Luxurious Mv. Queen Mary 2 sails in with 2,300 tourists on board

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau welcomed the vessel Mv Queen Mary 2 yesterday, at a brief ceremony held at the Colombo Harbour.

This luxury carrier, owned by the UK-based company, had more than 2,300 tourists on board, consisting of nationals from the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.

The local excursion tour operator Gemini Tours and Travels was thereafter busy taking the tourists to prearranged destinations, including to Kandy and Pinnawela and on the Colombo City Tour. The vessel was scheduled to leave for Malaysia, its next destination, by 11 p.m. yesterday.

The Mv Queen Mary 2 has 13 decks inclusive of state-of-the-art swimming pools, an auditorium, theatre, a gym, restaurants, a casino, saloon, spa centre, and 1,300 luxury rooms. Having set sail from the USA on 10 January this year, the vessel was berthed at Cochin, India, just before resuming its journey to Colombo.

According to the SLPA officials, more than 27 such luxury carriers are programmed to tie-up in Colombo by the end of 2013. This is not only good news for those involved in the tourism sector, but is also vital for the economic development of the island, which has high expectations of boosting the tourism industry.