As the Olympics take over Paris, the hospitality scene is expanding in the city — and beyond — with a handful of new hotel openings worth bookmarking for a visit once the crowds have died down. Le Grand Hôtel Cayré opened in the Seventh Arrondissement earlier this month with 123 rooms, all with handcrafted wooden beds and mustard yellow velvet chairs, some with balconies and views of the Sacre Coeur or Eiffel Tower. In Carry-le-Rouet, a seaside village outside of Marseille, L’Hôtel Bleu’s design follows its name with 44 harbor-view rooms decorated in shades of blue. The property’s restaurant offers three seafood-heavy, Mediterranean-inspired tasting menus, while a private cinema room can be reserved when the weather calls for some indoor time. Further east toward Cannes, in the commune of Mougins, Hôtel Le Mas Candille was recently redesigned by the architect and decorator Hugo Toro, whose hand-painted patterns appear on the curtains and carpets in the 46 rooms. Its Glow House spa has four treatment rooms, each with its own terrace, and a private swimming pool overlooking Provence. In Nice’s old town, Hôtel du Couvent opened last month within a 17th-century convent surrounded by two-and-a-half acres of gardens. The former nuns’ herbal shop has been revived and now offers personalized remedies, some made from herbs grown on the property. There’s also a bathing area with pools of varying temperatures inspired by the nearby Roman baths.
Is This the Comeback of Sri Lanka's Tourism? A $1.5 Billion Revenue Suggests So
12.07.2024 - 17:25 / skift.com / Peden Doma Bhutia / Easter Sunday
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is witnessing a resurgence. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka reported that earnings from tourism soared to over $1.5 billion in the first half of 2024, marking a 78% increase year-on-year.
Tourist arrivals hit 1.01 million, up 62% from the same period in 2023. By June 2024, tourism earnings had climbed to $151.1 million, a 23% increase year-on-year, despite a slight month-on-month decline.
The $1.5 billion revenue surge in the first six months is important, especially considering it took Sri Lanka 10 months last year to reach $1.59 billion in tourism earnings from 1.1 million arrivals. The tourism sector’s earnings exceeded $2 billion in 2023.
Tourism arrivals peaked in 2018 in Sri Lanka, when 2.5 million tourists spent $4.4 billion in the country.
This growth is particularly noteworthy considering the economic turmoil Sri Lanka faced just two years ago. In 2022, the country declared a state of emergency amid severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicines, leading to widespread anti-government protests.
Since the devastating Easter Sunday attacks in 2019, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has faced numerous challenges. However, the sector’s resilience and the government’s proactive measures have begun to pay off.
As per the latest tourism data in the first week of July, Sri Lanka Tourism welcomed a total of 43,083 tourists.
This year, Sri Lanka rolled out its global tourism marketing campaign urging tourists “You’ll Come Back for More,” marking the first such campaign since 2007.
Sri Lanka also aims to welcome 2.5 million tourists and attract revenue worth $4 billion by the end of this year.
India remains Sri Lanka’s top source market, contributing around 19% of total tourist arrivals. From January to July 7, 198,161 Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka.
To attract more Indian travelers, Sri Lanka is conducting roadshows in smaller Indian cities like Indore, Vadodara, and Surat.
As part of a broader strategy to rejuvenate its tourism sector and reach a target of 5 million arrivals by 2026, Sri Lanka announced it would issue free tourist visas until March for visitors from India, China, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. This visa-free entry permits visitors from these countries to stay in Sri Lanka for up to 30 days.
In May, the government extended this visa-free entry until May 31. While no further extension has been officially announced, Skift discovered that the visa exemption still applies to tourists from these seven countries, now with a $10 service fee.
SriLankan Airlines is also playing a key role in this recovery. CEO Richard Nuttall noted the airline’s plans to expand its fleet to 25 aircraft by the end of the year, increasing flight frequencies on existing
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Sky High Savings This Summer and Beyond at Sandals® Resorts and Beaches® Resorts
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