Home Travel News

Travel Managers on Famil in Sri Lanka

It was the opportunity of a lifetime for 15 personal travel managers, who recently experienced the best of Sri Lanka on a six night exclusive TravelManagers famil.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime for 15 personal travel managers, who recently experienced the best of Sri Lanka on a six night exclusive TravelManagers famil.

Flying Singapore Airlines and hosted by partner supplier Total Holiday Options the group explored seven cities and enjoyed unforgettable and surprising experiences of historical, cultural and geographical significance.

Travelling with her mother, personal travel manager Niedra McLeod representative for Collaroy New South Wales, was surprised by Sri Lanka and even discovered a new thing or two.

“I had no idea how stunning Sri Lanka actually is. I was pleasantly surprised. The people are lovely, the landscape is lush, clean and relatively undeveloped.”

                   Niedra McLeod

And she continues: “I was also surprised how great the food was, both Sri Lankan and international. Sri Lanka offers everything from incredible surf beaches to wildlife parks and even the most famous Buddhist Temple in the world! I also discovered Sri Lanka is very famous for sapphires, Princess Diana’s amazing engagement ring was from Sri Lanka.”

The group visited three World Heritage sites including the Dambulla Cave Temple, Sigiriya Fortress and the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

For personal travel manager Kathy Millett, representative for Onslow in Western Australia it was the 5th century Fortress in the Sky at Sigiriya that proved to be the most inspiring.

“For me the wonder of the island would have to be the Sigiriya Fortress. It’s known as Lion Rock due to the huge Lion rock that used to stand at the entrance to the Palace on the summit of the 600-foot high rock. With many deep breaths, the climb to the top was an incredible adventure and earned a huge personal tick on my bucket list,” she says.

For many when you think of Sri Lanka you think of tea, yet Millett discovers the art of collecting tea leaves is not as easy as it looks.

“We were lucky enough to visit a working tea plantation in Nuwara Eliya and meet the tea pluckers. After some time carefully watching what to do we all tried our hand at throwing the leaves over our shoulders into the basket on our backs. Sadly it was not our forte, not one leaf landed in the basket but we had fun trying,” laughs Millett.

Sunset at Galeface Green.  - Personal travel managers enjoy the spectacular sunset at Galeface Green in Colombo.

Sunset at Galeface Green. – Personal travel managers enjoy the spectacular sunset at Galeface Green in Colombo.

Being able to share her personal famil experiences is proving valuable for McLeod.

“I have just finished my second quote and I’m hoping to convert them both. Being able to relay my passion and my recent personal experiences of Sri Lanka to my clients is the best-selling tool I have. It builds trust with my clients and they appreciate getting accurate and up to date information. Clients like knowing you ate the local food, caught local taxis and survived to tell the tale!”

Millett recommends for clients to pack their patience and sense of adventure and they will be rewarded with a uniquely diverse and cultural holiday experience.

“Sri Lanka is a relatively undiscovered jewel and should be explored sooner rather than later. It is a little gem of a destination and I did not appreciate how diverse the landscape, culture and history would be. There are plenty more adventures to be had and I can’t wait to go back to see the happy smiles of the fisherman and traders again, enjoy those delectable curries and swim in the warm clear waters of the Indian Ocean.”

Have you ever been to Sri Lanka? What did you love the most about the country?