Jan 2020

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A REPORT FROM SRI LANKAForecasting on Sri Lanka’sTourism: New Trends inLuxury Cruise ship visitsSrimal Fernando“Sri Lanka’s tourism sector has risenmulti-fold contributing 5 percent ofthe country’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) with US $ 4 billion revenue. Tomeet ongoing cruise vessel demands,the Colombo port regarded as oneof the top thirty ports in the world(Drewry Port Connectivity Index,2018) converted a Quay into afully-fledged cruise terminal to caterto the growing cruise ship calls.”Sri Lanka also known as “ Serendib” needs littleintroduction to many visitors to the country . Thecountry’s natural and historical attractions appeals tomany visitors from all parts of the world. As one ofthe best travel destinations to visit the coastal paradisesecured the top spot in the Lonely Planet andUSA Todays’ best travel destinations list of countriesto travel in 2019. In this context there have been newtrends in luxury Cruise ships calling on Sri Lanka’sports in the recent years. Hence statistics speaks forthem-selves, where over 53 luxury cruise liners witharound 72500 onboard passengers visited the islandnation in 2018.Making a difference the paradise island is nowon luxury cruise liner operator’s radar screen. Inthe same year the islands ports have seen a 28.8percent increase in luxury cruise ships visiting theisland nation compared to the corresponding periodin2017 (The Island, 2018) . The reasons for this aremanifold, due to its geographical setting it serves as acrucial maritime gateway connecting the, the nationsof ASEAN, Africa and West Asia. As with the Maldives,Sri Lanka too has a flourishing tourism industrywith over two million tourist arrivals. Every yearSri Lankan authorities are working hard with specialconcessions to restore overseas tour operators confidence.As a result, Sri Lanka’s tourism sector has risenmulti-fold contributing 5 percent of the country’sGross Domestic Product(GDP) with US $ 4 billionrevenue. To meet ongoing cruise vessel demands,the Colombo port regarded as one of the top thirtyports in the world (Drewry Port Connectivity Index,2018)converted a Quay into a fully-fledgedJanuary 2020 | Littoral Wind | 22
A REPORT FROM SRI LANKAcruise terminal to cater to the growing cruise shipcalls. This year Sri Lankas leading tour operator AitkenSpence Maritime, agents for Hapag-Lloyd shippinggroup announced MS Europa -2 cruise line willcontinue to make regular calls at Colombo, Hambantota,Trincomale ports. In fact the luxury cruise linesalso selected Sri Lanka as a port for passengers tobegin and end their voyages. (Xinhua,2019 ). Thereis a high expectation among globally reputed luxurytravel Cruise line operators in promoting Europeanvoyages to Sri Lanka . Increased demands onSri Lanka as a top tourism destination have changedgreater number of cruise vessels visiting the paradiseisland ports. This has seen one of Italy’s largestCruise line operators Costa Cruises offering cruisepackages to Colombo.In addition, world’s biggest luxury cruise ship operators, such as Princess Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Celebrity Cruises ,Washington based Cruise SeabournCruise Line , Miami based Oceania Cruisesorganizing regular voyages to Colombo. Making predictionsabout the future of the luxury Cruise shipsregularly calling on island nations ports might bea challenging process. In short the new emergingtrends in luxury cruise ships calling on Sri Lanka’sports will unquestionably turn a new page in Paradiseislands tourism and ports history.SriLankaTourismJanuary 2020 | Littoral Wind | 23
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Page 3 and 4: INSIDE:Page No.1. Indian Shipping F
Page 5 and 6: EDITORIALFrom the Desk of Managing
Page 7 and 8: CRUISE TOURISMIN MUMBAIMumbai Port
Page 9 and 10: COVER STORYCruiseTourism inIndiaTiy
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Page 13 and 14: COVER STORYin South Asian cruises,
Page 15 and 16: COVER STORYrelated charges for coas
Page 17 and 18: ARTICLERecycling of Ships Bill 2019
Page 21: January 2020 | Littoral Wind | 20
Page 27 and 28: ARTICLEBlue Economy’s Role inEcon
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Page 31 and 32: EVENTLittoral Cruise India 2019, wa
Page 33 and 34: ARTICLE EVENTMs. Lavina KriplaniSpe

Jan 2020

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