“Exciting times ahead for local hotels”: new THASL Chief Kehelpannala

“With many new prospects for the local tourist hotel industry the times are indeed exciting,” said Jayantissa Kehelpannala, the newly appointed President of the Hotels Association of Sri Lanka while addressing its 47th Annual General Meeting recently.

“The ongoing question regarding the positioning of the country’s tourism product is whether Sri Lanka should be positioned as a cheap or an expensive destination. I personally think that it is better for us to attract the high-end tourists considering the compactness, authenticity and diversity of the country,” stated Anura Lokuhetty, Immediate Past President of the Association.

It was noted that it would take some time for Sri Lanka to become an up-market destination. The country will have to go through a cycle to become an up-market destination, which is certainly required considering all aspects of tourism including the human resource factor.

In order to reach that level, finding human resources with the necessary training will be an ongoing challenge for Sri Lanka’s tourism sector. However, the Sri Lanka Hotel School has taken the necessary steps to expand the training facilities to meet the HR demands to cater to the targeted arrivals in 2016. It is encouraging to note that even other large companies in the hospitality industry have come forward to improve and further training in the travel and tourism industry.

“With the dawn of much awaited peace, tourism has been on an upward spiral and the industry is working towards achieving the target of receiving 2.5 million tourists by 2016. When we look back at the past two years, we can be happy with the achievements we have achieved in the tourism sector,” added Lokuhetty.  

He further stated that THASL and Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators have prepared a master plan with necessary strategies to achieve the target of receiving 2.5 million tourists by 2016 and observed that they have so far met targets ahead of the allocated time.

He expressed confidence in going beyond the set target in the year ahead as well. “Whilst we can be happy about the arrivals over the last two and half years, we need to have a much more aggressive and systematic marketing plan without any further delay to maintain the momentum in order to reach our target.”

Lokuhetty also expressed his appreciation towards the Government for having been able to improve the country’s image amongst foreign investors, thereby attracting international chains such as Shangri-La, Movenpick, Ritz Carlton and many other regional groups. He said that this will certainly improve Sri Lanka’s exposure in the international market and will help its international campaign.

THASL has been actively engaged in the development of the tourism and hospitality industry in Sri Lanka and has been providing advisory, consultative and representative services to all its members, the industry and the Government.

Jayantissa Kehelpannala, Executive Vice President/Sector Head – Resort Hotels of John Keells Hotels PLC was elected as the President of the Association. Four vice presidents were elected and they included M. Shanthikumar of Ramada Colombo as vice president representing city hotels, Siri Goonewardena of Coral Sands Hotel Ltd. as vice president of small hotels, Asoka Hettigoda of Siddhalepa Ayurveda Health Resort as vice president of general interest and Susith Jayawickrama of Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings Ltd. as vice president of resort hotels.

Ten members were elected to the Managing Committee of THASL.  Royal Heritage Hotel Ltd., Jetwing Vil Uyana and Hotel Renuka were elected to represent the hotels with less than 50 rooms. Club Palm Bay, Avani Bentota Resort and Spa, Golden Star Beach Hotel, Amaya Lake, Taj Samudra Hotel, Heritance Kandalama and Tangerine Beach Hotel will represent the hotels with more than 50 rooms.

Ranil De Silva of Avani Bentota Resort and Spa (former Serendib Hotel) was elected as the Treasurer for the Association. Anura Lokuhetty joined the committee in his capacity as the Immediate Past President of the Association. The Association has a membership of 163 hotels, representing the small, medium and larger hotels.

The meeting was followed by a Hotel Suppliers’ Buyer-Seller Meet Mart which showcased products from Siddhalepa Exports Ltd., Sincerity Ceramic Ltd., Ranjanas Ceramic Ltd., Abans Ltd., JKCS (John Keells Computer Services), Nippon Granite and Promolanka Marketing Ltd. The occasion ended with a gala dinner for the special invitees and members of the Association.