The R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is the county’s largest cricket ground, which is capable of holding 35,000 cricket fans. The Pallekele Stadium in Kandy is capable of holding 25,000 visitors. The Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Sooriyawewa, Hambantota is being built exclusively for the ICC world cup in order to increase the capacity of Sri Lanka’s stadiums. Sri Lanka will host a total of twelve matches in these three venues raising Sri Lanka’s profile amongst international sport hosts.
In celebration of this event, the Sri Lankan Tourism is planning to offer special promotional packages to cricket lovers. The packages include accommodation and ground transportation including domestic scenic air travel to the matches in Hambantota and Kandy from Colombo for day and extended tours at the visitor’s request. The packages will include stays in the Mahoora Luxury Safari Camps in the wilderness. Guests can also stay in nearby Yala National Park which has the highest concentration of Leopards in the world, only half an hour by car from Hambantota. In these safari camps, guests will experience life in the jungle in a luxury setting with themed evening meals. The newly launched webpage with the ‘Visit Sri Lanka
2011’ branding includes further details of the packages on offer to visitors at http://www.srilanka.travel/cricket.
The island will provide the perfect backdrop to the ICC world cup as cricket is Sri Lanka’s national sport. The world cup which first began in 1975, taking place every four years has had nine editions to date. 2011 is the tenth anniversary of the event which is set to be one of the largest celebrations to date.
