Tika Traveller

Discover Sri Lanka & Maldives From Those Who Know It Best

Blogs from Tikalanka are designed to enhance your knowledge of Sri Lanka and Maldives and keep you up to date with recent developments. We intend to post regular features on travel, news, lifestyle and accommodation as well as guest articles from current and past customers, which will give you first-hand experience of Tikalanka, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

TikaWeeks #34/2020: Sri Lanka & Maldives update

Posted by John on 17th August 2020

Emirates is offering free global COVID-19 cover on your journey. This first-ever initiative assures you of complete support when your travels are affected by COVID-19, including medical expenses and quarantine costs. This cover is valid for 31 days from the start of your journey, so you can travel to any destination with complete peace of mind. Sri Lanka remains closed to foreign visitors, while Maldives is open but the UK requires 14 days’ quarantine on your return.

TikaWeeks #31/2020: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 27th July 2020

From 24 July 2020, Sri Lanka is exempt from Foreign & Commonwealth Office advice against all non-essential international travel. However, quarantine regulations are still in force for people entering the UK from Sri Lanka, and the island is not open to tourism until next month in any case. With the reported completion of the Outer Circular Expressway you can now travel from Bandaranaike International Airport to Hambantota on the southeast coast, the gateway to Yala National Park, in just 3 hours 30 minutes!

TikaWeeks #29/2020: Sri Lanka & Maldives update

Posted by John on 15th July 2020

Tikalanka is 16 years old today! When we launched in 2004 we could never have envisaged what the future would hold for us… and what a 16 years it has been! We have endured civil war, a tsunami, countless, disrupting local and parliamentary elections, terrorist bomb attacks, a financial recession, and now COVID-19. But we have endured – and remain resolutely positive, whatever the ‘new normal’ may be.

TikaWeeks #27/2020: Sri Lanka & Maldives update

Posted by John on 3rd July 2020

Ridiculous as it may seem, the illustrious UK government today decided NOT to include either Sri Lanka or Maldives on its initial travel corridors list, which exempts travellers from self-isolating for 14 days on arrival in England from 10 July 2020. Both island nations have managed to limit the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) effectively and efficiently, contrary to our own government's disastrous and amoral actions, so why penalise them for doing the job properly?

TikaWeeks #24/2020: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 10th June 2020

Sri Lanka Tourism is ready to welcome tourists from 01 August 2020. The organisation released a set of new protocols and procedures for hotels, DMCs and other tourism partners on 29 May 2020 with the aim of safeguarding visitors against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which will be implemented and standardised across the Sri Lankan tourism industry as a means of reassurance to future visitors.

TikaWeeks #23/2020: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 5th June 2020

Some good news, finally: Sri Lanka is proposing to reopen for tourist arrivals from 01 August 2020. So far, Sri Lanka has performed excellently in the face of the pandemic with relatively low infection rates in comparison to most other countries thanks to the prompt and efficient actions of the government. New procedures are being implemented at the airport, restaurants, hotels, tourist sites and national parks, although the finer details are still being finalised by Sri Lanka Tourism.

TikaWeeks #21/2020: Sri Lanka & Maldives update

Posted by John on 22nd May 2020

With the British government intimating that you shouldn’t plan any holidays abroad this summer and Qatar Airways already cancelling flights to Sri Lanka up to September 2020, international tourism is in the doldrums and there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the near future. However, at least both the Governments of Sri Lanka and Maldives appear to have contained the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) promptly and effectively in stark contrast to our own.

TikaWeeks #18/2020: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 28th April 2020

The Sri Lankan government announced the phased reduction in curfews from 20 April 2020, although overnight curfew measures and social distancing instructions remain in force. There remain commercial flight options to return to the UK from Sri Lanka with Qatar Airways, which is operating flights from Colombo to Doha three times a week with onward connections to the UK.

Sunset over Ella, Hill Country, Sri Lanka

TikaWeeks #17-2/2020: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 22nd April 2020

Happy Earth Day! Yesterday, on the first anniversary of the terrorist atrocities in Sri Lanka, I sent a message to our guides about the coronavirus pandemic, finishing with a favourite quote of mine from ‘Lord of the Rings’, which is particularly prophetic today: (Frodo) “I wish none of this had happened." (Gandalf) "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

TikaWeeks #17-1/2020: Sri Lanka & Maldives update

Posted by John on 20th April 2020

As of today (20 April 2020), Tikalanka is no longer able to accept credit card payments since our ‘generous’ merchant services provider has varied the T&Cs to such an extent that it is not viable for us to continue to take credit cards. However, payment by bank transfer or personal cheque remain valid options.

Independent Tailor-made Holidays to Sri Lanka & Maldives