USD 80 million investment in Colombo, Negombo :

Ramada chain to build two hotels

Shirajiv Sirimane in ITB Berlin

One of the worlds leading hotel chains, Ramada is planning to invest in two hotel projects in Sri Lanka. One hotel would be built in Negombo while the second would be in Colombo.

Vice President, Ramada International, Nihal S. Samarasinha, told the Daily News that two four star hotels would be named Ramada Colombo and Ramada Airport Hotel Negombo.

"We have received the green light from the Sri Lanka Tourist Board for these two projects and we have already secured land in Negombo. We are now negotiating for a property in Colombo for the second hotel," he said.

Samarasinha said that the total investment for the two hotels would be USD 80 million with 100 rooms being built in Colombo and 70 in Negombo. The construction of the Ramada Airport Hotel Negombo would commence this year and would be completed in 18 months. The next project would commence in 2006.

He said that there are very good hotel administrators in Sri Lanka and he would manage the two properties by employing Sri Lankans. Over 30 years in the hotel trade and based in Germany he said that it was one of his dreams to invest in Sri Lanka. The tsunami has had some negative impact for the tourism industry and I know that this would only be a temporary set back and the island would bounce back even sooner than everybody expected.

He said that his share of investment would be around 35 percent and the balance would come from a Sri Lankan partner. Samarasinha is also the franchisee and owner operator of Ramada hotel Frankfurt which was originally built in 1983 and totally renovated in 2000 by him.

After serving as a room boy in a hotel in Frankfurt he moved up as a bell boy, cashier, duty manager, Director Finance, Chief Financial officer for several world famous hotels in several regions. "In 1998 I decided to be on my own and started building my own hotel near the Frankfurt railway station where I worked 18 years ago," he said.

Samarasinha is also a Development Consultant for Ramada International and Executive Director of Asian Exotica, a destination management company in Sri Lanka.