Place of women in Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry

By Divya Thotawatte 

There is not a lack of women in Sri Lanka’s hospitality sector, but challenges they face in terms of influence, roles, expectations and even safety, still highlight a much-needed attitude shift, a panel of experts explained recently. 

This discussion took place at the first ‘Catalysts for Change’ initiative organised by Amari Colombo in honour of the women’s month of March. ‘Catalysts for Change’ was a powerful two-week initiative dedicated to advancing gender parity, empowering women and igniting meaningful conversations about equality across industries. 

The first event of this initiative, held on 17 March; ‘Dining for Change: Empowering Women in Sri Lanka’s Hospitality Industry’, featured a panel discussion focused on the role of women in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, followed by a special three-course dinner to spark further discussions on action and impact. The event, themed ‘Accelerating Corporate Action & Inspiring Lasting Change’, brought together industry leaders, trailblazers and advocates for women’s empowerment who shared their insights and personal experiences of empowering women in the industry. 

Women’s roles and career advancement 

Speaking at the panel discussion, Jetwing Travels Chairperson and Managing Director Shiromal Cooray emphasised that true gender equality had to go beyond just hiring women, where a mindset shift within the tourism industry was still necessary. At Jetwing, they do not look at staff as male or female, but as employees based on their skills. 

“We never look at people as male or female. We look at people as equal. I think that comes from my father, where me and my brother were seen as two children rather than a son and a daughter. So that has been in our DNA. So everybody looks at all our managers as equal.” 

However, she acknowledged that despite this internal policy, women were often placed in stereotypically “feminine” roles. She said it was instead important to view them through the lens of the position they were taken for, instead of their gender and if “she can’t carry this.” 

Cooray also added that some women staff also faced challenges managing career growth and family responsibilities. She explained that there were successful stories of women who had risen from receptionists to become company directors, but more often, personal life responsibilities impacted women’s career advancement. 

“There are a lot of women who want to excel in their career, but it is very tough to manage the two and go to the top. You have to compromise, make sacrifices. One is going to suffer at different points. You need to know when to make it to your child’s drams show or an event in the company. If you don’t attend the event, you’re going to be viewed in a negative way. But if you don’t see your child’s show, he’s going to remember it for the rest of his life.” 

Further struggles at the top

Nyne Hotels and Taru Chairman and Managing Director Nayantara Fonseka also spoke about the gender biases she has faced and witnessed throughout her career in the hospitality industry. Women do not only struggle advancing their careers with the constant challenges they face from the industry and society in general, but even when they reach the top and positions of leadership, the struggles still continue. 

She highlighted how men in the industry often refused to take instructions from women leaders, including herself and other staff at her hotels. “They don’t want to take instructions from women. They’re reluctant to do that, or even if they say yes, they go back and do just the opposite. Now that happens even in our hotels. My CEO is a woman and they won’t listen to her. They say yes, that is normal, but as soon as she has left, it becomes quite different.” 

Fonseka explained how male workers often disregarded female leadership, where being gentle or polite as women leaders was not respected, and she had had to change her attitude working with men. In the early days of her career, Fonseka could only command more respect as she attempted to handle things differently. Only through her perseverance, becoming more assertive and setting stronger boundaries, was she able to navigate her way in the hospitality business. 

“Something strange that I found in Sri Lankans is that they love women who scream at them. But if you say it gently, they will not listen. That’s the only way I have survived. I wasn’t always this outspoken and brash. One day, my father heard me speak to somebody and said, “you’re not genteel anymore, what happened to you?” I said, “what happened was this industry happened to me as a woman.”

Underrepresentation and the informal sector 

Thema Collection Director Maxime Wickramasinghe also shared his insights, highlighting that despite an increased leadership of women in hospitality, there was the need for greater career development opportunities and recognition of the skills and potential of women in hospitality. Acknowledging companies like Jetwing who have successfully promoted women into managerial roles, he explained that this support was not seen in the broader industry. 

“There needs to be a lot more support and help, not just for the ladies getting into the industry, but also the management side of things. We have to make best use of them and not just give them a feminine role.”

He also said that there was not a lack of women in the industry, noting that disregarding the informal sector was a critical gap in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. He explained that the percentage of women in tourism would shift if informal roles, such as homestays, were counted, pointing out that women could potentially be underrepresented in official statistics. 

Yet, transitioning these informal businesses into the formal economy was not easy or straightforward. “A lot of small-scale entrepreneurs can’t, sometimes don’t, process these (legal processes),” said Wickramasinghe, explaining how bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of awareness about legal processes scare many small-scale entrepreneurs from following the correct procedures. 

A way forward

However, Sri Lanka and its hospitality industry has its own strengths, and the country could benefit if it plays into these strengths. Instead of following systems that are unnatural to the country, it should instead devolve deeper into understanding Sri Lanka’s own cultural strengths to learn how to improve as an industry. “We shouldn’t be focusing on benchmarking as the west because there’s enough to be thought wrong a lot,” stated Retrace Hospitality Founder Chalana Perera, pointing out how Sri Lanka’s tourism sector had long been measured according to Western benchmarks for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), despite this approach being fundamentally flawed. He said that instead, Sri Lanka would be better off recognising its own historical and cultural strengths, especially its matrilineal heritage. 

“Sri Lanka has so many women in higher value higher education; sales and marketing, administration, finance, management, entrepreneurship. There are so many women in the supply side. Those are indicators that, unfortunately, we aren’t collecting statistics from.”

Perera explained that while much of the visible labour in tourism, such as drivers, hotel staff and waiters, was male-dominated, women were behind many of the strategic and managerial roles. He explained that opportunities lied in this unique strength of the Sri Lankan labour market where women often ended up in high value employment. Thus, Sri Lanka needed to focus more on investing in grassroots education, and recognising the potential of “matrilineal intelligence” for more strategic business efforts. 

“We’re also moving into a global economy. There’s more talk about energies versus gender. Sri Lanka needs to look into and recognise the historical heritage of that matrilineal intelligence to inform its policy, strategy and business. Therefore, my position sits on steering entrepreneurship at the grassroots level and disregarding the Western.” 

Amari Colombo’s commitment to empowering women 

Amari Colombo announced the launch of their ‘Catalysts for Change’ initiative on 12 March, with two events to be held on 17 March and 24 March, supporting discourse of women empowerment in male-dominated fields. 

The ‘Dining for Change’ event’s panel discussion, moderated by award-winning journalist, writer and interviewer Savithri Rodrigo, focused on the role of women in Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry and the actions required to foster lasting change. Following the panel discussion, an all-women kitchen staff prepared and served its guests the special three-course dinner. Additionally, a jazz music duo, Saku on Sax & Nadia on Vocals further elevated the event with their enchanting presence and performance. 

The Accelerator’s Summit and Closing Night, held 24 March, was centred on the theme of ‘Breaking Barriers in Male-dominated Industries’. This impactful closing event showcased a series of compelling panel discussions, each highlighting women’s achievements in traditionally male-dominated sectors, including aviation, foreign affairs, women migration, shipping, and apparel. The evening closed with a networking dinner at Ahāra.

In its efforts to empower and support women in Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry, Amari Colombo also showcased a curated selection of sustainable, women-led brands like Linen Atelier, Healing Healing Island and Made by Her at the Vibe Market in the foyer. 

In line with its core values, Amari Colombo will contribute part of the proceeds from the Catalysts of Change initiative to the Indira Cancer Trust, supporting women battling cancer in Sri Lanka. This is part of the broader ONYX For Planet initiative, which focuses on sustainability and social responsibility. 

Pix by Lasantha Kumara