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Aitken Spence finds right opportunity in Oman

Everyone involved in hospitality industry have pledged to do the best to get the industry functioning and the economy moving in the right direction for the benefit of the masses of Sri Lanka. Managing Director, Aitken Spence Hotels Malin Hapugoda unravels facts behind the recent agreement signed with Oman Hotels and Tourism Company.

India is a destination more manageable for Sri Lanka as it’s more close to Sri Lanka. So why go to Oman?

In terms of managing hotels every country possesses an inherent set of attractions and challenges. India has always been a fantastic tourism destination. With concerted efforts in tourism promotion and a booming economy, India is fast becoming a global tourism hotspot.

We are quite keen to establish a presence and grow in India.

Of course, the geographic proximity is a contributing factor in moving into India last year, so was Aitken Spence’s move to the Maldives in the mid 90’s.

But obviously it certainly is not the only factor. We had to compete with long-established brands such as Taj and Oberoi to win the hotel deals that we have subsequently successfully finalized in India.

Middle East is witnessing unprecedented economic growth and the Oman especially, is beginning to invest in tourism has already experiencing a boom. Naturally, we were very keen to move into that region and have been scouting for opportunities.

We are very pleased to have found the right opportunity with an excellent partner in Oman, which has allowed us to sign agreements to manage four properties in the Sultanate. We foresee many opportunities in the Omani hospitality industry in the future.

How strategically are the four hotels located? What is their current status?

The four-star Al Falaj Hotel and the three-star Ruwi Hotel are both located in the capital city of Muscat and located in the heart of the city.

Al Wadi Hotel is a three-star property located 210 km from Muscat. Its location on the Batinah coast makes it rich in heritage and culture.

Our fourth property, the Sur Plaza Hotel is located in the beautiful city of Sur, 300 km from Muscat and in close proximity to the Turtle Beach

Are you planning to employ Sri Lankans at these hotels?

We will review the human resources at the four properties as part of our plan to submit a proposal to our partner to improve the hotels and to position them to exploit the booming regional tourism industry.

Although it is most probable that we will be employing Sri Lankan at the hotels, especially given the fact that already thousands of Sri Lankan do work in Oman, we are not yet in a position to say exactly how many we will be employing.

As mentioned, one our assignments is to analyse the four properties and present a business plan for the improvement of the hotels by making all of them all excellent four-star hotels which can capitalize on their strategic locations.

At that stage we will look at all possibilities of introducing our expertise accumulated over the years into these properties.

How are the Sri Lankan hotels doing currently?

Sri Lankan hotels could do much better if the security climate improves.

While we are managing fairly reasonably with occupancies during this season due to our loyal overseas and local clientele, it is difficult to tap into the higher end of the market due to the prevailing perception of Sri Lanka as a destination.

However, we are confident that the new tourism authority would make long-awaited changes that are required to position Sri Lanka strongly in the global tourism map.

Due to outstanding reputation and greater popularity in Sri Lanka, we have been able to attract a very high percentage of local tourists, especially to our properties such as Heritance Kandalama.

What do you think of the Minimum room rate?

As we are not in Colombo, we are not directly affected by it. However, we believe that it is a good move for the Sri Lankan tourism industry, and it would go long way in obtaining at least a reasonable value for the services offered.

How have the four Aitken Spence hotels performed?

Last year all the four hotels performed well as tourism has began to take off.

We see much better potential in the future years with increased occupancies and average room rates.