Devindre elected as SLAITO President

Devindre Senaratne, the Managing Director of JourneyScapes Ltd., was elected as the President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) at the 35th Annual General Meeting of the Association, which was held recently at the Coco Royal Beach Resort, Waskaduwa.

Harith Perera, Managing Director of Diethelm Travel Sri Lanka, was elected as the Vice President, Nalin Jayasundera, Managing Director of Aitken Spence Travels Ltd., was elected as the Secretary and Gayangi Wirasinha, Managing Director of Abercrombie & Kent Ltd., was elected as the Treasurer.

From left: Associations of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Asst. Secretary General Ushendrini Amerasinghe, SLAITO Immediate Past President Mahen Kariyawasan, SLAITO Vice President Harith Perera, SLAITO President Devindre Senaratne, SLAITO Secretary Nalin Jayasundara, SLAITO Treasurer Gayangi Wirasinha and SLAITO Chief Operating Officer Wing Commander Kumuda Eramudugolla

The following persons were elected to the Executive Committee of SLAITO for the period of 2015/2016: T.M.F. Packeer, Managing Director of Asian Exotica  Ltd.; Bilal Mohamed, Chairman of Asian Adventures Travel Management Co. Ltd.; Shanitha Fernando, President of Authenticities Ltd.; Chandra Wickremasinghe, Chairman of Connaissance de Ceylan; Bobby Jordan Hansen, Managing Director of Columbus Tours Ltd.; Nushani Ediriweera, Director Sales and Marketing of Ceylon Tours Ltd.; Shiromal Cooray, Managing Director of Jetwing Travels Ltd.; Aasim Mukthar, Chief Executive Officer of Lanka Exhibition & Conference Services Ltd.; Dirk Grigson, Managing Director of Lanka Sports Reizen; Nilmin Nanayakkara, Managing Director of Nkar Travels &Tours Ltd.; Vasantha Leelananda, Executive Vice President – JKH & Head of Leisure Inbound Sector of Walkers Tours Ltd.; Nishad Wijetunga, Director/CEO of Wayfarers Ltd.; and Mahen Kariyawasan, Managing Director of Andrew the Travel Company Ltd. as the Immediate Past President.

The Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) was formally known as Association of Group Tour Agents (AGTA) and was established in 1975. In 2002 AGTA was reconstituted as SLAITO.

SLAITO is recognized as the apex body for inbound tourism and the membership handles 90% of all inbound tourists in the organised tourism sector in the country. SLAITO plays an integral role in all important private sector decision-making forums and is affiliated to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. At present the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators has a membership of 200.