Kudarama, Vanik's first leisure investment

ONE of the few fully-fledged eco hotels, Kudarama private limited in Madurankuliya, in the Puttalam district is gaining popularity amongs cooperates, company outings and foreigners.

The property is the first leisure investment made by Vanik money brokers, where one of its group company also owns several acres of teak plantations adjoining the hotel.

Kudarama is one of the few hotels in Sri Lanka which do not use electricity but provides star class comfort for their guests. The hotel comprising 4 double and 2 family tent styled houses is powered by solar power and each tent has lighting. In addition each tent has an attached toilet with all the facilities.

"The success of the hotel is its design, unique architecture and the comfort which is being offered in a quiet and romantic atmosphere. This is what draws foreigners and the locals," said its General Manager Viran Swaris.

"Though one may think that there is no luxury the hotel since guests are staying under tents, we offer every basic needs to meet the demands of the traveller," he said.

He said that when his Managing Director Mano Ratnayake wanted to invest in the leisure sector he wanted to create something unique. "This was the idea behind Kudarama," he said.

Built in the scrub jungle, the tents are pitched on hoisted wooden platforms crowned with thatch roof canopies for total privacy and for security.

One of the unique features of the hotel is its pre fabricated swimming pool imported from Australia which is the only such pool in Sri Lanka. "This is a major attraction to the hotel," he said. The lounge and the dining desk built on a mini lake too are popular.

Since the hotel is powered by solar power they do not use a refrigerator. The management use fresh vegetables and meats to provide travellers with an authentic Sri Lankan meal, and in the tents there is a cool box which serves as the mini bar cum refrigerator.

The hotel hosts lit up with hurricane lamps and lanterns also has barbeques and a special group is available for the night on request.

The management is now in the process of building a new reception and a car park since the property in demand.

The hotel also organises excursions to Wilpattu via the sea as well as on road. Tours are also organised to places of interest such as Thammannawa, Tonigala, Paramakanda, and villages where African origins still live in.

The salt and fresh water mix wet land tour too is another sought out excursion. More details on the hotel could be obtained from their web site. www.kudarama.lk - (S.S)

SriLankan Catering excels at culinary art

SRILANKAN Catering (Pvt) Limited won its largest ever haul of medals at Culinary Art, the countrys most prestigious competition, which is organized by the Chefs Guild of Lanka.

SriLankan Catering is going from strength to strength and the impressive performance at Culinary Art is yet another step forward for the company, said Dilip Nijhawan, CEO of SriLankan Catering.

All credit to our team, which has shown time and again that they are a group of talented individuals who are committed to their trade and to the company.

Competing in a dozen categories, SriLankan Catering won medals in 11 of them - 1 Gold, 3 Silver, and 7 Bronze in both live cooking and static display areas. The biannual 3-day competition in Colombo attracted more than a thousand competitors from the countrys vibrant hospitality industry.

SriLankan Catering, the inflight catering arm of SriLankan Airlines Group, recently won a prestigious global award in the Food and Beverage category at the Mercury Awards, the aviation industry competition conducted by the International Flight Catering Association.

SriLankan Catering is an ISO 9001:2000 company that handles inflight catering for airlines that fly through Colombo, including SriLankan Airlines, and also operates the restaurants at Bandaranaike International Airport.

With the rapid growth of airline traffic through Colombo in recent years, SriLankan Caterings flight kitchen has continuously expanded its activities and presently produces an average of more than 10,000 meals per day.

The company is completing construction on a new USD 30 million flight kitchen that would triple its production capacity at Bandaranaike International Airport.

The company had a Nett Profit after Tax of Rs. 1.36 billion in 2004/05, a growth of 26.7% over the previous year. It is on course to better this performance in 2005/06, and expects further dramatic growth with the commissioning of its new flight kitchen, since the added capacity will allow it to explore many new avenues in developing its business strategies.

Indra Regent hotel installs "Guestnet"

CEYCOM Global Communication Limited the Communication arm of the Golden Key Group (a member of Ceylinco Consolidated) recently implemented its unique "GuestNet" solution at the Indra Regent Hotel to provide internet access to its guest in the comfort of their rooms and in the open areas such as the lobby, restaurant poolside and more.

Ceycom's GuestNet solution provides broadband internet connectivity via powerlines instantly converting the powerlines into a "data ready" LAN infrastructure to carry the internet feed to any power socket in the hotel.

Power Line Communication (PLC) technology eliminates the need for laying of a separate LAN cables to distribute the internet to the rooms.

(PLC), is ideal for existing as well as new buildings such as offices, hotels, apartment buildings, hospitals and exhibition centres.

The PLC system utilises the standard power socket instead of using special communication cables. The most striking and distinct advantage is that you could connect and control any IP device over the power line and could be deployed in combination with wireless connectivity making it suitable for open areas such as lobbies, cafeterias and exhibition halls.

Hemas launches the globus family of travel brands

GLOBUS Family of brands, a world leading provider of escorted travel products, globally, announced its entry into Sri Lanka through its appointed General Sales Agents, Hemas Travels Pte Ltd., Hemas Travels, through their leisure wing, Prime Destinations, who will provide local support for marketing and selling these vacation products of Globus family products worldwide to travel agents in Sri Lanka and to their extensive customer portfolio.

The Indian regional office set up in Bangalore to spearhead the regional business will support Hemas Travels.

"By establishing the Indian regional office, our goal is to strengthen the Globus family of brands' presence in these markets and increase outbound traffic to Globus and Cosmos numerous worldwide destinations," said Mike Schields, Director, Group Sales and Emerging Markets for the Globus family of brands.

"We're making a long-term commitment in what promises to be a rapidly expanding market, providing these travel enthusiasts with several new and unique vacation experiences."

"There is definitely a market here for the Globus family vacations that allow the authentic European experience," said M. Jayaram, Regional Director - India and South Asia, Globus family of brands.

"There is a large group of educated and successful people in the sub-continent who are interested in travelling abroad in the company of travellers of different nationalities and cosmopolitan backgrounds in order to truly immerse themselves into the destinations they visit.

The multi-cultural groups that the Globus family attracts combined with its insightful Tour Directors and more than 77 years of experience, offers a world of new travel options to people in our region."

The Globus Family of Brands make up the worlds largest escorted travel company and includes Globus, Cosmos, Monograms, Brennan Vacations and Avalon Waterways.