk around Henry, a native, tells me he left the region in the early eighties, when violence broke out. Today he’s back to ply his trade in the hospitality industry and following closely on his heels are busloads of tourists, all determined to discover the long hidden world of Trincomalee. As roads open up and the military presence becomes less visible, hoteliers all across the region are gearing up for a boom.

PIGEON ISLAND RESORT – GET BEST RATES!

Among the many hotels dotting the shores of the sweeping stretch of Nilaveli beach, The Pigeon Island Resort enjoys a particularly breath taking location. Just a little past the Nilaveli Beach Resort, it is one of the only boutique hotels in the area. The beach in front of it is beautiful and clean, stretching as far as the eye can see on both sides. Directly in front lie the Pigeon Islands themselves, one clearly larger than the other. (Together the two are a designated marine park, famous for their mounds of white coral on the beaches and the rock pigeons that nest in the rocky outcrops.)

A trip to the island is one of the highlights of staying in the hotel – as is the chance to explore Trincomalee itself. With world class dive sites and a number of beautiful reefs, the area is rich in marine life. Need some suggestions? The manager of the hotel, Patrick de Silva also grew up in Trincomalee and knows the area well.

The sumptuous meals served at the hotel though give one even less motivation to go wandering. Under the rule of chef M.D.J Anthony, the kitchen turns out everything from freshly baked doughnuts and croissants to an authentic rice and curry. With the bounteous ocean at their doorstep, fresh seafood is almost always on the menu. The dining room and lobby area boasts a lovely open design. Decorated in shades of white and blue, the furnishings are simple, with a few notable exceptions.

PIGEON ISLAND RESORT – BOOKINGS!

In the foyer a hefty wooden elephant stands. It is one of several Jaffna antiques on the premises. In fact, you’ll see the first as you cross the threshold. The exquisitely carved capitals that top the pillars on either side hold up heavy wooden beams. The door once belonged to a great house in Jaffna, says Patrick pointing out the distinctive pattern. Step inside and a worn wooden bench, tinged a faint green sits under a mirror. Taken from a railway station, it sits opposite a credible imitation piece, with its own identical mirror. A wooden staircase with thick railings is yet another antique, and Patrick estimates its age at around 150 years. The most dramatic of the lot though may be a wooden hackery parked near the bar. A family heirloom, the cart belonged to proprietor Dr. Maheshi Wijeratne’s great-grandparents.

A neurosurgeon, she and her husband Nigel Coomaraswamy have refurbished the property. Once known as Hotel Maoura Beach, it has been carefully restored to its formal glory. Solar heating and no less than three water treatment plants are already in service, but Patrick assures me that there’s a lot more to come. There are plans to build a conference hall and a few gift stores. Construction begins on a sports bar and lounge area this week. Currently they have 38 deluxe rooms and 6 suites. The suites boast views of the ocean, while most of the rooms look out onto the pool deck. Done up in cool white, the rooms are spacious. Large beds with headboards imbedded with blue mosaic make for striking centrepieces. The air-conditioned rooms come equipped with minibars and satellite T.V.

The 2 ½ acre property is long and lean, with the building sitting in an ‘L’ shape along it. Seeming to invite the beach in, a poolside bar has its floor covered in sand. A little board carries the name of the cocktail of the day, tempting you to linger and catch the sunset. Stay a little longer and you can enjoy the sight of fishing boats, strung out along the horizon like a line of twinkling Christmas lights. The beach is the perfect location for a romantic dinner, and Patrick explains that the hotel often organises bonfires and music nights out under the stars.

Describing barbeques on the beach and dinners beside the pool deck, he emphasises the staff’s willingness to go the extra mile.

PIGEON ISLAND RESORT – GET BEST RATES!

Numbering over 50, the staff keep the property immaculate. They’re also fun to get to know. Henry is a great guide to the region and has an inexhaustible store of stories. My favourites proved to be of his memories of the way Trincomalee used to be (but you can also ask him about Arthur C. Clarke, whom he met several times). He says they scour the beach on a regular basis, clearing debris that is washed ashore by the tide.

They’re determined to keep the surrounds pristine – a task that is likely to only get more challenging in the years ahead. In the meantime, Trincomalee is still one of the most beautiful spots on the island. Henry, for one, cannot imagine that he and the others who call it home will ever allow that to change.

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Sri Lanka not overpriced says Taj Hotels MD

(By Jagdish Hathiramani) — In contrast to many other long haul destinations, including islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, other Asian countries and even Australasia, which are its main competitors, Sri Lanka offers good value, according to veteran international hotelier Raymond Bickson, the Managing Director of Indian Hotel Company, the parent of Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.

Indicating this value for money was an advantage for the country when competing with more mature markets, he suggested that it was a positive that Sri Lanka had managed to not over-price itself and so offered something for any budget. Meanwhile, visitors to the Maldives, for example, were hard pressed to find a place to stay for under $500. Mr. Bickson made these comments to the Business Times during a visit last week to Sri Lanka that entailed the local launch of the group’s new brand architecture, which now spans the 110 properties of this $300 million turnover hotel group, which also has 47 projects currently in development worth $3 billion. Sri Lanka is just the most recent stop in Mr. Bickson’s itinerary which, in 2011, will include opening 13 hotels, one almost every three weeks, including Taj’s first property in China.

During his visit to Sri Lanka, hotel officials also revealed that locally managed properties, comprising the Taj Samudra in Colombo, the Taj Airport Gardens in Seeduwa and the Taj Exotica in Bentota, would all be in line for significant investments in keeping with Taj’s local re-branding. Already earmarked, $35 million for a 2011 renovation of the 300-room Taj Samudra and US$ 5 million for a full revamp of Taj’s 160-room Bentota property, already re-branded as Vivanta by Taj Bentota, that will eventually entail completely new interiors and even an added restaurant. Additionally, the Taj-managed, Hirdaramani Group-owned 130-room Taj Airport Gardens will undergo an upgrade of 40 existing rooms, while a new 100-room wing will also be added within the next two years. This property will ‘migrate’ to Taj’s “The Gateway Hotel” brand in January 2011.

Meanwhile, according to Mr. Bickson, the Sri Lankan government was making the right moves to facilitate tourism, including a positive advertising campaign and opening the doors to the right investors. He also commended a government plan to extend the existing single runway in addition to constructing a second runway at Sri Lanka’s only international airport at Katunayake, as well as eventually commissioning two more airports. At the same time, while reiterating his group’s interest in opportunities in the island’s Eastern and Western coastal regions, he also suggested that cultural, wild life, religious and medical tourism were also possible future areas of interest for Taj in Sri Lanka. He also floated the possibility of opening up a locally based hotel school in the next two years; a practice that Taj employed when going into new markets where inadequate staff supplies could be an issue.

Sri Lanka voted best-value holiday destination in Asia

Britain’s long-haul travellers will find that their pound will stretch furthest in Sri Lanka, Mexico and the Far East this winter, according to new research into holiday costs.

Australia and Hong Kong were the least cost-effective destinations featured in the survey, which also revealed significant rises in the price of food, drinks and supermarket goods in Thailand and South Africa.

The Post Office’s annual Long-Haul Holiday Report compares the cost of 10 essential holiday purchases – such as an evening meal, a cup of coffee and sun cream – in 22 destinations.

In Sri Lanka, the 10 items cost just £46.85, compared with £155.48 in the Australian capital, Sydney.

Research released this week by Hayes and Jarvis, a tour operator specialising in long-haul trips, also suggested that Sri Lanka is among the best-value destinations for a package holiday, with a one-week break in November costing £799 on average, bettered only by Egypt (£649) and the Dominican Republic (£729).

Sri Lanka has witnessed a sharp rise in visitors following the end to hostilities between government forces and Tamil separatists in the north and east of the island. Nearly 400,000 foreign tourists visited in the first eight months of 2010, an increase of 47 per cent on the previous year.

Thailand – the cheapest destination in the Post Office’s 2009 report – fell to sixth in the survey, thanks in part to the strength against the pound of the Thai baht, which is worth 11.6 per cent more than last year. The 10 items cost £52.85 in Phuket, up by 16 per cent on last year.

Mexico and Kenya finished second and third in the survey. UK sales of the Mexican peso and the Kenyan shilling have risen by 5 and 11 per cent, respectively, while the Kenyan Tourism Board has reported a 7 per cent rise in British visitors.

Malaysia and Indonesia finished fourth and fifth in the survey, with the 10 items costing British visitors £51.89 and £52.39.

Sean Tipton from Abta, the travel association, emphasised the importance of prices on the ground, particularly with air travel becoming more expensive. The latest rises in APD, due in November, will add up to £240 to the cost of long-haul flights from the UK for a family of four.

“Long-haul travel can initially look unattractive, with air fares costing more than travelling to Europe,” Mr Tipton said. “But many long-haul destinations are cheaper than the Mediterranean, with even a weak pound still going a very long way.”

Elsewhere, prices in Australia, Canada and Brazil have all risen sharply, and sterling’s recent weakness against the rand means that tourists visiting South Africa can expect to pay about 28 per cent more for food, drink and other holiday essentials this winter.

Telegraph.co.uk

Taj Hotels launch new brand in Sri Lanka

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces on Friday announced ‘brand new architecture’ for its existing chain in Sri Lanka and said that it would look for more sites to expand in the post-war island nation. Currently the group has three properties in Sri Lanka. Five-star hotels in Colombo and Bentota, a coastal town 65 km south of the Capital, and a four-star hotel at Seeduwa near the international airport.

Unveiling the plans at a news conference here, Raymond Bickson, Managing Director & CEO, Indian Hotels Company, said the company was looking to cash in on the increased tourist traffic to Sri Lanka without compromising on the standards of the group.

Under the new brand architecture, the Taj Exotica in Bentota has migrated to Vivanta by Taj, in the Upper Upscale category, and will now be known as Vivanta by Taj-Bentota, Sri Lanka, and the Airport Garden Hotel will migrate to The Gateway Hotels, in the Upscale category, effective January 2011, and will be called The Gateway Hotel-Airport Garden, Seeduwa.

While the tourist for the current year is estimated at 6.50 lakh, it is expected to touch the 2.5-million mark by 2016.

“There’s been a dramatic turnaround. Earlier, rooms were going for $50-60. Now it is touching the $100. The occupancy is also better,” Ajoy K Misra, Senior Vice-President, sales and marketing, said.

Explaining the rationale behind the creation of a basket of brands and the relevance to Sri Lanka, Mr. Misra said, “Each brand has been created to appeal to a distinct psychographic segment and have unique identities.”

Sri Lanka hotels partner with EarthCheck

Aitken Spence Hotels has launched a partnership with EarthCheck and certified the environmental practices employed at its chain of hotels and resorts in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Oman.

EarthCheck is the world’s largest certifier of sustainable travel and tourism operators, and will work with the luxury brand portfolios of Heritance, Aitken Spence Hotels & Resorts and Adaaran, Sri Lanka’s biggest multinational hotel chain said.

“Environmental sustainability is part of our corporate commitment to responsible business,” said B.H.R. Sariffo’deen, Assistant Vice President, Aitken Spence Hotels. “While nine of our hotels have already been benchmarked, and three have been certified on the EarthCheck Programme, plans are well underway to ensure that many more become certified in the coming year.”

Ravi De Silva, Consultant Social & Environmental Management at Aitken Spence Hotels explained that sustainability is a top corporate priority of the company. The environmental management systems introduced by the company are recognised through the EarthCheck Certifications.

Aitken Spence Hotels is focusing on issues such as reducing, recycling and reusing solid waste; reducing the use of harmful chemicals; conserving energy and water, and improving indoor air quality, all of which have an immediate impact on the environment and the communities where their hotels operate.

“Aitken Spence Hotels has long demonstrated their commitment to improving the social, environmental and economic welfare of host communities,” explained Stewart Moore, CEO of EC3 Global.

“EarthCheck provides them with a framework for their properties to increase operational efficiencies, maximise the benefit of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, and minimise environmental impacts.”

Properties currently participating in the EarthCheck Programme include: Bandarawela Hotel, Browns Beach Hotel, Earls Regency Hotel, Heritance Ahungalla, Heritance Kandalama, Heritance Tea Factory, Hotel Hill Top, Ramada Resort Kalutara and the former Neptune Hotel.

Sri Lanka wildlife parks attracting new tourists

leopard-on-road-to-borupan-wilpattu The percentage of foreign tourists visiting Sri Lanka’s national parks has doubled this year (2010) with the conclusion of the island’s long civil war in May 2009, a senior government official said on Saturday.

Chandrawansa Pathiraja, director general of Botanical Gardens and Wildlife Conservation Department said normally 10 percent of foreign tourists who come to Sri Lanka visit wildlife parks, but it has increased to 20 percent since January.

Sri Lanka’s civil war between the government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels concluded in May 2009, paving the way for the booming of the island’s tourism. The number of tourist arrivals have doubled, and is steadily growing month on month.

“During the last three decades several wildlife parks in the country were closed for tourists due to the war,” said Pathiraja, adding that at present all parks are open for visitors without any restriction.

He said the government has already commenced a special program to upgrade the facilities in wildlife parks.

Sri Lanka’s only island wildlife park Pigeon Island in the eastern Trincomallee district would be opened to tourists soon, Pathiraja said.

He said some areas in the war affected Northern Province including Nayaru, Kokilai and Chundikulam would be developed as wildlife parks too.

Sri Lanka has maintained an average of 500,000 tourist arrivals annually during civil war in the last three decades and the government is expecting 765,000 tourists by 2011 and 2.5 million in 2016.

“We expect over 600,000 tourists to visit Sri Lanka by the end of this year and of them 120,000 tourists enjoy the wild beauty of Sri Lanka,” Pathiraja said.

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Kalpitiya, another whale watching hot spot in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka at forefront of wildlife conservation efforts

Jetwing to build eight new hotels in Sri Lanka

(by Charumini de Silva) — Jetwing Hotels will commence building eight new luxury hotels within the next six months covering all parts of the country. The hotels are planned to be set up in Colombo, Jaffna, Yala, Uppuveli, Kuchchaveli, Balapitiya, Kandy and Hambantota, Jetwing Hotels Chairman, Hiran Cooray told Daily News Business.

The investment of these hotels are estimated as Rs six billion.

These projects will be funded partly by the internal earnings, borrowings and private placements.

With these new eight hotels the company completes its portfolio with 18 hotels.

He said Jetwing Blue Oceanic and Jetwing Seashells in Negombo will be re-branded as Jetwing Blue and Jetwing Sea after these two hotels are reconstructed with added facilities in December.

Jetwing Blue is reconstructed with Rs 700 million, while Jetwing Sea is re-built with an investment of Rs 500 million.

Jetwing Blue is targeting the South Indian market as travelling is convenient and with its expanded conference room.

This will also provide many benefits to the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry.

The company has bought the Blue Lagoon resort in Negombo and it will be opened next month after the refurbishments.

Jetwing Hotels has also taken over the management of the Tangalle Bay hotel and is being renovated to upgrade its level to a luxury.

The company has eventually planned to get listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) within the next 24 months.

We have no immediate plans to diversify. Nevertheless, the company will first develop their hotels before entering into the market, Cooray said.

Jetwing Hotels is building and will be the managers of a luxury hotel in Luang Prabang, Lao.

The company already deals with another two hotels in Vietnam and New Zealand.

The hotel in New Zealand is owned and managed by Jetwing Hotels.

Two Indian airlines to commence flights to Sri Lanka

Two new international airlines have announced that they will commence services to Colombo from next month.

SpiceJet, a low-cost airline based in Chennai, announced that it will operate flights from Colombo to Chennai and Chennai to Colombo from 9th October this year.

Jet Airways India, one of the fastest growing airlines too announced earlier of its plans to launch charter flights to Sri Lanka from Brussels, from October.

Four new international airlines have already started operations to Sri Lanka since the end of war. They are Air Asia, Fly Dubai, Oman Air and Indian Express.