Sri Lanka is ready for upmarket luxury tourism and should capitalize on it said an authority on global cruise tourism. Vice President, Deployment of Crystal Cruises, USA, Claudius Docekal made this observation during a meeting with the Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga at the Tourism Ministry recently.
Docekal was in the country to deliver the key note address on “Cruise and Luxury Air Travel” at the recently concluded Maritime Conference held in Colombo. Docekal's visit was arranged and coordinated by the cruise committee of SLAITO (Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators) together with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.
Docekal assured Minister Amaratunga that he would include Sri Lanka in future Crystal Cruise calls for their 900 and 1000 passenger ships and also their luxury aircraft to Sri Lanka.
Crystal Cruises is a major global operator in the luxury travel segment. It presently owns and operates three luxury vessels, new 200-guest Superyachts as well as 1,000-guest exclusive class of ships that will come on line in 2019.
Crystal Cruises recently expanded into Air Travel and presently operates a luxury Global-Express private aircraft under Crystal Luxury Air. Crystal Luxury Air will be the first in the luxury travel industry to offer around-the-world trips on the world's most advanced twin-aisle Boeing 777-200LR Business Jet. This 350 seat aircraft is currently being configured to just 84 seats bringing absolute luxury to air travel.
During his stay in Sri Lanka, Docekal visited four major ports in the country, namely Colombo, Galle, Hambantota and Trincomalee. He was pleasantly surprised to find out the depth of the ports, especially in Colombo where the depth is between 18 to 23 meters, Hambantota at 16 meters and Trincomalee at 12.5 meters. “This is a major advantage over the regional competition to attract the larger cruises if only marketed effectively and also the diversity of the four port locations which is unique compared to the options available for the cruises in the region,” he noted.
Visiting Sri Lanka after 20 years, Docekal was delighted with the upscale products offered by international chain hotels and luxury boutique resorts across the country. “This will help promote the luxury Crystal brand in Sri Lanka especially destinations where Sri Lanka is not yet known for luxury cruise and air tourism,” he observed.
“First impression is very important,” noted Docekal adding that the view from the passenger pier at the Colombo Port should be more attractive.
Docekal pointed out that luxury tour operators would not recommend any internal road transportation that lasted more than two hours as a basic standard. He felt rail transportation or domestic airports could be a great alternative to the congested roads considering the available infrastructure.
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