Five Jetwing hotels amongst the top 25 hotels in Sri Lanka

In 1973, the destiny of Sri Lankan tourism changed. From humble beginnings in the fishing town of Negombo, a small family owned company grew to be a pioneering force in the industry, and is now renowned the world over for its simple values and its promise of traditional Sri Lankan hospitality.

Jetwing Hotels is now the largest resort chain in the island, with 17 properties within the country and three in New Zealand, Laos and Vietnam.

The company is no stranger to worldwide recognition and awards; consistently winning at prestigious ceremonies such as HICAP, Switch Asia, PATA Gold Awards, the World Travel Awards, to name a few.

However, to Jetwing trophies and certificates are not what counts; rather the knowledge that a guest’s experience is the best they could have ever hoped for, which was proven last year when TripAdvisor awarded certificates of excellence to eight Jetwing properties, based on a consistently high ranking of the hotels by visitors from around the globe.

Jetwing now adds another feather to its cap, with the publication of TripAdvisor’s Best of 2013 list. This year around, the Travellers’ choice 2013, top 25 hotels in Sri Lanka features not just one or two, but an unprecedented five properties.  Jetwing Lighthouse, Bawa’s finest creation for the hospitality industry, and a member of small luxury hotels of the World, is placed fourth, Jetwing Beach; another of Bawa’s accomplishments and also a member of small luxury hotels of the World comes in at 12.

The ranking is followed by Jetwing Sea, formerly known as the Seashells Hotel before a massive reinvestment and turn around in 2011 and now a four star rated hotel, the five star Jetwing Blue, the first hotel in the Jetwing chain also re-launched in 2011, and the newest member of small luxury hotels of the World Jetwing Lagoon, which also holds the honour of being Sri Lanka’s first resort hotel.

“We love it when a visitor comes to any of our properties and leaves with a smile, knowing that our service and our products are simple yet superior in every way. Through TripAdvisor, it’s refreshing to hear about different experiences, and our guests also provide us with comments that help us improve.  “My congratulations go out to all the other hotels on the Top 25 list, as it is through our efforts that Sri Lanka grows in stature as a premier tourist destination” Jetwing Chairman Hiran Cooray said.

TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site, enabling travellers to plan and have the perfect trip. The site offers trusted advice from real travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools.  TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 60 million unique monthly visitors, and over 75 million reviews and opinions.  The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. The site also includes TripAdvisor for business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor’s millions of monthly visitors.

Family owned and in the tourism industry for the past 40 years, Jetwing Hotels has surpassed expectation at every aspect.  Building on their foundation of being passionate, as well as the experience of true, traditional Sri Lankan hospitality, constantly pioneering discoveries captures the essence of the brand.

Such a strong statement and direction have enabled Jetwing Hotels to imagine, create and manage marvels and masterpieces, where distinctive design and elegant comfort complement each other and the environment.  Considered a priority, sustainable and responsible practice is implemented through the award winning Jetwing ‘Eternal earth program’; with energy efficiency, community upliftment, and education of earth saving measures to schoolchildren being a few tenets of the program.