The Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka lies in the heart of the Colombo business district. Taj Samudra is one of the most luxurious  Hotels in Colombo. A pleasant surprise is  even though they spoil you with large rich classy rooms, the prices are not to steep. It is quite normal to fetch a deluxe room for under USD$ 150.00 to suits that pamper to your every need. Most rooms you would have a choice of either open views to the glistening blue sea or the pool side which is an excellent feature of this stately hotel.

Taj Samudra is also an excellent choice for business functions, the hotel is able to accommodate from 50 guests to a massive 400 guest board rooms and since its located minutes walking distance from the beach and the financial CBD of Colombo , the guests can work and play at the same location! In addition to these features the hotel boasts a fully equipped gym, saunas, spas and a comfortable pool area where u can relax and enjoy the tropical climate….

Bookings can be mad via the website or by phone:

25 Galle Face Centre Road

Colombo 03

Sri Lanka,

Tel: (94-11) 2446622

Fax: (94-11) 2446348

Email: samudra.colombo@tajhotels.com

Web: www.tajhotels.com

Picture courtesy of: Mayakaru

Pressure from rising oil prices, rising interest rates and a bust US  housing industry threatens tourists numbers around the world. Sri Lanka too was stuck with a tourist arrival decline of 0.2 percent,but once again China came to the rescue. The Chinese tourism market, one of the fastest growing markets for tourism has travel agents around the world wooing the giant dragon. Decades of a booming economy has created a whole new league of tourists in China that wants to see the world. Despite the falling tourism arrivals, Sri Lanka had a growth of an impressive 7.3 percent increase in Chinese tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2008 (over the same period of last year).

This comes after a very rigorous campaign by Sri Lanka that has seen the country participate in several tourism expos in China. Sri Lankan Airlines also made a strategic contribution to the booming growth in Sri Lanka’s growth in Chinese tourism market by  having a high amount of weekly flights to China (currently Sri Lankan Airways has four flights weekly to china). The airline is also planned to  directly participate in travel fairs in China promoting Sri Lanka for tourism.

photo © www.saarc.com, photo artist:Nihan

Currently the basic criteria into the association is to manage more than five vehicles. To have been active in the business for a period lasting longer than five years. According to the first president of the association Kishan Perera ( from Kings Rent a car) one of the main reasons for this body it to rid the industry of the dodgy image of unprofessionalism that has been brought upon by just a few of the companies.

This new association in its first order of business has already begun lobbying the Sri Lankan Registra of Motors to speed up the endorsement process  of the tourists to drive in Sri Lanka. Currently after applying for the endorsement it could take more than 24 hrs, but the industry is proposing on arrival on the spot for a hassle free trip for the thousands of tourists that drive around in this lovely country.

The RACA has expressed interests in working to reduce the current high premiums the industry faces mostly because there is an on going high rate of vehicle vandalism which also dramatically increases maintenance costs.They have pledged to work closely with the police, the Tourism board and other authorities in the tourism industry to improve customer service for the counries 12,0000 fleet.