Hilton Colombo Residence gearing for tourism boom:

City hotels must increase rooms

Charumini de Silva

There is a tremendous improvement in the tourism industry with the restoration of peace and economic stability in the country. Tourism was one of the industries that showed a significant development with the dawn of peace. Hilton Colombo Residence General Manager Manesh Fernando told Daily News that performance has shown a positive trend and is very confident about the years to come.

“Business has progressed well. We managed to perform a profitability of above 30 to 40 percent during last year over the previous year,” Fernando said.

If this momentum in the tourism industry continues, city hotels might have to increase the number of hotel rooms and upgrade the hotels. In the years to come there will be a need for more hotels to be set up in the Colombo city as the number of tourist arrivals have increased significantly.

“We should always promote our country as a tourism destination in other countries before we promote the hotels.

“Hotels are used for them to stay after travelling around the country. Tourists come to explore the beauty and the potential industries they could invest in. Therefore, priority should be always given to the country,” Fernando said.

Both leisure and business have immense potential for tourism and the hotel industry in the country. He said inventory of new products is essential.

“We need to have a balance between the old and the new products. We deliver at least one product a year for the customers to offer them a difference,” Fernando said.

Strategies should be placed on a long-term basis. Hilton Colombo Residence is already geared for the summer and is keen on serving them with upgraded products.

The demand for a commercial complex and for residence is commendable. The demand for these has increased comparatively.

There is a shortage of banquet halls in Colombo. Seeing this opportunity, Hilton Colombo Residence is planning to set up a new ballroom in the near future. The investment of this project has not been finalized yet. Fernando said one of the major challenges in the hotel industry is to keep the skilled labourers in the country. Many of the skilled workers go abroad especially to Middle-East countries.

Hilton Colombo Residence is planning to double the service charges in the year to come.

“Currently we offer our employees a reasonable service charge which is around 30 to 35 percent, but by next year we will increase it up to 60 percent,” he said.

The hotels should focus on upgrading their products regularly and find novel revenue resources, diversification and have personal goals to sustain in the industry.

Customers, employees and the shareholder should be always satisfied by the products and the services, he said. Fernando said this is the ideal time for all to get-together and build the nation with passion.