Bid to a attract Indian MICE market

The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau together with Airlanka has conducted a series of presentations in the southern Indian cities with the objective of creating an awareness of Sri Lanka as a destination for the Indian MICE meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, Exhibitions market, a Convention Bureau spokesman said.

The presentations targeted at specific segments of the MICE market such as corporates and association and incentive houses and tour operators, he said.

Promotions were conducted in three Indian cities such as Madras, Bangalore and Cochin. The promotions adopted the format of a Sri Lankan food festival in all three cities. The Sri Lankan food festival was conducted by Trans Asia Hotel together with the Park Sheraton hotel in Madras, and the festivals in Bangalore and Cochin were conducted by the Taj Group of hotels, where speciality chefs were flown by both hotels from Sri Lanka, who were flown courtesy of Airlanka. The Sri Lankan chefs demonstrated the flavour and variety of the Sri Lankan cuisine in all three cities and the response from the Indian public was tremendous. During dinner, the guests were also entertained with performances by the Channa's Dance Troupe and the Sri Lankan Calypso band respectively, who were flown too, courtesy of Airlanka, he added.

For the first time the promotion in Cochin was launched and it proved that there is tremendous potential for outbound travel from Cochin to Sri Lanka, particularly from the segment of holiday makers and the incentive groups.

The presentations commenced with a welcome address by Rienzie De Silva, Manager India and Nepal, Airlanka Ltd., Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in India, S Gauthamadasa, was the chief guest. The presentation on Sri Lanka as a MICE destination was made by S. Senthil Gopinath, Manager Marketing and Promotions of the Bureau, which included the screening of the film on Sri Lanka as a MICE destination. The presentation, on Airlanka as the National Carrier, was made by Mrs Desiree Premachandra, Marketing Manager Pax Sales, Airlanka.

The programme adopted the format of a business mart, whereby the members of the Sri Lanka delegation participated in business discussions on a one-to-one basis, before the presentation.

Sri Lanka delegation was led by Senthil Gopinath of Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and comprised of Mrs Desiree Premachandra-Marketing Manager Pax Sales-Airlanka, Michael Elias-Director-Conventions-Colombo, Dhammika Gunasekera-Manager-Jet Asia, Ms Bisthami Uduman-Sales Manager-Holiday Inn, Mr Fajudeen-Sales Manager-Trans Asia Hotel, Mr Mohankumar-General Manager-Taj Samudra, Ms Amal Gunathileke-Sales Manager-Taj Samudra, Ms Udeni Seneviratne-Sales Manager-Conventions Asia, Narek Farik-Asst Sales-Manager-Lanka Oberoi, Rienzie De Silva-Manager-Airlanka, India & Nepal.

Eva Air upgrades service

Eva Air has introduced their new deluxe class which offers their passengers all the comfort of business class without the business class price tag.

The new class, offered on all Eva Air flights to all major cities in Europe, Asia, America and Australia presents a stand, ard of air travel that rivals the business of most other airlines.

Instead of the 3-43 seating layout of conventional economy class, Evergeen De-luxe Class provides configurations of 2-4-2 and 2-3-2 on Eva Air's fleet of new Boeing 747-400 and MD-11 aircraft. Legroom is expanded to a comfortable 38 inches. Evergreen Deluxe Class offers business class seating, with leg and foot rests and a 24-degree angle of recline. For long-haul travellers, Eva Air's Evergreen Deluxe class is crafted with care and comfort.

Evergreen Deluxe class is equipped with seat-back mounted personal TVs, with fully adjustable viewing angle, to provide enhanced in-flight audiovisual entertainment. Travellers may tune in to daily news reports from CNN and Taiwan Tele-vision Enterprise Ltd., and select from six movie channels plus a wide choice of Chinese and Western music channels.

In addition to the regular professional in-flight service in Evergreen Deluxe class, all flight attendants are eager to render passengers an extra thoughtful, delicate and hospitable service.

A delicious new range of cuisine has been created by our chefs for Evergreen Deluxe Class passengers. Our new in-flight service on long-distance flights is enhanced by the introduction of fine porcelain tableware. Passengers can ask for all in-flight service at any time from any flight attendant.

Evergreen Deluxe Class offers passengers a wide range of privileges, including exclusive check-in counter, on-board confirmation of return flights, deluxe overnight kit, extra baggage allowance, 25% more Evergreen Club mileage bonus, and advance seat selection.

The Central Bank's Spot Rates for transactions with Commercial Banks announced on the morning of September 22, 1998 were as follows:

The approximate middle exchange rates of following currencies calculated on the basis of cross rates quoted by Gulf International Bank, Bahrain as it appeared in Reuters Financial Information System on September 22, 1998 were as follows:

Average rates at which the following currencies were quoted by Commercial Banks in Colombo for Telegraphic Transfers at mid-day on September 22, 1998 were as follows:

Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWRP) and Lowest Prime Rate (LPR)
The Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPR) during the week ended September 18th, 1998 was 14.9 per cent for all banks. The Lowest Prime Rate among banks during this week was 13.5 per cent.

Average Weighted Deposit Rate of Commercial Banks (AWDR)
The Average Weighted Deposit Rate (AWDR) of Commercial Banks for the month ended August 31st, 1998 was 9.6 percent.