By Anusha Ondaatjie
Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka received bids worth $500 million to develop tourist resorts on 10 islets off the country’s northwest coast, said Nalaka Godahewa, chairman of the Tourism Development Authority.
Eleven leisure companies, including “top international chains” submitted proposals by a Dec. 3 deadline to build hotels and golf courses, and offer boat services, Godahewa said today at a press conference in the capital Colombo.
The government will select investors by January. The winning bidders will be given islets in the Kalpitiya lagoon region on lease for as many as 50 years, Godahewa said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels in May 2009, reviving investor interest in the nation’s tourism industry. Six Senses Resorts and Spas, a Bangkok-based international luxury hotel chain, plans to set up headquarters for its Indian Ocean operations in Sri Lanka, Chairman Sonu Shivdasani said Dec. 14.
Sri Lanka expects foreign visitor arrivals to rise 59 percent to about 620,000 this year, Godahewa said.
About 5,000 rooms are expected to be built in the Kalpitiya region, which is gaining popularity for whale and dolphin watching, and diving, according to the authority.
--With assistance from Asantha Sirimanne in Colombo. Editors: Abhay Singh, Indranil Ghosh
To contact the reporter on this story: Anusha Ondaatjie in Colombo, Sri Lanka at anushao@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Foxwell at sfoxwell@bloomberg.net
source - www.businessweek.com
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