Keells tops Tourism awards with tally of 12; Spence takes 7

Reinforcing its supremacy John Keells Holdings Group bagged most of the major titles in an impressive haul of 12 in the fifth annual Sri Lanka Tourism Awards presented last week.

JKH Group’s Cinnamon Lakeside won the best five star city hotel whilst its Cinnamon Lodge Habrana bagged the best five star resort award. Group entity Walkers Tours also won the best inbound travel agent (large scale) and Whittal Boustead won the destination loyal partner (foreign tour operator) in the conventional category. Among other Group wins were best tourism web site for destination promotion of Walkers Tours.

Aitken Spence clinched  seven awards by a Group, largely for its human resource prowess including Chef of the Year, Restaurant Manager of the Year and Hotel Employee of the Year. Aitken Spence also won 'Best Tour Operator Emerging Market' , ‘Best Conference Organiser’ as well as best green practices in accommodation and architecture by Heritance Kandalama.

A highlight of the ceremony which gave away over 50 awards, was the recognition of Prema Cooray as Tourism Legend of the Year, Prasanna Jayewardena as Tourism Pioneer of the Year, Sanjeeva Gardiner as Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year and Chethiya Perera for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism.  The country’s best boutique hotel was won by Amangalla whilst Galle Face won the best heritage hotel. See full list on Page 5