Around fifty cabanas lie buoyant on the waters inviting the tourists for an exciting stay; we’re talking about the newest addition on the tourism map of Sri Lanka - the Bolagala Floating Resorts. Along with the floating resorts and cabanas, there are a host of other reasons to pack your bags and head to this exotic location - an excellent swimming pool, a restaurant that serves up different kinds of delicacies, a pub and karaoke lounge for your enjoyment and an under-water gym and spa.
These resorts, built with a vision of offering utmost comfort to their visitors, are Sri Lanka’s first-ever agro-tourism-themed floating resorts in Katana. It’s located close to the country’s popular tourism hub, Negombo. Negombo is famous for its large stretches of sandy beaches and sea adventure sports, like diving and snorkelling. People from across the globe come to Negombo to spend their vacations. To get to the floating resorts from here is easy. The idea for the agro-themed floating resorts was conceived especially keeping in mind the international tourists who land in Negombo.
The resorts are well-equipped with several features and activities for the visitors. Apart from the water sports, tourists will get to dive into an assortment of other activities, such as jogging, bicycle tracks, tennis court, fishing, and an electric car experience. Aiming for a sustainable model of tourism, the resorts also highlight the significance of organic farming. The management at the resorts has also devised delightful ways for the tourists to get a hands-on experience in the farming and agriculture-related activities in Sri Lanka. In Negombo, the idea of organic farming linked to tourism is a first of its kind endeavour.
The Bolagala Floating Resorts project will be completed in two stages. While during the first stage, three suite rooms, 3 GPS movable rooms, 27 deluxe rooms, a restaurant, and a floating swimming pool will be completed, the second stage will see the completion of the rest of the cabanas along with the underwater spa and other activity-based features.
At the beginning of April 2021, India and Sri Lanka had come to a consensus regarding the arrangement of a travel bubble. However, recent reports state that in the wake of surging Covid cases in Sri Lanka, the international tourism in the country might just wait a while before kick-starting its new ventures. Over one lakh people in Sri Lanka are affected by COVID-19. To add to that, statistics point out that 15 per cent of the cases reported this month to happen to comprise international tourists. The Chief Epidemiologist of Sri Lanka, Sudath Samaraweera, has said, that in such a situation the policy regarding international tourists coming into the country has to be re-evaluated.
In January this year, as part of the Neighbourhood First policy, India had donated 500,000 doses of covishield vaccine to Sri Lanka. The population of Sri Lanka stands at 21 million, out of which 925,000 people have been given their first dose of vaccine in the country-wide vaccination drive that was started by the government by the end of January.
