Udaya Nanayakkara
Chairman- Son of the founder. Took the business on in 1981.
Since 1973
Fifty years on the road, still counting
A Colombo travel house that plans two kinds of journey: the island for visitors and the world for Sri Lankans. Started by one man with a trucking business and a good idea.
Who we are
Ceylon Carriers Travels was founded in 1973 and has planned journeys from Colombo ever since. We are a destination management company for visitors to Sri Lanka and a tour operator for Sri Lankans going abroad.
Two very different jobs, one office at Horton Place, Colombo 07. The inbound desk knows which hotel in Ella has the view and which road to Yala is open after rain. The outbound desk knows which embassy wants the bank statement stapled and which airline still serves a proper meal to Chennai. Fifty years buys that kind of detail. It does not come from a brochure.
Founded 1973Generations of travellers, in and out of the island.
Horton Place, Colombo 07A real office you can walk into, not only a number.
Two servicesPrivate Sri Lanka tours for visitors, escorted holidays abroad for Sri Lankans.
One WhatsApp awayBefore, during and after you travel.
Where it startedIt began with a
It began with a
trucking business
Charles NanayakkaraFounder. Photographs from the company archive.
Charles Nanayakkara ran an inland trucking and logistics company. When the Second World War ended in 1945 and ordinary people began travelling for pleasure again, he looked at where this island sits on the map, right between East and West in the middle of the Indian Ocean. He decided there was a business in bringing the two together.
So he took the leap. He moved the family firm into travel and started arranging journeys both ways: visitors coming in to see Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans heading out to see everywhere else. He was early. Sri Lanka's travel and tourism industry later recognised him with Pioneer status.
In 1981 he handed the business to his son, Udaya Nanayakkara, who chairs it today. Half a century on, the same company still books the flights, still meets people at the airport and still answers the phone in Colombo 07.
- 1973
A travel house opens in Colombo
Ceylon Carriers Travels starts arranging journeys in and out of Sri Lanka, grown out of the family's inland trucking and logistics business.
- 1981
The second generation takes over
Charles Nanayakkara hands the business to his son, Udaya Nanayakkara.
- Today
Still run from Colombo 07
Udaya Nanayakkara chairs the company. The team below plans inbound tours and holidays abroad from the office at Horton Place.
SLAITO memberCeylon Carriers Travels is a member of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators.
The people who plan itWho you will
Who you will
actually deal with
One office, one team and the same names year after year. Send a message and one of these people picks it up.
What we stand forExperience you
Experience you
can't shortcut
We know the roads, the people and the moments worth travelling for, because we've been walking them longer than most agencies have existed.
50+ years on the road
A legacy of trust built journey by journey since 1973.
Local expertise, global reach
Deep Sri Lanka knowledge plus trusted partners on every continent.
Tailored itineraries
Every trip is drawn around you, never off a shelf.
End-to-end support
One WhatsApp away before, during and after you travel.
Simple by design
How we plan
1
Enquire
Tell us where you're dreaming of. Two minutes on WhatsApp is all it takes.
2
We Plan
Our specialists craft a personal itinerary and fine-tune it with you until it's right.
3
You Travel
Fly out with everything arranged, with our team on call the whole way.
From our own footageHalf a century
Half a century
of departures
Temples, trains, coasts and cities, filmed on the journeys we plan. This is what the paperwork is for.
The officeHorton Place,
Ceylon Carriers Travels
60/7, 1/1, Horton Place
Colombo 07, Sri Lanka
Horton Place,
Colombo 07
Ceylon Carriers Travels60/7, 1/1, Horton Place
Colombo 07, Sri Lanka
Start with a messageWhere would
Where would
you like to go?
Into the island or out into the world. Tell us which one and your dates. We take it from there.