Skal Colombo Club holds 65th AGM

From left: SKAL International Treasure Keethi Jayaweera, Vice President Dinushka Chandrasena, Secretary Zahara Mufti, President Bernard Wijetunge, Committee member shelin gunasekara, Young Skal Coordinator Rohitha Mendis and Members development Officer Nimalan Naggendra

By Darshana Abayasingha

The Sri Lanka Club of the International Association of Travel and Tourism Professionals, Skal International, held its 65th Annual General Meeting in Colombo on Tuesday. Founded in Colombo in June 1954 under the tag ‘Doing Business Among Friends’, the Sri Lanka chapter of Skal – or Club no. 128 – has been instrumental in forging Sri Lanka’s early advent into the modern phase of the global tourism industry. The first Skal club was formed in 1932 in Paris. 

SKAL International President Bernard Wijetunge

Guest speaker John Keells Group Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Roshanie Jayasundera-Moraes

The 65th Annual General Meeting was chaired by ‘Skalleage’ Bernard Wijetunga, President of Skal International Colombo. Four new members were inducted to the Skal Colombo chapter; Hashan Cooray, Dimitri Cooray, Harindra Chandran and Randika De Silva, who are also part of Young Skal Colombo – which is on a membership drive in the industry. 

During the program, Skal International Colombo also paid tribute to the late Deshabandu George Ondaatjie, former Chairman of Mercantile Investments Group, a Past Chairman of the Tourist Hotel’s Association and a distinguished member of Skal. Speaking at the occasion his wife, Christobel Ondaatjie, averred, “Skal had helped Sri Lanka Tourism immensely when it was getting off the ground, and gave the hospitality industry new horizons to reach.” 

The Guest Speaker at the occasion was the Executive Vice President of John Keells Holdings and Chief Marketing Officer of the Property Sector, Roshanie Moraes. During her presentation, she revealed that Sri Lanka was ranked the lowest in the region for apartments against landed housing, and urbanisation in the country was growing at 18% whereas almost every other nation averaged over 30%. However, she said that apartment living was likely to grow as land prices are escalating beyond reach, and being based at the centre becomes more attractive due to travel times from the suburbs. She revealed that at the current state, commuters in Colombo spent almost five years of their life in traffic, and has contributed to the upturn in locals purchasing apartments, which is almost 65%.

Moraes felt that there is adequate demand in the market at present for apartments, adding that the Port City will likely have a positive impact on the market as it is a 30-year project. However, there is need to attract new segments of tourists into the country given the growing inventory of hotels in Colombo, she said.

Pix by Ruwan Walpola