Sunil Dissanayake new Hotel School Graduates Association President

Industry veteran and top professional Sunil Dissanayake was elected as the new President of the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association.

Dissanayake is currently the Director and Chief Executive at the BMICH.

The election of Dissanayake was at the 44th Annual General Meeting of CHSGA held over the weekend at the Aliya Resort and Spa in Sigiriya with Tourism Development and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga as the Chief Guest.

Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association known in brief as CHSGA was established in 1971 and was incorporated by Parliament Act no 21 of 1984 giving important legal status. Being the Alumni of the then Ceylon Hotel School and present Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (SLITHM), CHSGA has been associated with the Tourism industry of Sri Lanka from its formative years.

With committed leadership and many pioneering efforts, the Association has grown to become a key player and a well-respected one of the hospitality industry of Sri Lanka contributing mainly to its Professional Development under numerous fields. It also has given back to the society and continues to do so through numerous CSR initiatives undertaken regularly.

Its membership of over 1100 members hold key positions of the hospitality and the tourism sector of the country as well as overseas. CHSGA has been instrumental in creating a closer community of its members together with other associates of the industry through its social programs that contributes to great networking and harmony in the industry.

Dissanayake, a Graduate in Hotel Management from the Ceylon Hotel School, has had a chequered career in the hospitality industry. He was previously Director and General Manager at The Kingsbury after having joined Hayleys in July 2007 and appointed to the Board of The Kingsbury PLC on 22 April 2010.

He was also responsible for Group Human Resources, Corporate Communications/Sustainability and Group Security.  He is Fellowship holder from the ILO to South Devon Technical College, Devon, UK. Was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Gold Award in 2011 and Honorary Membership in 2004 by the Institute of Personnel Management.

Prior to joining Hayleys, he held several senior management positions in large private and public sector entities in Sri Lanka and abroad in Human Resources Management and in Hotel Management, such as Jetwing Hotels, Ceylon Hotels Corporation, Ceylon Hotel School, Keells Hotel Management Services, Galadari Meridian Hotel, Ramada Hotel Dubai, Citibank Dubai, Carson Cumberbatch, SriLankan Airlines and HSBC Global Resourcing.

Fellow member and former President of the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association and a former Member of the Hotel Classification Committee of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. He is a member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Steering Committee for HR and Education and is also a Steering Committee Member of the Lanka Business Coalition (LBCH) for prevention of AIDS.