SLITHM to set up state-of-the-art laundry and pastry shop

M F Jabir

A state-of-the-art laundry and pastry shop would be set up at the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM), said its Chairman Chandra Mohotti. The main objective of this move is to give students a real life situation and not to earn money.

This would enable the students to go out to the industry as professionals with a huge demand, he said

“Approximately over 20,000 hotel rooms would be opening in the coming three years. However if the craft level of staff is not competent eventually service standards will drop and this is the type of people they cannot import.

Chandra Mohotti

G S Wijewardene

"So our challenge is now to upgrade and make competent that level of people. We are also installing other disciplines. Generally the disciplines here have been food and beverage, room service, cookery and house keeping.

"We will be introducing next month a laundry and we plan next to open a bakery. We intend to convert it into the best pastry shop in town, where all activities would be done by students. What we are trying to achieve is a model hotel. All hotel schools in the world are not boutique hotels or five star hotels, but model hotels,” said Mohotti, at a reception held in Colombo.

"People are building hotels and in our parlance we call it hardware. However you cannot manage the hardware without software. We will be the most sought after software producing unit hopefully in the region.

"We are challenged today for this purpose and major changes in the top management has been already done to face this challenge," he said.

G S Wijewardene, has been promoted as Director General /CEO, SLITHM. Wijewardene joined the Ceylon Hotel School, Kandy (now the SLITHM Provincial College, Kandy) in 1993 while it was still in its infancy. He served as the lecturer in charge of the Food & Beverage Course until 1999 when he was appointed to the post of senior lecturer.

In 2006 he was appointed as senior lecturer in charge in addition to his responsibilities as the Food & Beverage lecturer and carried out both roles simultaneously until 2009. He was appointed as Principal of the SLITHM Provincial College, Kandy in January 2011. He served as the Acting Deputy Director General and subsequently Acting Director General prior to being appointed to his present position as Director General/CEO – SLITHM in August 2012.

Furthermore, Pramod Kulatunga who was the principal at the Koggala Hotel School has been brought back to Colombo as the Deputy Director General SLITHM.