10 Aug 2026 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Colombo, Aug. 10(Daily Mirror) - Western Province Governor Hanif Yusoof has pitched turning the 350-metre Lotus Tower into South East Asia's largest Christmas tree this holiday season, unveiling the idea during the launch of PickMe's Colombo Connect digital ecosystem at the tower on Wednesday.
The proposal, framed as part of a wider push to lift Colombo's festive tourism appeal, remains a stated ambition rather than a confirmed government initiative, with no cost estimate, timeline, or response yet from Lotus Tower management.
The idea invites comparison with Sri Lanka's 2016 attempt to build the world's tallest artificial Christmas tree at Galle Face Green, a privately funded, Rs. 12 million (US$80,000) project that ran into construction delays, fierce criticism from the Catholic Church over spending, and a year-long wait before Guinness World Records finally certified it as the tallest artificial Christmas tree in December 2017. Should this year's plan lean on the Lotus Tower's existing LED lighting system rather than fresh construction, it could sidestep both the delays and the spending backlash that dogged the earlier effort — though that remains to be seen.
Addressing industry leaders and government officials, Yusoof said he wanted Colombo to fully embrace the festive season to drive tourism and local commerce.
"I want the Lotus Tower to be the largest Christmas tree this Christmas," he said. "I will put a commitment to the President and to the Prime Minister that this Christmas would be one of the best Christmases in South East Asia." He also urged the private sector to join in, calling on "everyone in this room, those who have businesses, hotels, restaurants, shops, homes, to decorate them this Christmas to bring the vibrant festive atmosphere."
Unlike the 2016 Galle Face effort, which relied on scrap metal, wood and more than a million hand-painted pine cones, this year's transformation could in theory draw on the tower's dynamic LED system already in place — a shortcut that would avoid the steep construction costs and public backlash that trailed the earlier bid, if the plan goes ahead as described.
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