January 2024

Yes, it is one of the last things to think about if you are planning to visit a tropical country. No big jumpers, no winter coats, no body warmers, and no duvets are needed if you are traveling to Sri Lanka. Trust me, you can survive with just shorts and skinnies if you are not traveling to the hill countries. The worst it can get there is just below 10 degrees Celsius at night. During the rainy season, it won\’t be too cold anywhere in the country. Therefore, make sure to have light clothes and a lighter bag to enjoy the tropical atmosphere. Most importantly, why not try your best fashions during this fantastic holiday season? Keep in mind, there might be some restrictions to cover your body when you visit temples. There are a couple of things to remember if you wish to travel to some of the rich cultural destinations of the country. Since most of these areas are religious—Buddhist or Hindu-related places—you might be asked to cover up if you are wearing shorts or skinnies. This is a strict rule when you visit the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy, Dambulla Ancient Temple, and historical temples in Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. My advice is to enjoy the weather as much as you can and keep a separate sheet or cloth to cover up your body whenever needed. Beaches and swimming pools are going to be the best experiences of your holiday in a tropical paradise. Make sure to have all your swimsuits and bikinis ready with the relevant cosmetics. The average temperature can be from 25 to 33 degrees Celsius during a sunny day on the beach. It’s well enough to get your skin tanned, so remember to have sun protection cream with you too. This is just general advice about the clothes to pack when you are coming to Sri Lanka for a holiday, but this can vary according to the particular itinerary you get from your tour operator. At Tara Travels, we advise our clients individually about their itineraries. We are happy to share our experiences if you need any. Feel free to comment below or just drop us an email at info@taratravels.co

Destination promotion is vital to develop the tourism industry in a country. Digital Technology has reshaped the entire process of destination promotions. I recently had a chance to interview a Swiss millennial couple who is travelling in Sri Lanka. The boy is passionate about Kite Surfing and the girl is going to learn Kite Surfing while in Sri Lanka and she wanted to travel to India as she likes to explore culture & heritage. They have got to know about the Kalpitiya area from a Swiss religious Television channel and then he has searched for pictures on Instagram and YouTube for videos. He has read reviews on TripAdvisor prior to confirming his visit to Sri Lanka. Apparently, during the specific time of the year is holiday for those youngsters and they usually search for their next Kitesurfing spot in the World as soon as they finished their holidays. He has been to a number of countries like that and he is expecting to have 7 days on Kitesurfing in Kalpitiya and 7 days touring around the country. He will be posting a number of pictures on Instagram and write review about hotels and places he is visiting in Sri Lanka as a help to the travellers like him. As I specifically asked him his review will definitely influence Sri Lankan visits of at least 5-10 their close friends. As a travel industry professional who following ongoing trends in the industry, I have come across the news items of a number of international Tourism Promotional activities done by SLTPB except for anything about online destination marketing campaigns. There are a number of destination promotional roadshows are organised, headed by the minister. The national digital marketing campaign is to keep postponing. A recent interview published in Financial Times with the regional head of TripAdvisor stated that how simple the campaign is needed to be. She is simply saying create stories as much as you can. Make it genuine and helpful to others. I think officials want to know, how many millions does this cost? I would say without spending a cent, Sri Lanka can start its innovative digital marketing campaign. Unfortunately, this is Sri Lanka, officials only like to see its balanced budget sheets only. One of the eye-catching digital media campaign “Incredible India” recently launched its latest digital marketing campaign as “The Great Indian Blog Train” which is to create web contents by giving bloggers to have a luxury train ride in India. TripAdvisor Destination Marketing Head – Asia Pacific Sarah Mathews exactly proposing a similar activity from Sri Lankans too. Of course, India is on the right track. Why can’t Sri Lanka run a Destination Marketing Campaign on digital media? According to a well-known marketing professional in the country, the committee set up to develop a Destination Marketing Strategy to Sri Lanka, none of those members has a single active social media account. All those are good at wealth accumulation, but not in the digitalised world. Competition of the travel & tourism industry is not on hunting of foreign agents now. It is highly digitised and destination promotion needs to be on the digital world. Millennial and post-millennial travellers highly depend on online but not on paid advertisements. The digital world is genuine and cheap quality products do not survive on it. We need to get ready for the digital era by producing some genuine products first. Unreasonable commission schemes and tourist’s traps won’t benefit at all. Probably they can cheat on Indian or Chinese large group travellers, but only until they get noticed. Willgoto, World travel directory and travel guide for a detailed travel guide. The digitalising of the Sri Lankan Tourism need to start from the ground. There are enough professionals and private companies who can run a fabulous digital marketing campaign. One of an Indian Travel company based in Sri Lanka has handed over their website development to a local company for a high cost while they can develop it in India at least 5 times less than the price they pay to the Sri Lanka company. But the company is wise and has a long-term plan. Sri Lankan authorities who are waiting to launch its digital marketing plan need to look at those examples too. This is destination marketing and it is not merely a product, it is consists of culture, society, language at so many identities which could be understood only by Sri Lankans. Sri Lanka is digitised enough. But it is a huge question whether the Travel & Tourism sector is digitalised enough or not. The discussion needs to be heard in a much higher voice than it is now. FeelSL Holidays, a family-run boutique tour operator in Sri Lanka, has been rebranded as Tara Travels. The FeelSL Holidays website is currently disabled, and all content has been transferred to the newly launched Tara Travels website. While all content will be updated with current information, certain quality content concepts originally published on FeelSL will be retained on the Tara Travels website.

In order to make a thing perfect, every little space need to be filled. When it comes to the hospitality it does matter. Otherwise you will keep some memories but you will feel that you did not get what you expected. “Ani Villas: It’s all yours” is a concept of make things perfect and beat your expectations. Ani Villa – Sri Lanka, the world renowned brand is in Sri Lanka to offer its ultra luxury facilities with Sri Lankan hospitality services. Lets Start – Heading to down south town Dikwella, Sri Lanka. Where can we start? May be from architecture…. No… Let’s have a simple start….. You may come after a long flight and a long drive and of course to a different country. Home is far and you need to refresh yourself so badly. I am sure a friendly Sri Lankan smiley face will comfort you first. That helps you to get down from your vehicle. But at “Ani Villa – Sri Lanka” that is just a start of welcoming you. Lighting an oil lamp by all your friends and family is the best feeling of welcome I have ever had. Noise of the sea at dark atmosphere with small bulbs all around the garden will give you one of the best initial impressions. Pleasant and active group of staff led by General Manager of Ani Villas – Sri Lanka, Yeshi Phuntsho start their service right after they receive your inquiry. They are in a mode to give their best service to you. Familiarising the place and creating meals, excursions, special arrangements, will feel you like they are staying in your place. Of course it says clearly “It’s all yours” Stay at Ani Villa Scenic view of my bed room is the most amazing thing in this property for me. I really love to have a long view from my bed room. Amazing sight of beautiful Indian Ocean’s horizon is the best for a energetic morning. Tropical Sri Lankan down south may be difficult without Air conditioning even with the sea breeze, comfortable extra-large rooms with spread air-conditioning machine may feel like you are waking up in a spring morning. I had a chance to visit a few rooms where my friends stayed. The common thing in all of them was focusing on stunning ocean and securing the privacy. Renowned seaside boutique property architecture Reda Amalou and his team on AW2 has given extra value to the Sri Lankan ocean giving unique sight of the ocean to the guests who are staying in the property. All the rooms and common areas like bar, living pavilions, event pavilions and other places have located in the perfect place to get the best view and matching to the uneven landscape. If you are staying in the property, you do not see the staff everywhere like in a star class hotel. But whenever you need them, one of 30 members with you in a second in a happy to serve mode. Positivity among the staff of Ani Villas is exceptional. I am sure the beautiful swimming pool and surrounding area is the place you spend most of your time here. The perfectly designed infinity swimming pool is not only comforts you but gives you a stunning photographic view. If you are a sunbathing fan, this is one of the ideal places, and a cold beer or properly made cocktail from Achala from the bar will entertain you throughout the day. It is absolutely All Yours. Any type of food and a huge collection of liquor and wines are all of them to you. I am sure anyone will fine a great homemade food collection including Jam, Marmalade, and ice-creams. They are precisely homemade as the well-experienced chef Cyril and the team enthusiastically make them inside the premises. They are happy to make any special dishes upon your request. The all-inclusive availability of smart TVs in your bedroom is another great thing in this place. You have several Satellite TV channels and Netflix to enjoy and more especially unlimited download on the i-tune store is quite interesting as well. High-speed internet in each room will never let down your expectations.   Ani Villa – Luxury oceanfront villa in Dickwella in Sri Lanka can be booked on a villa basis. There are two separate villas, the larger one is Villa Monara with 8 bedrooms and a minimum of 6 bedrooms need to be booked. Villa Divia contains 7 bedrooms and a minimum of 4 bedrooms need to be booked. The price range starts from $ 3750 and $ 15000 for the entire property during the peak time. End.. At the end of the review let me finish with the fascinating story behind this ultra-modern luxury villa. Tim Reynolds, the founder of Jane Street Capital (a global proprietary trading firm) changed his life when he met artist Anthony Waichulis with the concept of “Great artists aren’t born, they’re educated”. He started Ani Art Academy and Ani Villas were established to fund this amazing art academy. You can find Ani Art Academies wherever you find luxury Ani Villas. Sri Lankan Ani Art Academy is being built at the moment. They conduct a year-intensive art curriculum at the academy. There are several renowned artists have been already made from these academies in the world. (The writer stayed at Ani Villas as a familiarisation tour organised for a travel agency on December 2016) FeelSL Holidays, a family-run boutique tour operator in Sri Lanka, has been rebranded as Tara Travels. The FeelSL Holidays website is currently disabled, and all content has been transferred to the newly launched Tara Travels website. While all content will be updated with current information, certain quality content concepts originally published on FeelSL will be retained on the Tara Travels website.

The human touch of travel is a challenge with rising online travel agents. This article shows 5 solid reasons that the human touch of travel cannot be replaced. As a tour designer who handles direct enquiries from holidaymakers from all around the world, I face a huge challenge of beating out OTA’s that sell cheap travel packages without knowing anything about the destination. This article is about the reasons why human touch of travel cannot be replaced with robots during the era of online systems taking over most of the commercial activities of the world. I agree the fact that OTAs are becoming a huge challenge to traditional travel agencies especially among the travel & tourism tech innovations at a higher level and growing faster. But my argument is that Human Touch of Travel will not be replaced but the value of the position will be enhanced by the tech disruption happening in the industry. WL – WebLinks Directory   These are some points to prove that the human touch of tailor-made holiday designs are not going to be erased until artificial intelligence (AI) machines can fully replace humans. 1. Paintings did not replace the camera There is a famous saying that once the camera is invented, paintings will no longer be valid in art. But did it happen? What happened was artistic paintings took a different artistic formation where the pictures from a camera cannot be replaced. The value of the paintings was increased while some areas covered by paintings were replaced by the camera, because of that the value of the human touch has increased in drawings. 2. ‎The human touch of production is replaced but the value of human touch has gone up. Wherever human engagement is replaced by technology has increased the value of the human touch while adding a premium value to the product. If you need a custom-made product, human touch is essential. If you are a person who enjoys the same product which has been produced in a factory with thousands of identical products, you might not need the human touch. But if you need something unique and carefully matched with your specific requirements, you need the human touch to customize your product. For example, handmade cars to handmade jewellery or handmade clothes have a premium value. Likewise, tailor-made holidays will become a premium product in the travel industry soon. 3. ‎Culture can not be replaced by experience-sharing One of the most interesting changes in the travel and tourism sector in the recent past is travellers are eager to experience the local culture. Experience is not merely visiting a place but living it. This is not a novel concept but the benchmark that changes the traditional method from travelling to visit sites to get a life experience. User-generated content or any ready-made packages cannot provide the real experience the person needs unless it is provided by an experienced human being. That is human touch of travel is filling the gap of the industry. 4. ‎Professional knowledge can not be replaced by general knowledge User-generated travel reviews are guiding methods used by online travel agents. There may not be any human touch until the client comes to the specific destination. But can we always depend on user-generated content? Then Wikipedia must have replaced all the professions even including medicine, engineering or nuclear science. Likewise, thorough professional knowledge about a destination, accommodation or excursions cannot be replaced by reviews; probably they can guide the holidaymakers. But when it comes to decision-making, anyone who is eagerly waiting for a holiday might not be willing to risk their plans by depending on unfiltered sets of ideas rather than professionals who design tailor-made holidays. 5. ‎Human touch can not be replaced by a robot Finally, there is a limit to technology. Of course, some hard labour work accomplished by humans can be replaced by technology. But using the knowledge in any industry will not be able to replace the human in the near future. Likewise, traditional holiday package selling will be easily overtaken by OTAs shortly. Lack of creativity in the industry will make a chaos to the traditional mass sellers who are trying to beat the market only by prices. But the human touch in the travel and tourism industry will not only be replaced but the value also will grow up in future.

Introduction to Sustainable Development Concept of “Sustainable Development” was developed due to a number of shortcomings of the classical development strategy used during & post industrial revolution. (Source). Continuous high environmental pollution, over consuming natural resources, escalating the effects of carbon footprints along with economic disparity and social exclusion caused the reason to develop a sustainable development strategy. Sustainable Development concept is established due to over consuming resources after the industrial revolution and risk of lacking or finishing those resources for future generations. In an essay by Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) predicted that World population will eventually starve or at the least minimal level of subsistence due to the growth of the population. Growth of the technology and the production made his prediction stand still. The book “The Limits to Growth” by (Meadows, 1972) argues the depletion of nonrenewable resources will make an impact on the supply to the continuous growing demand. Because of ongoing debate on resources, population growth and consumption UN general secretary appointed the Brundtland Commission in 1983 which eventually lead to the UN conference on Environment and Development. (UNCED). “Our Common Future” the report published by Brundtland Commission which includes the most recognized definition on Sustainable development. “Sustainable Development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” There were key outputs of UNCED summit in 1992. Those were The Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 and Commission of Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 was evolved from the plan of agenda 21 in 1992. Agenda 21 got 40 chapters mainly in 4 sections; Social and Economic dimensions, Conservation and Management of Resources for development, Strengthening the Role of Major groups and Means of Implementation Agenda 21 was evolved as the Millennium Development Goals in year 2000 which contained 8 goals to be achieved in 2015. The goals are Eradicate extreme poverty Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Ensure environmental sustainability and Develop a global partnership for development. After ending Millennium development goals in 2015, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were introduced on targeting 2030. There are 17 goals. No Poverty Zero Hunger Good Health and Well-being Quality Education Gender Equality Clean Water and Sanitation Affordable and Clean Energy Decent Work and Economic Growth Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Reduced Inequality Sustainable Cities and Communities Responsible Consumption and Production Climate Action Life Below Water Life on Land Peace and Justice Strong Institutions Partnerships to achieve the Goal (Source – https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030.html) As an industry one of the continuously fastest growing within the last few decades and the potential to influence most parts of the world simultaneously “Sustainable Tourism” concept was developed to coincide with “Sustainable Development” This essay is focused on discussing the ways of sustainable approach to Tourism benefit people and future generations at the same time. According to UNWTO, the Sustainable Tourism is defined as follows; “Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”  Key elements of the definition highlights. Make optimal use of natural resources while maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity. Respect the host communities, culture, identity and facilitate to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance Providing a socio-economic benefit to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed. Whilst SDGs are directly mentioned in the Tourism Industry in 3 of its goals (Goal no 8, 12 & 14) as one of the fastest growing industries in the World, Tourism Industry can support of implementing most SDG Goals. For an example, Goal No 01- End poverty in all its forms everywhere; could be achieved by expanding economic benefits of tourism industry with host communities. Countries which are below the poverty line has a bigger share in tourism arrivals within the last two decades. As an industry, which has high engagement with people has a higher opportunity of distributing its financial and other advantages with its communities. Rather than waiting for a spillover effect from an industry, tourism industry has more possibility of getting direct advantages to the country’s entire population. The benefits to its host community will have a direct impact back to the industry as the quality of the human touch will be increased. SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic growth could be achieved while supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity and small- and medium-sized enterprises which is covered in SDG 8.3. The human touch of the tourism industry is highly valued and which may lead to increase the employment opportunities in the society. Tourism industry promotes cultures. While most of the other Economic development activities can harm to local culture, customs, history and heritage, Tourism Industry promotes those to its clients as a product. This will indirectly conserve some vulnerable social practices and conserve history and heritage as an economic product. The damages could have been affected to some historical and cultural monuments needs to be avoided by limit over visitation and planned regulations. Experienced modern day visitors are genuinely support those conservation attempts if they are educated on the process. Sustainable practice will be constructively impact on cultural and heritage rather than as a threat. Beaches & sea are one of the most popular parts of the tourists all around the World. Conservation projects on sea animals is highly popular among tourists such as turtle conservation projects. The real sustainable impact needs to be monitored to get the best outcome from them. Since the conservation is the part of the tourism activity, the authorities do not need to allocate their funds for them. The advantages are mutually benefited. Well planned, sustainable approach will benefit both industry and community while sharing its economic and other paybacks at the same time. It will help to reduce the destructive effects on society while increasing its security for a long time. Tourism Industry of Sri Lanka The tourism industry is the 3rd Foreign Exchange earning source to the country at the moment. It responsible for

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Outbound Tourism of United Kingdom British Holidaymakers and Sri Lankan Tourism Prospects and Key Challenges Recommendations and suggestions 01. Introduction on United Kingdom and Its Tourism Industry When it comes to travel and leisure industry, the United Kingdom (UK) ranks as originate place of industrial revolution two centuries ago. Mass scale leisure travelling also started from the United Kingdom in 1841 when Thomas Cook introduced the leisure trips to his customers. There onwards, industry expanded best known as “Travel & Hospitality Industry” expanding its limits to infinity. While travel & tourism industry is one of the economically valuable industries in the world, the population of the United Kingdom with 65 millions of people (0.008% of the world population) had been performing well in the travel industry who used to have the biggest empire on earth less than a century ago. United Kingdom is the fifth largest economy in the world, comprising 3.5% of world GDP. When it comes to tourism, United Kingdom is the 4th largest tourism spender in the world according to UNWTO report. There are 70 million foreign trips recorded from the country. 1.1 Historical Relationship Of Sri Lanka & United Kingdom & Colonial Effect On The Tourism Industry In Sri Lanka Sri Lanka used to be a historical centre for international trading. Hence, there are number of ancient references to Sri Lanka by foreigners who visited the country such as Iban Bathutha, Robert Knox etc. However basic infrastructure and faculties needed for travel and tourism industry were built during the colonial time. According to Fernando, S., Bandara, J., & Smith (2006) initial infrastructure and amenities were built but not specifically aiming at tourism. Some luxury accommodation was built colonial time planters, governors and other visitors. Those luxury accommodation facilities were converted to star class hotels which were later used for tourism and hospitality industry. Galleface Hotel; iconic city hotel of Colombo was built by four entrepreneurs in 1864 and later converted into a luxury hotel. Mount Lavinia Hotel has glorious story behind its creation by Sir Thomas Maitland who used to be the governor of Sri Lanka. The Grand Hotel is another fabulous colonial hotel located in Nuwaraeliya used to be a holiday home of the 5th Governor of Sri Lanka Sir Edward Barnes. Apart of these star class luxury hotels, there are several guest houses located all around the country which were built during the colonial period. Apart from the accommodation facilities which help to establish the industry, the other important factor established by the British colonials were the basic infrastructure facilities which were developed later. The road network and most importantly railway network was built by the British directly advances not only the tourism industry but also every industry of the country. 2. Outbound Tourism of United Kingdom As stated above, the United Kingdom is the place which originated the leisure travel to the World. Being the country which started the industrialisation and which used to have the biggest colonial empire in the world, the wealth belonged to British people allow them to travel, explore and relax abroad. According to the statistics taken from Office for National Statistics UK, from 1980 to 2016 number of visits by the UK residents have grown up from 17 million to nearly 71 million which is an average annual growth of 4%. Most significantly, the spending done abroad by the UK residents have grown up from £2738 million to £ 43000 which is 8% of annual growth. The growth rate of spending is drastical during 80’s and 90’s and it has a negative affect or slow increase just before and after the recession in 2009. Despite the slowdown in economic growth, European outbound travel has grown by 3%. Globally, United Kingdom is one of the top five spenders in outbound tourism. Outbound travel is increasing steadily in the United Kingdom along with domestic and inbound tourism. According to the Office for National Statistics of the UK, residents of the United Kingdom made 70.4 million outbound trips in 2016, which is a 7% increase compared to 2015. Trips taken as holiday remained the main purpose of the trip for UK outbound tourists in 2016 followed by visiting friends and relatives and business trips. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the outbound tourism expenditure of UK travelers crossed US$ 70 billion and is projected to reach US$ 102 billion by the end of 2024. The outbound travel sector in the United Kingdom provides employment on par with other well-known and recognized industries, such as food and electrical equipment manufacturing and machinery and equipment industries. Relatively, high disposable income per capita is expected to drive the United Kingdom’s outbound tourism sector. Baby Boomers, with more free time and money for travel, are the most important segment of the UK outbound travel sector. The baby boomer generation has topped the market share of the UK outbound travel sector mainly attributed to the recent changes in pension annuities. According to the International Passenger Survey, the residents of UK prefer July and August for travel abroad mainly due to the long school holidays. Other popular months are April, May, June, October and November. January to March is a popular time for single-week ski trips and winter sun breaks to cheap destinations, usually as an extra holiday. Along with the international airports, the United Kingdom has many regional airports offering international services to important destinations which include Manchester, Nottingham, East Midlands, Liverpool and Leeds. Medical tourism across the globe also faced difficulties in the last couple of years. Outbound medical tourism from Britain has recovered slowly after the recession. Factors including poor National Health Service delivery, problems with National Health Service dentistry, and objections and delays relating to National Health Service has encouraged the medical tourism. Reforms have helped boost the outbound tourism sector in the UK. The residents of the UK seek cheap medical treatment abroad and look for countries such as Poland and Bulgaria for medical help. However, factors such as

Introduction About Sri Lanka This tiny country located in the deep south of Asia, just at the tip of India has a lot for the travellers around the World. This article is about all you want to know to travel in Sri Lanka.  Sri Lanka is a small tropical island located closer to the equator which guarantees bright sunshine throughout the year. Among hundreds of reasons to visit Sri Lanka, the following are few that will convince you why you should include Sri Lanka in your bucket list. Click here to ENQUIRE for a free travel proposal Why You Should Visit Sri Lanka Culture & Heritage of Sri Lanka Nature & Wildlife of Sri Lanka Hill Country Highlands of Sri Lanka​ Beaches in Sri Lanka​ Culture & Heritage of Sri Lanka Ancient Kingdom – North Central Dryzone Colonial Heritage Ancient Heritage – East & South East of Sri Lanka.​ Buddhist Temples & Culture & Heritage of Sri Lanka​ Underwater Life & Activities​ Sri Lanka inherits a rich cultural & historical heritage. The written history of the country goes back to more than 2500 years and there is evidence that this country was inhabited by humans even 5000 years ago. Sri Lankan ancient powerful kingdoms which had healthy diplomatic relationships with contemporary global powers such as Rome, Persia and India. But things changed when the country was colonised by three European empires ; Portugese, Dutch & British starting from 1505 to 1948. British were the only nation who controlled the entire country while the other two colonial nations controlled only the coastal stretch of the island.  Human settlements in the central hills of the country were started during the British colonial period mainly due to plantation industry and also the preferable English weather in Sri Lanka with mild heat. The most popular area for the Culture & Heritage of the country is the Cultural Triangle in Sri Lanka. This is the area where most of the ancient kingdoms were located before the western colonisation. If you are in love in history and heritage, you should not miss this part when you travel in Sri Lanka.  Ancient Kingdom – North Central Dryzone There are several historical ruins and monuments that can be witnessed in places such as Anuradhapura, the first kingdom of the country, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Kurunegala & Kandy. Based on your choice, these well-known areas for Culture and Heritage and also some hidden less popularistic historical sites are located around the north central dry zone of Sri Lanka for you to visit. Colonial Heritage Since colonial administrations were placed towards the coastline of Sri Lanka, the colonial cultural monuments also located around the western coastal belt. Colombo city was named as the capital of Sri Lanka during the colonial period and therefore it has a large number of colonial heritage sites to visit. Forts built by Dutches are located all around the country while Galle Fort, Jaffna Fort, Matara Fort, and Colombo Fort are much popular among the travellers. Hill country capital – Nuwaraeliya used to be the administrative centre during the British colonial period, as it is the centre of the Tea Plantation of Sri Lanka. Several Colonial bungalows were converted as Luxury Boutique hotels as of today due to the beauty of those bungalows and their location. Ancient Heritage – East & South East of Sri Lanka.​ South Eastern cultural and historical places are something which has not been exposed to the travellers in Sri Lanka. According to the history, while the main kingdom had been controlling the country from the North Central area, whenever an invasion occured from an Indian kingdom, the kingdom had temporarily moved to the Southern Dry Zone areas. There are some ruins can be still seen around Yala and Monaragala areas. Most of those sites are not crowded with foriegn tourists and can visit the locations without any charges.  Buddhist Temples & Culture & Heritage of Sri Lanka​ If you have a conversation on the history, culture or heritage of Sri Lanka with a typical Sri Lankan, they normally tell you about the temples in Sri Lanka. This is due to two main reasons. One is Sri Lankan ancient kingdoms are very much attached to Buddhism and most of the historically preserved sites have some kind of religious background. Ex – Anuradhapura, the first kingdom of the country is the most sacred place among Sri Lankan Buddhists due to the Bo Tree of “Sri Maha Bodhiya” and other large stupa (Pagodas). If you are keen on visiting unpopular historical attractions in Sri Lanka, one of the best ways is to visit an ancient temple located anywhere in Sri Lanka and those temples are the route of an interesting ancient story of the area and place. Nature & Wildlife of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Elephants National Parks in Sri Lanka How to fit in National Parks in Sri Lanka into your travel itinerary.​ Rainforests of Sri Lanka​ Birds Watching​ Sri Lanka is gifted with a unique nature & wildlife. Even though Sri Lanka is a small tropical island, compared to other countries, the rich biodiversity is unbeatable by any other country in the world. Diverse natural beauty has spread across the island and wildlife is mainly living in the dryzone of the country.  If you are a fan of wildlife & nature, I would like you to divide the Sri Lankan Nature & Wildlife into a few areas.  READ – Tour Operators & Travel Agents in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Elephants One of the best God-gifted is the large population of Elephants in Sri Lanka. Elephants one of the most common reason of many people to travel in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the third largest Elephant population in Asia after India & Myanmar.  According to the World Wild life Organisation, Sri Lankan elephants are the biggest among the Asian elephants. According to an archaeological research, there is a long history to the relationship with elephants and humans in Sri Lanka which goes beyond the prehistoric period. 

UPDATE – 18th March 2020 Bandaranayaka Airport of Sri Lanka, the only international Airport in the country has stopped arrival flights from 18th March 2020, 12 midnight onwards. This will effect untill 31st of March. Since the number of new COVID-19 positive patience are increased upto 50 (as on 18th March 2020), government of Sri Lanka is taking strict procedures to control the pandemic to spread in Sri Lanka. 12th March 2020 Sri Lankan government has suspended the on-arrival visa facility for all countries from 12th March 2020. Therefore anyone who is planning to visit Sri Lanka has to obtain the visa from online. Please visit http://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/ to apply online visa.  Sri Lanka found 1st local COVID-19-positive person on 12th March 2020. The person is a Tourist Guide who handle Italian Tour Groups. The country is following strict procedures to identify any new COVID-19-infected people around the country, especially from the people who are coming from other countries. COVID-19 INFECTED PEOPLE IN SRI LANKA Earlier, one Chinese national COVID-19 infected patient found inside the country who was a traveller from China and she was treated in a Sri Lankan hospital and fully recovered. The cured virus infected women was ceremonially sent back to China. Apart from the above incident, there were a number patients tested negative for COVID-19 tests who arrived from numerous countries to Sri Lanka. RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA It is estimated that around 10,000 Chinese nationals are living in Sri Lanka and Chinese embassy has postponed their nationals to come back to the workplaces in Sri lanka after the Chinese new year season. China is the second highest tourism source of Sri Lanka but almost all the travel plans are cancelled due to the outbreak. Sri Lankan students who were studying in China (including the estates where COVID-19 heavily spread) are back in Sri Lanka and the quarantine process of 14 days was applied for the students who came from the high risk areas of CoronaVirus. None of the students were identified as corona infected and they are back to the families now. COVID-19 IS SPREADING ALL OVER THE WORLD As the Covid-19 is spreading all over the World, especially in South Korea, Iran & Italy, Sri Lankan authorities have introduced special measurements to control outbreak in Sri Lanka. Anyone who arrive from South Korea, Irand or Italy has to go through 14 days compulsory quarantine period in a special allocated place in Sri Lanka. It is also advised by the goverment any local who are coming from abraod to stay 14 days inside the home before come in to the society for day-today work.   IMPORTANT SOURCES Official Daily Situation Update from the Goverment of Sri Lanka is available here. TripAdvisor has a travel update on Covid-19 which is available here.

Summary Of The Article Is This Article for You? Do you like a fully personalised tour, with the assistance of a local expert? Do you want to reserve your holiday in advance? Do you like your comfort and staying in nice hotels? Then, getting the experienced and expert assistance of local tour operators/travel agents in Sri Lanka is the way to go. Advantages of Using Local Tour Operators / Travel Agents to Travel in Sri Lanka Looking for massive price advantages and getting a local expert to fully customize a tour depending on your personal preferences, time frame and budget Disadvantages of Using Local Tour Operators / Travel Agents You won’t get to meet them physically, and your overall experience of getting assistance for your holiday planning will be different when compared to an agent that you work with regularly. Types of Tour Operators / Travel Agents in Sri Lanka There are luxury travel focused tour operators / travel agents, budget tour operations and a wide variety in between. You can surely find one that suits your budget and style of traveling. Things to Check Prior to Selecting a Local Tour Operator / Travel Agents Check their online presence, customer reviews and testimonials, their responsiveness to your queries, their language proficiency and their knowledge prior to select the local tour operators / travel agents in Sri Lanka Who are The Best Local Tour Operators / Travel Agents in Sri Lanka A list of 10 local tour operators / travel agents in Sri Lanka with their contact details, reviews. The Internet is bridging the World as we know it. A swift development in communication and information technology has eliminated all the barriers to a connected world, bringing everyone together. Travel and tourism industry is apparently one of the major industries that has been disrupted by this digitalisation and the overall globalization. Let’s look at how you booked your holidays about 25 years ago, you must have to fully depend on local travel agents to plan your holiday. But nowadays, due to the advancement of information technology, you are able to plan your own holiday without any hassle after researching every single concern you have, through the internet and with the support of similar online communities. However, there are still a good amount of pros and perks of getting the assistance of a tour operator, especially if you are planning to visit a country like Sri Lanka. Are you thinking of traveling to Sri Lanka and need some credible assistance in booking and planning your holiday to be seamless? Your best bet is to go for a local tour operator in Sri Lanka. This will avoid the traditional cycle of the holiday reservation and you will be able to get a good price advantage. Ex: – If a person from the United Kingdom prefers to visit Sri Lanka, normally they tend to go to a travel agent such as Trail Finder or Kuoni which are based in the UK. That travel company then contacts the Sri Lankan Destination Management Company (DMC) for the ground handling. DMC will execute the plan arranged by your company back in your country after discussing it with the client.  But instead of contacting Kuoni, now the person from the UK can directly contact a local tour operator in Sri Lanka and ask to plan their holiday in Sri Lanka. Cut out the middleman! That’s right. This can be simply done by visiting the websites of the Sri Lanka local tour operators Bellanvila Temple, Colombo. There are number of historical temples are available around the city of ColomboPlease read This Article, if you are not familiar with the wordings of Destination Management Companies (DMC) and Tour Operators / Travel Agents. Do you belong to any of the following categories? Then this article is for you! 1. I would like to have a personalized tour. When you want to have a holiday which is perfectly customized and tailored for your specifications. In this case, contacting a local tour operator in Sri Lanka is the best option. They are the ground experts who can provide the best options for you. 2. I did my research before travel, but I would like to have the assistance of an expert You might have thoroughly researched the travel destination before reaching the destination. However, a place like Sri Lanka where the information is not properly organised, can be a hindrance to maximize your budget and time. Get the assistance of a local tour operator to fill the gap of the ground reality and what have written in the books or the internet. 3. I am not a backpacker, and I want to have a comfortable holiday For backpackers and budget travelers, consulting an online travel agent is always a good way to go since they offer a wide variety of accommodation options that include hostels, homestays and more. However, if you like your comfort and the safety of a nice hotel room during your vacation, reserving through a tour operator / travel agent is ideal in Sri Lankan setup, as agent’s rates are always better than the online rates when it comes to star-rated hotels and other high end specialized accommodation. 4. I would like to prepare my tour well in advance You prefer planning and fully confirming your annual vacation well in advance. Great! By booking through a local tour operator, you can lock the best prices for your reservations with a small advance payment, may be with an Early Bird Discount! Why Should You Use A Local Tour Operator To Plan Your Holiday? 1. Price Advantage The main advantage of using a local tour operator is the massive price advantage that you get with it, when compared to a non-Sri Lankan travel agent back in your own country. There are many reasons for it. The first reason is simple, by contacting a local travel agent directly, you are skipping a few parties in the loop – hence avoiding their mark-up/profits on the final price. The second reason is that compared to the UK, Australia

TABLE OF CONTENTS  Weather In Sri Lanka​  For Beach Lovers School Holidays In Sri Lanka Best Events In The Country When You Visit Sri Lanka. Closures Of National Parks​ Times Crowded With Locals Most Expensive Periods To Travel Be Adventuristic Sri Lanka is considered a year round destination where anyone can travel around the country, anytime of the year. Whatever the time you visit Sri Lanka, you can easily stay for more than 10 nights (10 nights stay is the average time spend by all the tourists to Sri Lanka) of fully active travel itinerary by selecting your favorite spots to visit. However, there are few considerations you MUST take into account prior to making the decision of the best time to visit this beautiful island Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is considered a year round destination where anyone can travel around the country, anytime of the year. Whatever the time you visit Sri Lanka, you can easily stay for more than 10 nights (10 nights stay is the average time spend by all the tourists to Sri Lanka) of fully active travel itinerary by selecting your favorite spots to visit. However, there are few considerations you MUST take into account prior to making the decision of the best time to visit this beautiful island Sri Lanka. 01. Weather in Sri Lanka When it comes to the best time to visit a country, the weather is the most crucial factor to consider. If you have done a little bit of research on Sri Lanka, you might have found that Sri Lanka has two main rainy seasons. Goverment Website of Meteorology of Sri lanka Following are some insights on Sri Lankan weather. 01. South West Monsoon Season This is the heaviest rainfall Sri Lanka gets. Because of this reason, the area covered from this rainy season belongs to the wet zone of Sri Lanka. During the period from the end of April to the end of June, an ample rain can be expected in the areas mentioned above. But during the month of July to mid September, it will be a considerably dry season overall but you may get occasional rain in some  part of the areas mentioned. However, I should emphasise that this rain will not affect the day today lives or activities of anyone in the country. Therefore, I would suggest if someone is planning to visit Sri Lanka during May to July please avoid south and south west part of the country (areas mentioned above) while it is open to travel from July onwards. Please refer below notes, if you are a beach lover. 02. North East monsoon North East monsoon season only lasts for 3 months mainly in the areas mentioned above. This is the main water source to the north and north-central dry zone where the ancient civilization of Sri Lanka was. The first kingdom of Sri Lanka started nearly 2300 years ago in Anuradhapura and shifted to other areas thereafter to Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Kurunegala which were spanning to be the kingdom for more than 15 centuries. All the cultural and heritage hotspots are located in this area and it receives a limited amount of rain throughout the year. Therefore, you would notice that there are hundreds of man made water tanks located in the north, east and north central provinces. Therefore, if you are a fan of culture and heritage and tropical nature and wildlife, Sri Lanka is open for you almost all the time. 03. Inter Monsoon Seasons Apart from the two monsoon seasons, Sri Lanka has two inter-monsoon season bridging the gap between two major monsoon seasons. Normally, this inter-monsoon rain does not last throughout the day but starts in the evening with thunderstorms. Inter-monsoon can affect the entire country but mainly the wet zone such as south, south west and south and west part of the central highlands. 04. Floods & Landslides Floods and landslides has becoming more common during the era which climate change hit the world. Historical weather patterns are now being changed and unexpected weather calamities are happening. Sri Lanka cannot escape the effect of climate change as a tropical island country. The diverse weather cannot be predicted but there are few instances that we could avoid such situations. Please avoid visiting areas which will be affected by highest rainfall during the monsoon rains. Normally, the month of May, it can be Galle, Matara, Rathnapura, Matugama, Aluthgama & South-west parts of the highlands such as Kitulgala, Watawala & Ginigathhena. There are few roads which can be affected by the landslides. That is mainly the Hatton – Colombo road mainly and other subsidiary roads around the area. Please avoid the central highland trains during heavy rains. 02. For Beach Lovers If you would like to read about all the beaches please read about Sri Lankan Beaches here. If you are a person, who would love to have a few leisure days at a sunny and sandy beach where you can surf or take a dip in Sri Lanka, it is better to select the right beach area depending on your time of visit to Sri Lanka. Best time to visit Sri Lanka matters on the quality of your beach stay. Please follow the chart below. Majority of Sri Lankans (Sinhalese & Tamils) celebrate their traditional new year in the month of April, particularly for 2 days although it will take a festive vibe for almost 10 days. Moreover, a semester break is given to schools for 3 good weeks and most of the government and private sector organisations will have at least a week holiday except essential jobs. Since there are a number of traditional events, most of the families will keep to their homes to celebrate the new year, partying and visiting relatives and city of Colombo can be deserted without people who travel to it daily from outside. Be prepared when travelling in New Year in Sri Lanka. 03. School Holidays in Sri Lanka Holidays abroad is not