Walkers Tours supports livelihoods

Walkers Tours and Whittalls Travels — the Destination Management Companies (DMC) of the John Keells Group — recently launched a trend setting initiative, a first by any DMC in the country.

  The unique self-financed model will result in 106 brand new Nissan Bluebird Sylphy vehicles being introduced into the tour operations of the John Keells Leisure Sector, including the travel counters at the Group’s two city hotels Cinnamon Grand and Cinnamon Lakeside.

 “This is a great service because there are people who cannot afford to buy a vehicle on their own.  I can’t thank the Management enough, and words don’t suffice to express my gratitude and happiness.  It is very difficult for us to do something like this on our own,” said an emotional K.M.G.C. Dias, one of the beneficiaries — a professional chauffeur who has worked for Walkers Tours for over 25 years, now the proud owner of a brand new Nissan Bluebird Sylphy. “This is something similar to what parents would do for their children.  Because of this I am very grateful,” he added.

The company created this business model by negotiating an attractive purchase price with Associated Motorways — agents for Nissan — and affordable repayment terms with People’s Leasing Ltd. To ensure a win-win situation for the newly created entrepreneurs, the company also provides a guaranteed annual mileage at fixed rates.

Expressing his views, Leisure Inbound Sector Head Vasantha Leelananda, said that creating entrepreneurs through this model gives the company great pleasure. “We believe that this is a true Small & Medium Enterprise and comes at a time when the tourism industry is making a strong revival.  Most of the owners have been working with us for a long period and we are glad that we have been able to reward them with this scheme to sustain themselves and make a meaningful contribution to the tourism industry,” he said.  “Our objective is to benchmark our service levels amongst the best in the region and trend setting initiatives of this nature will assist us to achieve our goals.  We will continue to support our stakeholders by adding value and creating growth opportunities,” he added.