Sri Lanka tourism surges to record levels

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals hit a record high in November and for the year, with visitor totals climbing every month on a year-on-year basis since a 25-year civil war ended in May 2009.

Tourist arrivals in November hit a monthly record of 90,889, up 25.8 per cent from October, surpassing the island nation’s previous monthly peak of 84,627 in December.

The arrivals in the first 11 months of 2011 jumped 33.1 per cent to 758,458 from a year earlier, higher than Sri Lanka’s record annual tourist arrivals of 654,476 in 2010.

The government is targeting annual revenue of $2.75 billion by 2016 from 2.5 million expected visitors attracted by Sri Lanka’s beaches, hills and religious and historic sites, while aiming for $3 billion in foreign direct investment.

Sri Lanka had forecast 20 per cent growth in visitor arrivals this year, or more than 780,000 people. Nalaka Godahewa, the head of Sri Lanka Tourism Board, on Friday said he expects this year’s arrivals to be as high as 830,000.

Last year, arrivals grew by 46 per cent. The island’s tourism industry drew $1.2 billion for investment in the first half of 2011.

Tourism revenue, which jumped 64.8 per cent in 2010 to a record $575.9 million, has risen 48.1 percent in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier to $580.1 million, central bank data shows.

The hotel and travel index on the Colombo Stock Exchange has risen nearly fourfold since the end of the war.
Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka’s $50 billion economy along with remittances from expatriate workers, garments and tea.

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Sri Lanka approves US$1.8bn in tourism projects

Sri Lanka’s tourism development office has approved 1.8 billion dollars of investment proposals to build hotels deputy economic development Minister Lakshman Abeywardene said.

A ‘one stop unit’ at the tourism development office which was set up in November 2010 had received 189 applications by October 2011 of which 73 had been approved, 04 have been rejected and 112 are being processed, minister Abeywardene said.

The 184 projects with investment values of 1.85 billion dollars involve building 11,809 rooms, according to ministry data.

Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo has attracted the largest investment of 903.8 million US dollars involving 3,941 room, followed by Hambantota in the south with 189.1 million US dollars (720 rooms).

Gampaha also in the Western province had drawn 179.83 million US dollars (1,512 rooms) and Galle in the South had drawn 139.6 million US dollars (1,417 rooms).

Trincomalee, in the war torn East of the island projects valued at 77.2 million involving 794 rooms had been proposed, in Jaffna 24.1 million dollars worth projects involving 298 rooms, in Batticaloa 43.07 million dollars of projects with 606 rooms had been proposed.

–LBO–

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Jetwing Hotels Sri Lanka opens new property in Laos

The Grand Opening of Xiengthong Palace managed by Jetwing, a Sri Lankan company, was held in the presence of a distinguished international gathering including invitees from Laos, Vietnam & Sri Lanka.

At a time when Luang Prabang, the cultural capital of Lao PDR is becoming a top travel destination, the newly constructed and opened Xiengthong Palace is destined to play a key role as a service provider to the intelligent traveller as a top end hotel with all modern amenities.

Being located in the most serene area of Luang Prabang adjacent to Wat Xiengthong; the revered Buddhist monastery and the temple of the last royal family whilst endlessly admiring the beauty and the contentment of the majestic Mekong, Xiengthong Palace is probably the best place to be for tranquillity and luxury. It has the rare distinction of being a royal palace of the former Kingdom of Laos and enters a list of few such premises turned into unique hotels in the world.

Coming under strict guidelines and regulations of UNESCO for construction to preserve the archaeological heritage of Luang Prabang, the hotel’s architecture uniquely contributes to enriching the glorious past of this former seat of the country’s governance.

Luang Prabang as a destination has shown a high growth potential over the years and will soon see a major boost to its visitor arrivals with the expansion of its International airport and the arrival of wide bodied aircrafts.

The need for quality hotel rooms is in the rise and the newest addition of this unique hotel property at a cost of USD 4.5 million will make a significant contribution to the luxury accommodation requirement of Lao PDR.

Since its soft opening on the 12th October this year, guest comments received from its customers on the location, the hotel and its services has been extremely encouraging and future of the business is very promising from an investment point of view.

The chairman of the owning company of the hotel Dr. Tran Trong Kien is of the view that the decision to invest in Lao PDR was a timely decision considering its steady economic growth over the recent years and especially considering its potential in tourism. Hiran Cooray, Director of Jetwing Indochina Co. Ltd, the Managing Agent of the hotel and Chairman of PATA stated that Luang Prabang will soon be among the most sought after destinations in the region and the infrastructure development including quality accommodation is a step in the right direction and expressed his happiness for being able to join hands in this project.

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Beyond the Beach in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s main historical, and wildlife attractions had begun to draw more visitors, weaning the island away from being mainly a beach tourist destination, deputy economic development minister Lakshman Abeywardene said.

“Large numbers of tourists are visiting the Pinnawela elephant orphanage, Sigiriya (a rock fortress) and the Temple of the Tooth,” he said.

“This is showing that Sri Lanka is no longer just a beach destination.”

Sri Lanka has seen a steep increase in tourist arrivals following the end of a 30-year war in 2009. Up to November arrivals were up 33.1 percent to 758,458 exceeding an original 750,000 target for the full year.

Sri Lanka Tourist Promotion chief Rumi Marzook said a record 100,000 visitors are expected in December.

Sri Lanka received 654,476 tourists in 2010.

Out of that 293,721 or 44.8 percent had visited the Temple of the Tooth in the central hill town of Kandy, 229,359 or 35 percent had visited an elephant orphanage in Pinnawala and 32.23 percent or 201,949 had visited Sigiriya.

Over 32 percent or 210,949 had visited national botanical gardens, 24 percent or 160,586 had visited Sigiriya and 21.8 percent or 148,198 had visited wildlife parks.

The ancient city of Polonnaruwa had drawn 103,335 visitors of 15.7 percent of the total and Anuradhapura 75,917 or 11.6 percent of the total.

The Pinnawala elephant orphanage had earned 389 million rupees, the Temple of the Tooth 293 million rupees, Sigiriya 237 million, botanical gardens 123 million.

Polonnaruwa had earned 83.7 million rupees and Anuradhapura 14.8 million rupees.

Only 17,197 tourists or 2.63 percent had visited the Dehiwala Zoo, and 22,061 or 3.37 percent had visited national museums. The zoo had earned 20.6 million rupees and museums 9.8 million rupees.

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Sri Lanka tourism industry on right path

The Deputy Minister of Economic Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardane recently said that Sri Lanka targets 950,000 tourists in 2012. And our target for 2016 is an ambitious 2.5 million tourists.

It is positive thinking and good vision. But the Minister has not explained how we could reach this target without a proper marketing strategy and aggressive promotions. One should remember that tourists would not simply fly to this country and the tour operators will go the extra mile to recommend Sri Lanka as a destinations without much needed awareness. There are other countries in the region which are our competitors and they have launched vigorous campaigns to lure holyday makers to their respective lands, with considerable budgets for promotions which we lack.

Though we boast of our natural resources we possess and bestowed with pristine beauty, Sri Lanka is not a rich country where we could afford to invest quite a large sum of money to promote tourism. But we have not made use of the opportunities which have come our way to boost our country as a tourist destination in the region.

We need excellent tourism Ambassadors who have the capacity to promote the country overseas. Although most of our diplomatic missions have failed in this respect. Sri Lanka has had men and women living in those countries that have acted as tourism ambassadors voluntarily and promoted the country.

Many in the country’s tourism industry have welcomed the Government’s decision last year to do away with Public Relations Agencies who were paid heavily to boost the country as a tourist destination, but miserably failed. However, most of the Diplomatic Missions who were assigned with the task have also failed.

In this backdrop, the need to appoint voluntary Ambassadors to promote the country as a destination becomes quintessential.

Our tourism product has not been given a tagline nor branding by the authorities, though much has been talked about it. The Treasury Secretary P.B.Jayasundara boldly said in his address at the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka Annual General Meeting, that “Sri Lanka is the only virgin on the beach” in response to remark made earlier by former Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism, Renton De Alwis that “Sri Lanka is not the only girl on the beach.”

The Country’s tourism authorities must ponder whether mere rhetoric of Treasury Secretary would do justice and help us woo tourists to the country.

According to leading tour operators and travel agents whom this writer spoke to at the recent World Travel Mart (WTM) held in London “Sri Lanka must not forget that it is competing with a number of other countries in the region which have already established themselves as top tourist destinations. Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Vietnam and its neighbour India are a few of them”.

India with a massive promotional budget have invested heavily in London promoting the country as a tourist destination in South Asia with a variety of products to choose from to the discerning traveller.

A joint project by Sri Lankan Airlines, Aitken Spence Hotels and Sri Lanka Tourism to promote our tourism product using 60 London taxis was welcomed by those in the industry.

Sri Lanka didn’t grasp the opportunities at the WTM without any cost, to project the country as a tourist destination. The absence Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Dr Nalaka Godahewa was conspicuous. It was like the hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. The Economic Development Ministry had thought it fit not to provide an allocation for SLT Chairman to travel to London to participate at this important annual exhibition.

Other countries had their top icons, leading tourism personalities present in their respective stalls and the governments and tourism authorities in those countries had thought it was worth sending these personalities to participate at the top tourism fair in the UK.

A lesson we could learn from Trinidad and Tobago was that great cricketing icons such as Brian Lara, Sir Garfield Sobers and Alvin Kallicharan present at their stall all day and the magic worked. Hundreds of people were drawn into their stall just to get a glimpse of the cricketing greats of the Caribbean and according to a spokeswoman for Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Board; they were able to convince some of the visitors who came to meet the cricketing greats to their stall to spend their next holiday in the Caribbean island.

That is the right kind of marketing one should adopt and always massive campaigns where millions of dollars are not needed are is not the only way to boost a country’s image.

We have the Arjunas, Sanaths, Susanthikas and lot more who have done the country proud in different sports. but the authorities wouldn’t have thought of them or thought otherwise.

The whole responsibility where Sri Lanka was concerned was left on the shoulders of Sanjika Perera, Sri Lanka Tourism’s Director in London. Perera handled the duties thrust upon him with great aplomb.

Many who visited the Sri Lanka pavilion was of the opinion that it was more eye catching and spacious than the previous year.

In the recent past men in the calibre of Former Chairman SLT Renton De Alwis, Managing Director Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Dilip Mudadeniya, Deputy Minister Faizer Musthapha were able to create an impression about the country as a destination in the minds of tour operators and visitors to these fairs and these gentlemen were not just passengers. They were able to promote the image of Sri Lanka as a destination at time when the country was saddled with a civil war and the tour operators dissuaded holiday makers from visiting here citing the risk involved.

One wonders how authorities decided not to provide an allocation for Dr Godahewa to participate at the WTM, but had money to provide a joy ride to St Kitts for some who didn’t matter at all where the Commonwealth Games bid was concerned, including some women who were simply live cargo on board a chartered Sri Lankan Airlines flight to the Caribbean. What they did at St Kitts is anybody’s guess, well informed sources said.

They were mere passengers where the Commonwealth Games bid was concerned and only served the interests of some who were on the entourage.

All citizens in this country salute President Rajapaksa for his political vision, strategies adopted by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the military capabilities and leadership provided by the security forces chiefs and sacrifices made by all security forces personnel to rid this country of the scourge of terrorism make it a safe and a secure place for tourists to visit again.

But the big wigs in tourism should make hay while the sun shines before it is too late as other countries in the region will not simply wait.

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Sri Lanka Serenade – Destination Review

A road trip across the island that has emerged from turmoil challenges any traveller to not fall for our neighbour’s diverse and seductive charms.

President Mahinda Rajapaksha’s face could not be missed on Sri Lanka’s highways.

As I kept tabs on the billboards announcing his temple visits, political meetings and environment-conservation efforts, it struck me that the motorable stretch (450 km North to South and 220 kms East to West) had features that I had stopped associating with road journeys – a clean blue sea coast, spice gardens, lush rainforests, vast rubber plantations, rich wildlife reserves and a variety of bird species. The giant-sized monitor lizards made overt efforts to cross roads and rivers to greet the guests.

Thankfully, I had not taken the Sri Lanka experience limited to the beaten Colombo-Kandy-Nuwara Eliya track. Colombo-based Yathra Travels’ 10-day package, worked out in collaboration with Mumbai’s Doreen D’Sa’s Eco Tours, helped explore the raw aspects of the Isle of Serendipity. Not only did it touch all World Heritage sites, but it cut through the length and breadth of the small south-Asian island.

Once past the typical city experiences (malls, roadside restaurants and handicraft shops) in Colombo, an untamed tropical landscape of flowering acacias and mangrove swamps embraced me.

It is another story that a relaxing holiday to Sri Lanka should ideally be spread over a fortnight, so that one does not need another holiday to recover from the zapping biosphere.

The cultural triangle

The country’s cultural triangle includes Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and the Sacred City of Kandy. Kandy houses the temple of Lord Buddha’s tooth. Though known as a Buddhist pilgrim site, it embraced a thronging multicultural crowd. I was next to a European couple who had vowed to visit the site.

Anuradhapura came across as a perfect archaeological wonder – the ancient first capital of Sri Lanka, also the cradle of the Sinhala civilization.

The relics spoke of past glory, but they may not excite the uninitiated. They are the early signs of urban life in South Asia.

The sacred Bodhi Tree, believed to be the oldest documented tree in the world, and the Kuttam Pokuna (twin ponds) are not to be missed – masterpieces of old Sinhalese architecture. Similarly, Polonnaruwa, the medieval capital set besides a nature reserve, is spectacular, especially its 5940-acre reservoir built by King Parakramabahu.

Anyone studying water management and irrigation systems should observe the Pollonaruwa model. Any takers in Mantralaya?

The rock-cut caves of Dambulla

Dambulla’s cricket stadium put Sri Lanka on the international cricket map. It is also home to a well-preserved temple cave complex. Located in the central province of Matale, it is one of the most impressive rock-cut caves in Asia. Wandering around the 80 documented caves is difficult.

I concentrated on the five major ones containing Lord Buddha’s statues and paintings in varying sizes. Depictions on the walls and ceilings are reminiscent of Ajanta and Ellora. But the difference lies in their preservation. The Dambulla Rock indeed wears a looked-after look, and offers a great panoramic view.

Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage

The Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, in the Kegalle village, was one of the highlights of the tour. It was definitely a window to the lives of 80-odd elephants. Their feeding and bathing time added to my photo album.

The playful baby elephants, queuing up for the plunge, were unforgettable. But somehow the chained bottle-fed mammals were a forced synthetic photo frame. It violated the Sri Lankan spirit of environment-friendly tourism.

Yala National Park

The animal safari at the Yala National Park was a better opportunity to see the wild. The 6 am safari was a meeting place for not just untamed elephants but also leopards. As we drove around the 100,000 hectares of the park, a lounging leopard sunning it up was a privileged view.

A precious freezeframe. Peacocks crossed our paths. Around 130 bird species — lesser flamingos, paradise flycatchers, crested hawk eagles and the green-billed Caucal surrounded the cosmos.

The spotted deer herds inspired solidarity. At one point, the Yala safari was closed due to the threat of terrorist attacks from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE). Later, the 2004 Tsunami threatened the park’s inmates. But wildlife remains unaffected now.

World’s End

The Horton Plains National Park (near the Nuwara Eliya hill station) is a plateau perched at an altitude of 7000 feet, surrounded by two mountains and three major rivers. Its edge-of-the-precipice view is breathtaking.

The plateau comes to a sudden end, called the World’s End. The cliff with a 700 metres vertical drop is stunning –not recommended for the weak-hearted.

Atop the Sigiriya Rock

The ancient rock fortress-cum-palace ruins of Sigiriya were uplifting. Falling in the same Matale province, the precinct has the remains of an extensive network of gardens and reservoirs.

Sigiriya is renowned for its frescos. One of the most important World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka, declared by UNESCO as the 8th Wonder of the World inspires a feeling beyond words.

One can imagine how it was inhabited through prehistoric times, and used as a rock-shelter mountain monastery since 5th century BC.

The Sigiriya rock, a distinct flat top, encourages you to reach atop. It took an hour to reach atop the distinct flat top. Drinking the cold water trickling through streams was an experience in itself. It’s potable and cool!

Green piece

Visits to the Peradeniya and Hakagala gardens underline the country’s biodiversity hotspots. The Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a designated biosphere reserve whose remote southern location works to its advantage. It is fun to walk up its dense vegetation on a hilly terrain, notwithstanding the leeches.

Walking in the wet evergreen forest with lofty tall trees is worth every hardship. I recommend the stay at the Blue Magpie Lodge, with a wonderful middle-of-nowhere location. When you leave, jot down the bird species you spotted.

The Muthurajawela wetlands

It spans from the Negombo lagoon to the Kelaniya River, northern tip of Colombo. A boat ride in this ‘swamp of royal treasure’ showed me herons and egrets and 40 types of fish. However, one has to be prepared for the sun’s harsh rays as you sail in the lagoon.

The other core tourist spots are Sita Temple (which is the Ashok Vatika marked with Lord Hanuman’s footsteps), and Ratnapura gems.

The visit to a rubber plantation site, the taste tour in a tea factory, the survey of handmade batik centers, a massage session at a spice garden, and a gourmet guide to Sri Lanka’s buffalo curd was valuable.

Thanks: TOI

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Indian Holidaymakers pick Sri Lanka over London

Despite dollar touching a record high and becoming expensive, Indian tourists are not cancelling their trips abroad but are making compromises to make up for the 15% rise in travel expenses. Tour operators say a devalued rupee has forced many to shrink their budgets and choose less expensive locations such as Sri Lanka, closer to home.

According to the tour operators, passengers will have to pay 15% more on hotels, shopping and sightseeing at places like the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and even Singapore. “If a family of four is travelling to one of these places, the holiday budget will shoot up considerably,” said Ajay Prakash, president, Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI). He added that one of his clients, who was planning a holiday to Northern Europe, decided to settle for Hong Kong instead. “There are many people who take one annual holiday. They might change their destination to suit their budgets but won’t cancel travel plans,” Prakash said.

Other tour operators said the effect of the rupee devaluation is also evident in the travel budget people are assigning their agents. Pradip Lulla of Cupid Travels said most of his clients have given him a smaller budget than usual. “This means that those who would have otherwise holidayed for 10 days are now trying to cut it down to seven,” he said.

Thanks: TOI
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Sri Lanka builds 35 five star hotels island wide

The Sri Lankan government has approved setting up of 11 five star hotels in the capital Colombo and 24 in areas outside of Colombo to attract and accommodate tourists.

Sri Lanka’s Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has said the government has received the approval to set up two five-star hotels in Gampaha, one in Negombo, four in Beruwala, two in Jaffna, seven each in Batticaloa and Trincomalee, and one in Nuwara Eliya.

He has told the media that the government was also looking at creating a tourist zone linking Katunayake, Gampaha and Negombo in the Western Province.

According to Rajapaksa, leading international hotels are to be invited to invest and build hotels in Sri Lanka to provide a wide range of choices for the discerning tourist.

He has emphasized that Sri Lanka has to attract the investors before they go to other countries.

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Nat Geo picks Sri Lanka among 2012 best tourist…

National Geographic Traveller magazine has named Sri Lanka among top six destinations for world travellers in 2012, focusing on island’s hill country, heritage sites, and pristine beaches.

The magazine, in its Nov/Dec issue, describes that Sri Lanka’s hill country features stunning scenery, tea plantations, and ancient Buddhist temples, according to China’s Xinhua news agency, citing a statement by the External Affairs Ministry on Friday.

“This mountainous, mist-draped realm has long been popular with backpackers and other adventurers for its tea plantations and rain forest preserves, known as the Central Highlands, which recently were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.”

“Sri Lanka is a resplendent isle, and the natural charms of this pear- shaped island in the Indian Ocean that nearly kisses the southeast tip of India are indeed splendid,” the magazine said in a review of its in its best of the world 2012 trips.

Sri Lanka tourism has grown impressively, with a 52 percent increase in 2010 compared to 2009. Arrivals have topped an all-time high of 750,000 and the government has targeted 2.5 million tourists by 2016.

With those increases, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has outlined a plan to reach a 30,000 hotel-room capacity by 2015.

Recently, top hotel chains such as Starwood (Sheraton), Marriott, Shangri La and Taj have announced plans for new construction in Sri Lanka. A number of existing hotels are also undergoing renovation. The magazine said the island has recently emerged from a bloody civil war between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils and peace prevails.

— BERNAMA

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Sri Lanka whale watching with Nature Trails

On an excursion off Mirissa with John Keells Nature Trails, Shaveen experiences some serious thrills

Our eyes are fixed on the far horizon. The sun’s rays illuminate the seascape. ‘Whale.. Blue Whale!’ a cry is let out from the boat. All eyes turn to the person who made the call and then follow his finger towards the distance. Suddenly the magnificent creature surfaces. The sight itself is overwhelming. The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal on earth shows itself for just about minute, before disappearing into the depths of the sea.

The Blue Whales are seen in three locations off the coast of Sri Lanka–Mirissa, Kalpitiya and Trincomalee. Mirissa being the prime spot out of the three, sandwiched between the towns of Weligama and Matara, is a 35 km or one hour drive south of Galle by bus. The whale watching season is just beginning as the Sunday Times joins a John Keells expedition on board a 20-seater power boat off Mirissa.

“Passion is what drives me on this whale quest,” says Nilantha Kodituwakku, naturalist at John Keells Nature Trails who has worked alongside Chitral Jayatilaka – Head of Eco-Tourism and Special Projects at John Keells to promote the operation. Having been inspired by the wildlife and backyard jungle treks of Polonnaruwa, where he grew up, Nilantha has ever since been in love with nature.

“I don’t believe that whales are here for the season, I believe that they are resident creatures,” adds Nilantha. ”Of course the start of the season signifies the best weather conditions to see whales, and has yielded high success rates,” he adds, as the sun glistens across a sky that now beams clear blue.

‘John Keells Nature Trails’ have been pioneers in the industry and are known to have the safety of the passengers and the whales uppermost.

The official season kicked off early November with a few boats going out to sea, in search of luck in its big blue form. At the entrance to the John Keells office at the Mirissa fishery harbour a whiteboard with dated entries lets us know that the last few outings have indeed yielded good results – with sightings of up to a dozen Blue and Sperm whales, and a staggering 300 Spinner Dolphins (Stenella longirostris), on a particular outing.

Nilantha pulls out a sea chart to pinpoint the locations we’ll be heading to. The sea chart reveals the extraordinary fact that there is a high density of whales between the first and second international shipping lanes. “The whales are not deterred by the ships though the reason still remains a mystery,” says Nilantha. As though to solely prove his point, a magnificent Blue surfaces and does a trademark dive as an oil tanker steams past in the distance.

The Mirissa sea is unique in many ways, being upto 300 metres deep within close vicinity to the shore, the continental shelf being very narrow here. This specialty is what makes these waters well-suited for marine mammal watching. The success rate of spotting Blue whales is almost 100%, with Sperm whales, Risso’s and Spinner dolphins showing themselves along the way.

sri-lanka-whale-watching-with-nature-trails-in-sri-lanka — Blue Whale Sri Lanka by Chitral Jayatilake

Along with John Keells, Mirissa Water Sports was one of the first in the industry. With a modest beginning of very few boats – three to be precise, they currently have 15 boats in operation. But these apart, unregulated boating has been a reason for worry, with a large number of fishermen-cum-whale watchers emerging from the region. The thirst for quick money has lured them into this enterprise. With their owners having little knowledge, these boats pose a threat to the long term viability of the industry. “The balance in the industry depends on proper regulation,” says Nilantha. “We know the regulations, we don’t chase the whales, we don’t separate the pack and we certainly don’t encroach on their personal space.”

Such practices were evidently lacking in some of the small boats that took to sea. On one instance a small boat laden with foreign tourists ventured so close to a whale that it was literally on top of the creature. The whale obviously showing signs of panic, vanished out of sight.

NARA chairman Hiran Jayewardene, speaking to the Sunday Times says that regulations are long overdue, although there have been discussions between the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Tourist Board and NARA. Dr. Jayewardene points out that regional co-operation on this matter is being sought. “We are presently working with the Centre for Research on Indian Ocean Marine Mammals (CRIOMM), and the Indian Ocean Maritime Affairs Co-operation (IOMAC), to adopt a common approach and a dedicated Marine Mammal Management Act.”

Just as a Blue whale is spotted by Nilantha, our boat slowly approaches from the rear, making sure the 100m distance is kept. The Blue acknowledges our restraint by remaining on the surface for a prolonged period before treating us to another breathtaking tail fluke. Four giant leviathans are sighted, before we head back, only to be greeted with the pleasant surprise of close to a hundred Spinner dolphins, as one chirpy dolphin rose from the water spinning upwards – justifying its name. Spectacular would be an understatement for these sights.

Enjoying the spectacle, tourists Farida and Francis Gueroult from France, tell us that whale watching is what attracted them to the Southern coast. Francis says travelling has been their pastime for the last couple of years. “Sri Lanka is one of our top destinations, because of its ecology and its smiles,” beams Farida.

“This industry should not be abandoned, however small boats should not be allowed to close in on the whales,” they say. Being one of the first to literally point a finger at the rowdy boatmen, Farida reiterates that the tourists should be the first to tell the local boatmen not to disturb the whales – solely to please them.

Another stakeholder is the Sri Lanka Navy who recently launched their very own whale watching expeditions headed by Commander Kosala Wijesooriya. Their boat – the A543 had seen active service in Eastern waters. “We have decided to come into the industry as there was a lack of methodical operations,” says Commander Wijesooriya, explaining that the Navy aspired solely to provide a boost to the industry.

“Sri Lanka has not even touched its potential in becoming a whale watching hotspot,” he claims. The Navy currently has no affiliated naturalist but is keen to take down methodical notes of sightings and log them for future use. “Once the industry blooms, we’ll not continue the enterprise, as the Navy is entrusted with other operations of prime importance,” Commander Wijesooriya says.

The whale watching industry is on a tight-rope, struggling to find the balance between conservation, regulation and national economic gain. To strike this intimate balance is what authorities and conservationists must work towards if it is to be a sustainable and beneficial effort both for tourism in Sri Lanka and the majestic marine mammals that seek our waters.

Keells Nature trails

A three- hour excursion with John Keells Nature Trails costs Rs 7000 per person, and reservations can be made from the John Keells Head Office, Colombo 2, or at the Chaaya Tranz Hotel Hikkaduwa.

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