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Looking to recharge and reconnect with nature while enjoying refreshing wellness therapies that draw on centuries of heritage? All this while relaxing in sylvan resorts nestled in nature's emerald embrace or enveloped by the mesmerising ebb and flow of the Indian Ocean? Middle East travellers can find all of these and much more at near unbelievable bargains in Sri Lanka, just a few hours away on SriLankan Airlines.
SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka, has been expanding its network across the Middle East recently in response to growing demand from the region's business and leisure travellers. Offering seamless connections through their Colombo hub, the airline is a popular carrier for people looking to travel from the Middle East to the subcontinent, Southeast and East Asia as well as onward to Australia.
The island's renowned wealth of natural beauty and its proximity to the Gulf region also makes the country a popular holiday destination for tourists from across the world, who are familiar with its many attractions.
"With convenient daily flights to Colombo from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Muscat, Bahrain and Kuwait, SriLankan Airlines now offers 68 flights a week from the region to our home base for tourists from the region, who are looking to experience the pleasures of a quick break or an extended holiday for them and their families, just a short flight away," said Saminda Perera, General Manager Marketing, SriLankan Airlines.
"Whether they are looking for a peaceful beach holiday or a refreshing relief from the stresses and strains of the daily grind through our specialized ayurvedic wellness therapies, Sri Lanka has something to suit all preferences," Perera stated.
Sri Lanka's long tradition of expertise in ayurvedic and natural medicine and wellness therapies goes back centuries. Today the island offers a wide spectrum of wellness spas and resorts and ayurvedic centres dotted all over the island, offering tailor-made therapies and rejuvenation and recharge packages for tourists in search of rest and recovery.
Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest forms of healing, derived from the Sanskrit words for life (ayuh) and knowledge or science (veda) — originated in India more than 3,000 years ago and soon spread to Sri Lanka, where Sinhalese kings established Ayurveda treatment centres in the ancient cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
In Ayurveda, a combination of herbs, diet, massage, hydrotherapy and oil treatment is used to treat everything from stress to diabetes, migraine, asthma, arthritis and high blood pressure. Ayurveda specialists will tell you that this form of treatment also helps boost the immune system, promotes a general sense of well-being and even helps delay the ageing process.
With many in the West turning from medicine which treats only the body, towards a more holistic approach, Sri Lanka has become destination for those seeking solace in the Ayurvedic principle of body, mind and soul.
Recent statistics indicate that Sri Lanka received 107, 635 tourists from the GCC countries in 2017, a growth of 6.5%, with the UAE figuring as the major source market in the region.
SriLankan Airlines today flies an all Airbus fleet, which includes the state-of-the-art A330-300 and A320neo aircraft connecting to 105 destinations in 47 countries (including codeshare operations). Launched in 1979, Sri Lanka’s National Carrier is an award winning airline with a solid reputation for service, comfort, safety, reliability, and punctuality.
