Business Rendezvous

Winning hearts essential for peace

Shirajiv Sirimane

A lasting solution to the ethnic conflict cannot be found only through a military process. The Government must also win the hearts of the people to find lasting peace. Travel advisories are a tool used by Western countries to put pressure on Sri Lanka to bring about a negotiated settlement to the ethnic problem.

Even the proposal to remove GSP plus concession is a similar move aimed at putting pressure on the Government said veteran hotelier and Chairman Confifi Group of Companies, M.T. A. Furkhan.

He said there is conflict in Turkey and there is no guarantee when a bomb would explode either in London of USA. "However Western countries have not labeled travel advisories on those countries. Since Sri Lanka is a small country they try to teach us a lesson by imposing these restrictions," he said. Commenting in the 13th Amendment he said it would be successful as long as politicians are sincere in devolving power.

"However they are not. Present leaders want to keep all the power to them and this is the reason for it to drag along," he said. He said that if politicians are sincere and want to truly share power they should give more autonomy to the provincial councils. Airing his views on the Eastern province he said that it was good that elections are being held. "This is some kind of a settlement. However the Provincial Councils must be given more teeth.

I think a separate IGP should be appointed to each Provincial Council. Though there is provincial council Tourism Ministers they don't play a major role," he said.

The group Chairman said that he would place Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike and J. R. Jayewardene as the father and mother of Tourism in Sri Lanka. Ebert Silva according to Furkhan was the founder of charter tours to the country. "They opened a door of opportunity to this trade from 1965," he said.

The Confifi Group established in 1969 owns and manages three popular beach holiday resorts on the south west coast of Sri Lanka in Beruwela catering to a wide range of holiday preferences from a beach resort, the five -star Eden Resort and Spa, the four -star Riverina and Club Palm Garden all in Beruwela in the broad sandy "Golden Mile" beach.

The Confifi Group of Hotels is the only chain amongst beach resorts in Sri Lanka to offer a choice of wellness in its resorts.

Q: How did you get involved in the leisure sector?

I was attached to Walkers for along time and with tourism picking up I saw a window of opportunity and decided to invest. Initially I built Confifi Hotels in Beruwela with 27 rooms 38 years ago with an investment of Rs. 1 million.

During that time only Bentota Rest house and Barbereyn Hotel was operational to catering to expat planters and other foreigners who were in Colombo for business.

However we must thank the community in the area who were supportive of tourism.

Since the hotel did not have staff we set up a hotel school within the school to train staff and today most of them are holding high positions.

After the 1971 insurgency tourism started to boom and everyone was investing in the industry. During this time we also built Riverina, Palm Garden and the five star Eden to meet the demand. All those investments brought back returns until the 1983 black July.

This put the industry back and since then the industry has been having a conflict almost every two years. We had 100 per cent booking for 1983 winter and over 80 per cent was cancelled due to this.

Q: What do you think was the success story of the Maldives tourism industry?

It was their dedication and planning. Their tourism began in 1974 and the country sold as a combination with Sri Lanka as no one knew about Sri Lanka.

They also had substantial hotels, food and other infrastructure. Sri Lankan staff taught them all the basics. Maldives also enjoys unspoilt beaches, blue waters and they also made a good move to market the hotels as an exclusive destination which fetched them high prizes. In the 1980's they also introduced web based bookings which too was successful.

Q: What do you think about the recently introduced minimum room rate and the Tourism Act?

They are very good and it was the Tourist Hotels Association that drafted this legislation.

The success of the minimum room rate will result in the hotels being able to review the prices and increase it again. Sri Lanka is still selling low as the Hilton chain room rate is over US $ 250 while Colombo Hilton is still trying to climb up to US $ 100.

Q: How do you see the recently concluded Presidential awards for Tourism?

This is a good move as its being conducted by the Government. Confifi won 60 per cent of the awards presented to Resort Hotels and both Riverina and Palm Garden was recognised. The success of the awards is due to the efforts put in by the staff.

Q: What do you think about domestic tourism?

I think this is an area that has been ignored. Sri Lanka has so many places of interest in many places like Kithulgala, Madu Ganga and many more.

The Provincial Councils should be more active and try to stop people in their respective areas as done in Ambepussa for food and Kitulgala for rafting.

Q: How do you see the local infrastructure?

It is very poor and with this kind of infrastructure it's difficult to attract investors.

The Government is providing too much of handouts. Though Sri Lanka is an island nothing has been done to have a water based transport system.

Q: Where do you like to spend a holiday?

I like the East coast and if it's overseas I like the Maldives and Indonesia. All these places have very good long beaches and is the perfect place for a quiet holiday.