City hoteliers laud 'Colombo Night Races'

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The city hoteliers are upbeat on the inaugural Colombo Night Races and say that it will bring in tremendous marketing value to the city as a destination for entertainment.

'Colombo would be marketed as a happening city,' they said.

Sri Lanka Tourism Managing Director Rumi Jaffuer, said that Sri Lanka Tourism would not have to invest in the races but they get involved in the event to promote it and give its marketing benefit to the country. "We are hoping to make this an annual event," he said.

Taj Resorts Director Operations Rohit Khosla said that this is some thing the hoteliers have waiting for a long time. "It would bring unprecedented benefits to the Colombo city and would definelty help the industry in a big way," he said.

Contintal General Manager Kamal Munasinghe said that the event has helped them to increase room rates and they are now looking at occupancy in excess of 90%. Galadari General Manager Sampath Siriwaradane said they have already got around 58 additional booking due to this event and they expect this to increase to 100 in the next couple of days.

General Manager Rudolf Trostler was of the opinion a country like Sri Lanka needs event of this nature. "This would add value to Colombo as an entertainment destination," he said. Following the qualifying heats on 16, the first ever Colombo Night Races are ready to set the streets of Colombo ablaze with an event that the city has never seen.