City of Colombo celebrates NY with enthusiasm and positivity

PIC BY PRADEEP PATHIRANA 

The entire city of Colombo came alive with the festive vibe towards the year end, gearing up to welcome the New Year with a bang.
In an effort to uplift the ambiance, for both locals and international visitors, Sri Lanka Tourism planned an entire line-up of fun activities and entertainment.
The objective was to create an environment of excitement and positivity, as the island nation inches away from the challenges it faced from 2019. 

A mega New Year celebration was arranged at Galle Face by Sri Lanka Tourism, in collaboration with the Tourism and Lands Ministry.
The celebration held the Ayubowan 2024 musical event, with Flashback, one of the leading music groups in
Sri Lanka.

The audience also had an amazing musical experience with popular artists such as Bathiya & Santhush (BNS), Jayasri, Romesh Sugathapala, Sanka Dineth, Sashika Nisansala, Ruwan Hettiarachchi, Amal Perera, Lahiru Perera, Amila Nadeeshani, Kanchana Anuradhi, Shanika Wanigaskera, Wasthi, Senanayake Weraliyadda, Dhanapala Udawatta, Namal Udugama, Dimanka Wellalage and several others. 
The celebrations were telecasted live as well.

“We are doing all what we can to make this event the most highlighted event of the year in Colombo. 
The streets of Colombo have been lit up and decorated to match the festive cheer and turning it to a festive wonderland,” the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau said in a statement to the media.
The leading hotels in Colombo too stepped up the efforts in making the 2023 New Year’s Eve action-packed.
The hotels hosted fun-filled New Year’s Eve dinners, all-inclusive of entertainment and sumptuous cuisine. About 18,000-20,000 guests are said to have taken part in the events.

According to the SLTDA, about 80 percent of the Colombo hotels are occupied with tourists. The action and fun-filled atmosphere would encourage more tourists to visit Sri Lanka as a destination filed with action and activity, the SLTDA said.

Just at the Colombo city hotels and beach hotels across the island nation too were fully occupied in the final weeks of December.  Since Colombo was transformed into a major entertainment hub over the weekend, especially last night, a special traffic plan was rolled out by Sri Lanka Police from 5:00 p.m. onwards, to help prevent inconvenience. The special arrangements on traffic focused on the Pettah, Slave Island and Colpetty areas. Several parking slots were arranged for vehicles entering Colombo, whereas a special shuttle service was also arranged by Sri Lanka Tourism. 

“It has been a turbulent, nevertheless a year full of surprises for Sri Lanka tourism. It saw a major influx of tourist arrivals this year and the comeback year for tourism, as the beginning of a positive year ahead for Sri Lanka Tourism,” the Sri Lanka Tourism said.

The island nation received its one million mark in September 2023 and during December 2024, tourist arrivals passed the 200,000 mark. As of December 28, tourist arrivals reached 1.46 million.
“This is a brilliant achievement for Sri Lanka Tourism. For the last four years, this has been the highest arrival in one month and something which Sri Lanka could rejoice as a destination,” Sri Lanka Tourism said. 
The original target was to lure 1.5 million tourists this year, which was later revised to 1.55 million.
Sri Lanka is gearing up excitedly for another brand-new year filled with success and becoming the number one travel destination in 2024, Sri Lanka 
Tourism said.