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Maldives is competing in the “New 7 Wonders of…

The Maldives archipelago has been nominated for the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign. This campaign is a process in which seven natural wonders of the world are chosen by people through a global poll which will be declared in the year 2011.

The campaign is being organized by the Swiss based New7Wonders Foundation after their success in organizing the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. 261 qualified national and multinational nominees are now competing to make it to the top 77.

Please vote for Maldives by visiting www.visitmaldives.com or www.new7wonders.com. Voting continues from January 7th until July 7th 2009 to determine the top 77 in each of the seven competing categories. The New7Wonders Panel of Experts will select the 21 finalists from the top 77 nominees.

We would like to call all Maldivians, fans and well wishers of Maldives to join our effort to make Maldives as one of the Natural Wonders of the World.

END.
For more information, please contact:
Mohamed Maleeh Jamal: 00960-7781171
Maldives Tourism Promotion Board
Malé, Maldives
Telephone: +960 332 3228
Facsimile: +960 332 3229

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Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan to head PATA in 2010

Hiran Cooray, Sri Lanka’s Tourism Industry representative to the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) from 1996 and current Honorary Secretary Treasurer 2008/ 2009 was designated as Chairman elect of PATA for 2010 /11, at its 58th Annual General Meeting, held last week in Macau. Mrs Phornsiri Manoharn, former Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) was elected to office as Chairman for 2009 /10.

Co Chairman of Jetwing Group, Hiran serves on the Board of PATA and is an executive committee member since 2002/3, making his contribution as chairman of the PATA Travel Mart Organizing committee, Vice Chairman of the Sustainable Tourism committee, a Trustee of the PATA Foundation, as well as an active member of the PATA Industrial Council and as Chairman of the PATA Sri Lanka Chapter during the period 2002/2004. For his outstanding services to PATA, Hiran was bestowed with a Merit award at PATA Annual Conference in Jeju, Korea and Chairman’s Award 2005 in Macau in 2005.

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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka -The Great Escape

‘Sri Lanka -The Great Escape’ the two day event, presented in Lyon and Paris, to reposition destination Sri Lanka, delighted the 320 tourism industry professionals who attended.

The destination’s many strengths were showcased with a particular emphasis on the diversity of the tourism offer available within a small land area. The richness of the culture, nature’s bounty, a warm and friendly people and world class facilities were presented as well as ongoing infrastructure development projects also explained.

Ravibandhu –Samanthi dance ensemble enthralled and entertained the visitors while Sri Lankan foods served at the event were enjoyed by all. 120 tour operators and MICE agencies had the chance to meet Sri Lankan tourism professionals during the afternoon Workshop Production. Six lucky travel agents won trips to Sri Lanka on a draw, and one lucky winner is the proud owner of a gem – an Aquamarine, reminding that beautiful gemstones are one of Sri Lanka’s many

Courtesy: Sri Lanka Tourism

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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Tourism gearing up for good winter

By Natasha Gunaratne

Travel operators and travel associations feel any negative publicity from the international press on Sri Lanka over the past few months will be counterbalanced from the positive exposure over this past week which includes international news organizations that covered the President’s live televised address to Parliament on Tuesday.

Managing Director of Jetwing Hiran Cooray, who is also Chairman-Elect of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), told The Sunday Times FT this past week that there will definitely be an increase in tourist arrivals but the impact of the global recession has to be kept in mind. “We will definitely see an increase and hopefully, we will have a good winter,” he said.

Mr. Cooray added that the industry was eager to market Sri Lanka once the war ended and from June 2009 onwards, the plan is kicking off. “We are just saying that Sri Lanka is a wonderful country and come and visit,” he said. When asked if the industry was aware of any overseas campaigns in key markets to discourage tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka, Mr. Cooray said there have been some incidences in the past but that the publicity Sri Lanka has gotten from the end of the war will counter these acts.

Sector Head of Inbound Travel at John Keells Holdings, Wasantha Leelananda said the industry has always maintained that one of the biggest beneficiaries of peace is tourism. “The prospects for the industry are very bright and we are working closely with our overseas partners to re-launch Sri Lanka,” he said. “The comments received from overseas partners are encouraging and we are getting ready to launch new initiatives.”

Mr. Leelananda said there are no concerns on any negative publicity in the international press. “The message to the world is that there is peace,” he said. “There are challenges ahead that have to be managed but we are confident that the government will address them.” Mr. Leelananda said there will most likely be an increase in the winter bookings but that positive results will be seen over the winter and the course of the coming year.

According to statistics on tourist arrivals from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), arrivals decreased in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period the previous year. January 2009 saw a 32.4% decline while February and March 2009 arrivals decreased by 15.7% and 10.5%.

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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka tourism cashing in on peace

Sri Lanka tourism is getting ready to ride the crest of the peace wave. The industry that had hit rock bottom a few days back is gearing for a major comeback and is expecting tourism numbers to cross the 500,000 threshold at the end of 2009. On Friday, the tourism authorities announced an international campaign chiefly targeting six major tourism source markets.

“We are launching an international campaign in the third week of June that will go on until the end of the year. This will mainly target the UK, France, Germany, Russia, the Middle East and India,” said the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Bernard Goonatilake.

“Sri Lanka can no longer be listed as a country at war. This will make a huge difference if we can get the message out to the world. I am confident that this year, inclusive of winter arrivals, we can exceed 500,000 arrivals,” said the Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, K A D George Michael.

The tourism authorities will hold talks with ambassadors of foreign countries within the next few weeks, to push for the removal of travel advisories against Sri Lanka. The government has also given priority for tourism development in the East.
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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: The cat that prowls Colombo suburbs

By Malaka Rodrigo

Sacheendra Deepankara got the call around 8.30 p.m. on May 13. A friend from Kohuwela phoned to alert him about a mysterious animal that had been hit by a vehicle. An active member of the Young Zoologists’ Association, Deepankara rushed to the site and called the Dehiwala Zoo.

Zoo authorities were quick to send a team and rushed to the car sales centre where the mysterious animal had taken shelter. The torch light caught a pair of glowing eyes under a parked vehicle. With a loud ‘hissing’ noise the animal tried to escape, but the team managed to secure the nets around the ‘cat like’ creature. It had a long, stocky body and relatively short legs with a broad head. Its olive-gray fur coat with black stripes and rows of black spots made it look like a small leopard. Deepankara was quick to identify the well grown animal as a Fishing Cat, known as ‘handun diviya’ in Sinhala.

Fishing cats prefer densely vegetated areas near water – marshes, mangroves, rivers and streams. “I was amazed to see a full grown Fishing Cat in an urban area like Kohuwela,” said Deepankara. Residents said another wild cat that had fallen into a well was rescued by them a few months ago.

“There were two animals that used to roam close to the spot where the fishing cat was hit by the speeding vehicle. But they were harmless and would run away if they sensed a human presence,” said another resident. Deepankara believes the abandoned paddy fields near Green Avenue, Kohuwela could be their home.

The Fishing Cat is a medium-sized wild cat that depends on wetlands. So how can such a wild cat appear in a suburban environment? Dr.Eric Wikremanayake – a senior scientist of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – who had studied Fishing Cats in urban environments in Sri Lanka provided some answers. “It is an elusive creature that can survive in the remaining wetlands in Colombo,” says Dr. Wikramanayake. Fishing cats were recorded in areas such as Boralesgamuwa, Nawala where little pockets of forest, marshes, and mangroves remain.

Fishing cats are nocturnal and truly secretive wild cats that avoid humans so studying them is a nightmare for researchers. Dr. Wikramanayake faced the same problem during his study of this urban fishing cat population done in early 2000 at Attidiya/Bellanwila and Sri Jayawardenepura/Kotte wetlands with the approval of Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and funding from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. The research team first interviewed the villagers and identified the areas fishing cats are frequently seen. Then they used quite an unusual method to study these wild cats, setting camera traps all around the edges of the identified fishing cat routes. The fishing cats took their own pictures by breaking a sensory beam that triggers the camera shutter as they walked past. Pictorial evidence confirmed their presence in Nawala and Attidiya.

This study also shed light on the behaviour and ecology of this wild cat that ironically, lives so close to human habitation. The time recorded on the photographs indicated that fishing cats are active both day and night. Although people reported seeing them very early in the morning, the photographs showed fishing cats walking around at midday. Some shots recorded more than one Fishing Cats. This indicates that mating too is not a problem and the remaining population would survive, if the urban wilderness was retained. “Being a charismatic species, we should use the Fishing Cat as a flagship species to promote the need to protect our remaining wetlands,” says Dr. Wikremanayake.

The research team had plans to radio collar fishing cats to track their movements and distribution. They also had plans to compare the behaviour patterns of fishing cats in urban areas with fishing cats living in natural environments.

The second part of the study however was halted due to security reasons as the two main sites are located near high security zones – one near the Parliament and the other near Ratmalana airport.
During the initial study, the team found that fishing cats are often accused of preying on chickens. The Fishing Cat research team also began an awareness campaign among the local residents and in schools, to impress upon people that what they have in their backyards is something special—an endangered wild cat that needs to be conserved. The latest victim – the Kohuwala Fishing Cat was already dead by the time it was taken to the Animal Hospital in Dehiwala Zoo. So it needs a collective effort to protect the remaining Fishing Cat population in urban and suburban areas, before it is too late.

Fishing Cat – fact file

Known as the “bull dog” of cats, the fishing cat has a long, stocky body. The average weight of a male is 12 kg while a female weighs around 7 kg. Its diet includes birds, small mammals, snakes, snails, and of course fish.

The cat attracts fish by lightly tapping the water’s surface to catch the fish. It can also use its partially webbed paws to scoop fish, frogs, and other prey out of the water or swim underwater to prey on ducks and other aquatic birds.

It is powerful enough to take large prey, such as calves and dogs. Listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, fishing cats are threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

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Sri Lanka

Vimal Seth joins Taj Samudra, Sri Lanka

New Area Director for Taj Hotels (Sri Lanka), Vimal Seth takes over as the General Manager, Taj Samudra Colombo.

Vimal Seth brings a wealth of 33 years of experience spanning key Indian metros from Mumbai to Mangalore, across both luxury and business hotels. His last tenure was in the neighboring island of Maldives managing the class Taj leisure property Taj Coral Reef Maldives.

He is confident of the much awaited comeback of the glory days of tourism in Sri Lanka – ‘With Sri Lanka’s unmatchable natural beauty form idyllic beaches to stunning hilltops coupled with solid infrastructure and the unmistakable warmth of her people, peace in this island nation can only equate to exponential growth in tourism’.

In Sri Lanka, the Taj goups owns three properties namely Taj Samudra, Colombo; Taj Exotica, Bentota and Taj Airport Gardens.

Sri Lanka

Chrys’s Sri Lankan chapter

‘The Sri Lankan Pages’ is the title of an exhibition of new work by New Zealand artist Chrys Hill, who has spent the past 11 years working and travelling away from home–the past two years teaching art at the Overseas School in Colombo.

Chris has been exhibiting since 1970 and has featured in a large number of solo and group shows in countries as diverse as New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, India and Britain.

The works for this show consist of fragments made up from images and moments in Sri Lanka. These separate images are presented as a collected experience. As the title of the show signifies The Sri Lankan Pages is much like pages from a book that have been removed and relocated onto a wall.

Some of the units are exhibited as individual pieces, allowing for people to collect them as a separate work or to combine groupings of them into their own combinations.

The exhibition is at kOOii Art Spaces at 480, Lake Road, Hokandara (at the Thalangama Lake near Thalawathugoda).

Courtesy: SundayTimes.lk

Sri Lanka

A hot destination: Sri Lanka

Ancient festivals and rich wildlife enchant Emily Lambert on a sun-kissed island

WHAT does Sri Lanka mean to you? Golden sandy beaches stretching for hundreds of miles? Cool, crystal-clear waters? All that is true, of course. But scratch underneath the surface, and there’s a wealth of treasures to be found in the interior of the island, making this a hot destination.

Colourful festivals throughout the year each bring the country to a standstill as pilgrims convene for a night of festivities.

Signifying the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Buddha, Vesak is a yearly pan-Asian festival held in May and first created in Sri Lanka.

Here you’ll see the grandest celebrations, with lanterns in rainbow colours strung up along the streets of major cities, and local charities compete to create the most fantastic light displays illustrating the life of Buddha.

Don’t miss the country’s temples, either – particularly beautiful at this time of the year, when they are filled with candles, flowers and incense offerings brought by pious devotees.

A few months later in August, the summer Kandy Esala Perahera is staged around the famous Temple of the Tooth.

Every August Kandyan Dancers, Velvet robed elephants, and pilgrims form a procession through the streets of the lakeside city of Kandy – as they have done every year since 300AD.

They’re following the men parading with spikes on their backs in order to remind themselves to pay respects to the Hindu god Skanda, but onlookers are also hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary Buddha’s tooth, which is taken around the city in a golden casket.

After immersing yourself in the country’s culture, Sri Lanka is home to the relaxing “wellness” of Ayurveda with plenty of ways to spoil yourself.

Ayurveda spas are easily found in most resorts, and provide a holistic approach derived from 3,000 years of natural treatments.

You’ll be steam-cleaned, rubbed with herbal oils and receive spine-tingling head massages after which you can pick your spot on the miles of empty beach and simply watch the sun disappear into the ocean.

Sri Lanka is an all year-round destination, and away from the beaches you’ll find something for everyone to enjoy.

If after your escapades with the elephants, brushes with ancient history and picking tea in the hills you are left hungry for more, then try some adrenalin-filled alternatives.

Sri Lanka has a well-established diving scene with plenty to explore and enjoy for serious marine enthusiasts.

The range of PADI-registered diving schools makes Sri Lanka an attractive and affordable place to learn to dive. The majority of the island’s dive centres can be found along the west and south coasts, particularly at Hikkaduwa and Bentota, which offer a fascinating range of sites.

A wealth of marine life ranging from colourful tropical fish to sharks and manta rays can be found amongst the reefs, spectacular underwater caves and a dramatic array of shipwrecks, both old and new.

Prefer keeping dry? Then the lofty rolling green heights of the hill country and peppered tea estates offer perfect hiking and cycling terrain thanks to their temperate climate and spectacular scenery.

There are many other roads and trails to be explored in the island’s forests and savannas where exhilarating trips combining camping excursions or stays in local villages, are the perfect way to get a first-hand taste of life off the beaten track in Sri Lanka.

Whale and dolphin watching is another big draw.

Located within the International Whaling Commission’s protected zone in the Indian Ocean, of the 80 species of cetaceans observed and identified worldwide, 26 are found in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal.

Whale and dolphin watching is a seasonal activity in Sri Lanka, available on the west coast in locations from Kalpitiya and along the south-west coast from November to March.

For thrills of another kind, the village of Kitulgala, spectacularly situated amongst precipitous ravines at the edge of the hill country, is Sri Lanka’s main white-water rafting destination.

It is also famous as the location for the shooting of David Lean’s classic Oscar-winning film Bridge on the River Kwai.

Source: WalesOnline

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Sri Lanka

In search of Ravana in Sri Lanka

By Patrick Jered

In a tourist emporium in New Delhi I was being hassled by an overzealous sales assistant. I was getting bored with fending him off. “How about a beautiful statue of Ganesh?” he asked, “Or Shiva?”

“Actually, I was rather hoping to find a statue of Ravana,” I said. “You know the guy with ten heads and twenty arms? …from the Ramayana?”

He was visibly taken aback. “No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head, “Ravana is a symbol of evil. Nobody would want a statue of him in their home.” My tactics worked, and he backed off.

I was in India for a four-month period researching a book I am currently writing on an ancient musical instrument called the ravanhattha. Although this instrument – the oldest ancestor of the violin – is used in Rajasthan, northern India, ancient mythology states that it was invented by Ravana, King of Lanka.

The story goes that Ravana, one of the most powerful beings in the universe, objected to his mother’s plan to go and live on Mount Kailash in what is now Tibet. To appease her, he decided to bring the mountain to Sri Lanka. As he lifted up the mountain, Shiva was angered by his arrogance and pushed it back down, trapping Ravana. The King of Lanka tore off one of his own arms and made a musical instrument, ripping out sinews to form the strings. He used the newly invented ravanhattha to sing the praises of Shiva, creating music of such beauty that Shiva wept and forgave him.

It was inevitable that the research for my book would lead me to Sri Lanka. I wanted to get a different angle on the Ravana mythology since I was beginning to feel that the Indian view, as described mainly in Valmiki’s Ramayana, might be a little biased, to say the least.

At the Sadaham Sevana Buddhist centre in Colombo I was welcomed by the Ven Athureliye Rathana Thera, Buddhist monk and politician. I admitted that my knowledge of Buddhism was not great, and the Ven. Athureliye patiently explained that according to ancient Buddhist scriptures, Lord Buddha had been invited to Sri Lanka by none other than Ravana himself.

Lord Buddha preached to Ravana, and the resulting Lankavatara Sutra was not only the foundation of Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka, but having been translated into Chinese also became the basis of Chan and Zen Buddhism as well. Could the enlightened Ravana that I read about in the English translation of the Sutra possibly be the very embodiment of evil as described in the Ramayana? On the Hindu festival of Dussehra, effigies of Ravana are burned all over India as a symbol of the triumph of good over evil.

During the few days I spent in Sri Lanka, I uncovered a whole artistic community of young people for whom Ravana is a positive influence and a creative springboard.

The film producer Sanjaya Nirmal informed me that he was engaged in a long-term research project which would culminate in a trilogy of films, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, about the life (or lives) of Ravana. He believed, he told me, that the many references in historical and mythological texts referred to several avatars, collectively known as Ravana. There were also numerous books on medicine and science which were attributed to Ravana, still available in print, but only in Sinhalese. There was plenty of evidence around, Sanjaya told me, that the historical figure Ravana had presided over a well-ordered and technologically superior nation of contented inhabitants. He had not been the evil despot portrayed by Valmiki.

The following day I vainly scoured the bookshops of Colombo for anything attributed to Ravana that had been translated into English. There was nothing. But one book did catch my eye. The Secret of Ravana: The Golden Era by Dulitha Wijewantha, was written, I discovered, by a fifteen-year-old schoolboy and was aimed at a teenage readership. It had been published at the start of 2009. Such a book would be unthinkable in India, and it was becoming clear that a great disparity existed between Indian and Sri Lankan views of this perhaps as much historical as mythological figure.

Focusing once again on the basis of my research, I had arranged to meet the young Sri Lankan musician Dinesh Subrasinghe. Dinesh has recently been offered the chance to study at the institute of Academy Award winning composer A.R. Rahman (of Slumdog Millionaire fame). We had corresponded and it was clear that we shared a fascination for the ravanhattha. Dinesh is the only musician I have encountered who is attempting to use the instrument in a modern context, and he gave me a copy of his forthcoming CD, Ravan Nada, on which it is used extensively. Dinesh explained that it frustrated him that an instrument invented by the ancient King of Lanka seemed to be so ignored in his home land. But if he had anything to do with it, that was set to change. He had launched a one-man crusade to raise awareness of this neglected aspect of Sri Lankan heritage.

I had hoped to leave Sri Lanka with some appreciation that there were other possible ways to interpret the mythology surrounding Ravana. I had expected to indulgently listen to the unconvincing opinions of people who were trying to re-position a mythological demon as some kind of anti-hero. But I learned that in Sri Lanka, the mythology surrounding Ravana presented in Valmiki’s Ramayana is simply deemed incorrect and irrelevant. There are other mythologies, perhaps not widely known outside of Sri Lanka, but a new generation of creative young people are tapping into them as a source of inspiration.

Heading back to India, I realized that just a week in Sri Lanka had given me a whole new insight into the mythological inventor of the ravanhattha, and a fascinating new angle for my book.

The writer is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (patrickjered@live.nl) and his book ‘Finding the Demon’s Fiddle’ should be available in print mid-2010.

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