To be on par with international tourist destinations:

Star class hotels increase charges

Charumini de Silva

Sri Lanka’s star class hotels have decided to increase their charges for occupancy and services to be on par with international tourist destinations so that Sri Lanka will not be classified as a cheap destination, sources in the industry said.

The average occupancy rates of star class tourist hotels in Colombo were in the range of US$ 50-60, but the hotels will now increase the rates to between US$ 100-120 within the next couple of weeks. Chairman, Hotel Developers Lanka PLC, Navaz Rajabdeen said, “They were contemplating an increase of rates especially after tourism showed promise with the dawn of peace, but no agreement was reached among all star class hotels in Colombo on a common rate of increase.

“We are pleased that the decision to increase the rate was approved by the Tourist Board and accepted by most of the leading hotels”.

He said, “When the rates were reduced, the quality of the service charges were also reduced bringing a classification among employee unions. Therefore, the present increase would benefit the management and the staff of the hotel trade”.

“There should be legislation to regulate the quality and service in the tourist hotels since now a considerable increase in the number of tourist arrivals was expected in the coming season and later,” he said.

Chairman, Ceylon Continental Hotel, Nahil Wijesuriya said, “Despite the fact that the hotel was located in the middle of a high security zone in Colombo, it had been possible for the hotel to make profits compared to the star class hotels in the Colombo, Fort area”.

“As it was difficult for customers to access the hotel through the security barriers, we have proposed to classify Ceylon Continental Hotel as a three star hotel. This will also increase our turnover and help us to make more profits in the future,” he said.