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http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=43933
By Harischandra Gunaratna
Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that some areas in the south coast was full of Russian tourists and during the festive season other guests had to look for rooms elsewhere.
"Last year we had 21,385 Russians visiting the country while the number was only 13,278 in 2010. This year tourism authorities expect at least 30,000 Russians to visit the country by the end of the year," the deputy minister said.
Industry sources attributed the increase in the number of Russian tourists visiting the country mainly due to the availability of direct flights between Colombo and Moscow which was inaugurated a few months ago.
Chandra Wickramasinghe, Chairman of Connaissance De Ceylan, a leading tour operator and a hotelier said that Connaissance Moscow,a subsidiary of his company has been bringing in a large number of Russians to Sri Lanka and the advantage is that their period of stay which is of an average of 12-14 nights is longer than the period most other tourists stay and they are also higher spenders.
Asked about the category of spenders coming here from Russia, Wickramasinghe said that it was mostly the middle income group.
He said that there was a 45 percent increase in the arrivals of this segment of the market in 2011 compared with the previous year and the turnover also increased by 50 percent.
The whole scenario changed with the dawn of peace in Sri Lanka and subsequent introduction of direct flights with Sri Lanka Airlines and Aeroflot entering the fray.
"With these two factors coming in place the tour operators were able to convince more Russians to visit Sri Lanka," he said.
Aeroflot flies direct Moscow-Colombo-Moscow and this is a shot in the arm for Lanka’s tourism , Wickramasinghe pointed out adding that a number of Middle Eastern airlines are also bringing in many Russian tourists to Colombo .
Answering a query that more Russians visit the Maldives than here, Wickramasinghe said the two products and the advantages and disadvantages cannot be compared but admitted that there is privacy for tourists in the Maldivian archipelago with hotels spreadout in over thousand islets which provides the privacy they need. On the other hand there are many modern diving schools and facilities for watersports .
But the advantage we have is that we have many others such as culture, heritage mountains, rivers and the ocean added with abounding beauty and lush greenery where the tourists enjoy a 4-5 day round tour and then the beach.
There are more water based recreational activities being introduced in Sri Lanka and with the opening of the east coast, more tourists are scheduled to the visit the area, he said.
"In the beaches in the east coast there is more privacy for tourists and the calm seas would be a big attraction for them," the veteran hotelier added.
A number of hotels (at least 15) are being built in Passekudah and most of them would commence operations by the end of 2012, he said.
Wickramasinghe is the first hotelier to build and operate a hotel in Passekudah in the post war period with the popular "Maalu Maalu".boutique hotel.
Duleep Samaraweera, Sales Director of Aeroflot Airlines said that their fights were full during the festive season and would maintain a load factor of around 60 percent during the winter season.
Samaraweera, a seasoned campaigner where the Russian tourist market is concerned having served the airline since the early seventies was of the opinion that Russians love to visit Sri Lanka and with aggressive campaigning we should strive to capture the high end Russian market.
"They love the beaches and are good spenders," he said.
Unfortunately, at the moment more of the high end segment of the Russians visit Maldives than Sri Lanka, he added.
Russians holyday makers love the southern beaches of Sri Lanka and want to be far away from the hustle and bustle and most of them are in the resorts from Wadduwa to Dickwella.
According to the General Manager of the five star Heritance Ahungalle, Reffhan Razeen, over 50 of its 152 rooms are occupied by Russians. The hotel enjoys an occupancy rate of 80 percent.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=43933
By Harischandra Gunaratna
Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that some areas in the south coast was full of Russian tourists and during the festive season other guests had to look for rooms elsewhere.
"Last year we had 21,385 Russians visiting the country while the number was only 13,278 in 2010. This year tourism authorities expect at least 30,000 Russians to visit the country by the end of the year," the deputy minister said.
Industry sources attributed the increase in the number of Russian tourists visiting the country mainly due to the availability of direct flights between Colombo and Moscow which was inaugurated a few months ago.
Chandra Wickramasinghe, Chairman of Connaissance De Ceylan, a leading tour operator and a hotelier said that Connaissance Moscow,a subsidiary of his company has been bringing in a large number of Russians to Sri Lanka and the advantage is that their period of stay which is of an average of 12-14 nights is longer than the period most other tourists stay and they are also higher spenders.
Asked about the category of spenders coming here from Russia, Wickramasinghe said that it was mostly the middle income group.
He said that there was a 45 percent increase in the arrivals of this segment of the market in 2011 compared with the previous year and the turnover also increased by 50 percent.
The whole scenario changed with the dawn of peace in Sri Lanka and subsequent introduction of direct flights with Sri Lanka Airlines and Aeroflot entering the fray.
"With these two factors coming in place the tour operators were able to convince more Russians to visit Sri Lanka," he said.
Aeroflot flies direct Moscow-Colombo-Moscow and this is a shot in the arm for Lanka’s tourism , Wickramasinghe pointed out adding that a number of Middle Eastern airlines are also bringing in many Russian tourists to Colombo .
Answering a query that more Russians visit the Maldives than here, Wickramasinghe said the two products and the advantages and disadvantages cannot be compared but admitted that there is privacy for tourists in the Maldivian archipelago with hotels spreadout in over thousand islets which provides the privacy they need. On the other hand there are many modern diving schools and facilities for watersports .
But the advantage we have is that we have many others such as culture, heritage mountains, rivers and the ocean added with abounding beauty and lush greenery where the tourists enjoy a 4-5 day round tour and then the beach.
There are more water based recreational activities being introduced in Sri Lanka and with the opening of the east coast, more tourists are scheduled to the visit the area, he said.
"In the beaches in the east coast there is more privacy for tourists and the calm seas would be a big attraction for them," the veteran hotelier added.
A number of hotels (at least 15) are being built in Passekudah and most of them would commence operations by the end of 2012, he said.
Wickramasinghe is the first hotelier to build and operate a hotel in Passekudah in the post war period with the popular "Maalu Maalu".boutique hotel.
Duleep Samaraweera, Sales Director of Aeroflot Airlines said that their fights were full during the festive season and would maintain a load factor of around 60 percent during the winter season.
Samaraweera, a seasoned campaigner where the Russian tourist market is concerned having served the airline since the early seventies was of the opinion that Russians love to visit Sri Lanka and with aggressive campaigning we should strive to capture the high end Russian market.
"They love the beaches and are good spenders," he said.
Unfortunately, at the moment more of the high end segment of the Russians visit Maldives than Sri Lanka, he added.
Russians holyday makers love the southern beaches of Sri Lanka and want to be far away from the hustle and bustle and most of them are in the resorts from Wadduwa to Dickwella.
According to the General Manager of the five star Heritance Ahungalle, Reffhan Razeen, over 50 of its 152 rooms are occupied by Russians. The hotel enjoys an occupancy rate of 80 percent.
Last edited by sapumal on Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:59 am; edited 1 time in total
