The world renown TV Channel in an exclusive report on best places to visit has categorized Sri Lanka as the 2nd best place to visit. Out of the 20 countries it many well known tourist destinations are listed far behind Sri Lanka. Under this list Hong Kong occupies the 9th place, Bali 7th place, Mauritius 4th place and Zanzibar 3rd place. In an exclusive report on Sri Lanka the commentators Travel Writer of the Times, Jil Crawshow and Editor of Wandertrust Magazine describes Sri Lanka as definitely a best place to visit. Opening the commentary with the first world traveler Marco Polos description of Sri Lanka as the Jade Pendant in the Indian Ocean the commentators say Sri Lanka is exactly what it is and Sri Lanka has got basically everything for a tourist. Commenting about the beaches, they say Sri Lanka has hundreds of miles of amazingly undiscovered beaches and coral marine life, and it is one of the greatest island for beaches. The comment that Sri Lanka got a wonderful history and culture in a really small space and describes the ancient 6th century city Sigiriya, the palace built on a top of rock as place not to miss. Commenting on Sri Lankas wild life and the availability of elephants and leopards, they make special reference to the Pinnawala Elephant Sanctuary. They describe that Pinnawala was started in 1975 with 7 elephants and it has now 65 elephants and it is the largest herd in captivity. The commentators have not even spared to mention about the food available in Sri Lanka. They say that if anyone wants to taste spicy curry then, definitely, Sri Lanka is the place to go. On 10th January New York Times placed Sri Lanka on the top of the list of "The 31 Places to Go in 2010" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/travel/10places.html --- Direct flights between Lanka, Switzerland soon Dec 10 (DN) Swiss Ambassador Thomas Litscher said he would work towards establishing a direct airline connection between Sri Lanka and Switzerland. Litscher who called on Prime Minister D M Jayaratne at Visumpaya Tuesday, said over 10,000 Swiss tourists arrived in Sri Lanka last year. http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/12/10/news26.asp ---- TOURISM INFORMATIONS SOURCES http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Sri_Lanka Official Tourism Site - Sri Lanka 1. http://www.srilankatourism.org/ 2. http://www.srilanka.travel/ Hotels and other documents http://www.infolanka.com/org/srilanka/travel.html World Travel Guide - Sri Lanka http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/260/country_guide/Indian-Subcontinent/Sri-Lanka.html Lonely Planet Sri Lanka http://www.lonelyplanet.com/sri-lanka Sri Lankan Airlines Official website http://www.srilankan.lk/ Arrivals & Departures http://wwn.srilankan.aero/ SRI LANKA HOLIDAY CALENDER http://holidayyear.com/sri-lanka-2010-cal.php SRI LANKA HOLIDAY PACKAGES & INFORMATIONS http://www.jetwingtravels.com/ http://www.srilanka.com/ http://www.thomson.co.uk/destinations/indian-ocean/sri-lanka/sri-lanka/holidays-sri-lanka.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-country/Sri%20Lanka/tpod.html http://www.go-lanka.com/ ATRRACTIONS Horton Plains- Central highlans-beautiful landscapes http://www.mysrilankaholidays.com/horton-plains.html Nuwara-eliya: central highland: beautiful mountains, waterfalss, tea estates/factories(ceylon tea) http://www.mysrilankaholidays.com/nuwara-eliya.html Ancient cities-Anruadhapura http://www.mysrilankaholidays.com/anuradhapura.html Marco Polo' historic tour http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/polo_marco.shtml