Charita's foresight sets benchmark in hospitality industry

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

Enthusiasm coupled with thirst for novelty adds spice to monotonous daily routines. Charita Abeyratne Hettiarachchi, the Founder - Responsible Travel Extraordinairé and Chief Executive of Saraii Village (Pvt) Ltd pursue her passion to be an entrepreneur and a trend setter by offering a unique and lucrative business proposition becoming a part of a fast growing industry.

Her foresight and organizing skills has set a benchmark in the hospitality industry and her venture is set to explore the unleashed potential in the traveller market.

She was interviewed by Daily News Business.

Excerpts of the interview.

Q. How do you describe your line of business?

A. Saraii operates in the domain of leisure and hospitality. I like to think of it as offering an experience; a truly authentic experience that seamlessly packages our 2,500 plus years of history, culture, values, cuisine, traditions and the Sri Lankan way of life as an experience for the discerning traveler who visits this "land like no other."

As the founder and Chief Executive of Saraii Village which is a sustainable tourism operation, my vision is to provide a unique offering to responsible travellers. Saraii Village is set up in the South of Sri Lanka, with a concept of promoting responsible travel among discerning consumers who are conscious of the impacts of the choices they make.

Saraii endeavours to increase this consciousness and contribute to propagate sustainable practice by providing the "experience seekers" at Saraii an opportunity to minimize the negative economic, social and environmental impacts of their choices.

Saraii means Essence in Hebrew and that is exactly what I aim to provide; the essence of Sri Lanka in an authentic unadulterated way. Saraii Village is set in Wirawila, a strategic hub close to Yala, Bundala and Lunugamwehera National Parks; Tissamaharama, Kirinda Beach and Kataragama. Saraii offers unique accommodation options to guests with genuine Tree Houses and Mud Chalets , both very spacious, comfortable and artistically designed.

The food served at the restaurant is traditional and follows the concept of Slow Food , which is good, clean and fair food. We practice a simple policy of sourcing all our food locally, most of it harvested from the organic gardens of the property and prepared by people from the community who have been offered dignified employment opportunities with Saraii. Saraii is conscious about keeping its carbon footprint low and environmental sustainability underpins everything we do. During the stage of construction I wanted to ensure that we strictly followed a policy of using only local resources both in terms of labour and material.

This was a challenge, which extended the time line of completion, but we were patient and confident of what we wanted the end product to be. Even our game Safari operations are organized only with trained Safari drivers and guides who are committed to ensuring that tours are conducted responsibly.

Saraii is a global, social, sustainable business, supporting society and ensuring that environmental sustainability is carved into the DNA of this business. Saraii, has provided employment for several people from the region and has created a supply chain that benefits local small holder farmers, fishermen, carpenters, builders and other resource persons from the local environs.

We have a strong policy of gender balance and equality. We uphold the practice of equal pay for women workers at Saraii while supplementing family income and livelihoods of women in the community by commissioning artisanal products and handicrafts to be used at Saraii. The culinary experience at Saraii is enriched through the use of authentic village cuisine prepared by women from the community.

This is the true essence of Saraii.

Q. How do you face the challenges of competition?

A. I have a simple philosophy; I do not compete. I only strive to offer something that is unique, authentic, ethical and credible. I scan the environment but I don't lose my focus by dwelling on what others do.

Instead, I focus on what I do and the only thing that matters to me is to do it well. We all have a place in this world; I am a strong believer of co existence. This is a lesson that nature has taught me. If we look to nature we find answers to all our questions. In a natural eco system it is the fit and the purposeful who are aware of their environments that survive.

In my context "survival of the fittest" means "fit for purpose." I believe, if our offering is "fit for purpose" and we continuously work at keeping it that way then there is no challenge of competition.

Q. How do you manage time to handle your personal life?

A. It was difficult at first to coordinate the initial set up of Saraii as I was based in Colorado, completing my final semester of GSSE. I had a great support system through my husband who has always been very supportive and takes care of the operational end of things. I feel lucky to have a husband who truly believes in what I do. He is the pillar I lean on and he encourages all that I do.

I have worked with my husband with his business Saaraketha Holdings for over four years and I am still a Director of his business too.

Therefore we have a great understanding in what we do, supporting each other in both our businesses. Balancing personal life and business has never been tough as we both live by the same philosophy. Prasanna runs his own social business focused on Sustainable Agriculture. I support him with business development aspects of his business Saaraketha and he helps me with the operations of Saraii. We compliment each other's strengths and this has always been the key for us to enjoy what we do.

Q. What motivated you to venture into business on your own?

A. I have always been passionate about sustainability issues and intrigued to learn more about how we balance our pursuit of life in the context of the modern world we live in.

In 2010, I was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship and opted to read for a unique MBA programme at the Colorado State University in the USA, called Global, Social and Sustainable Enterprise (GSSE).

This programme encouraged us to set up a social business that was in line with the philosophy of the Triple Bottom Line . Saraii Village was a business that was conceptualized through this MBA to introduce a contemporary culture of responsible tourism to Sri Lanka, with the objective of taking advantage of the boom in tourism that the country was poised for, in the post 30 years of conflict. Being a woman in this industry or in any can be challenging, but how you face those challenges is what defines people.

Q. What example do you provide to others?

A. My advice to any woman in business is to follow your heart. If you believe enough in what you do and you want to make a change in the world, everyone of us has what it takes to make it happen.

As said by Mahatma Gandhi - "You must be the change you want to see in the world," therefore we should never give up when the going gets tough.

Q. What is your specialty?

A. The strength of Saraii is the ability to put itself in the shoes of a customer. A feeling that helps us empathize what and how a customer would feel in a given setting; then interpret it and use it to communicate with the discerning audience that we target.

As a result our specialty is the ability to offer the customer a holistic experience that encapsulates the essence of all what Sri Lanka is about aligned to the frame of reference of the customer.

Q. What are your achievements in family life and business?

A. I've been blessed with a wonderful family and husband, my family currently lives in the US and after our marriage in March 2012, my husband, Prasanna and I live in Colombo.

Prasanna has always supported me right from the start; from the time I applied for a Fulbright Scholarship, which he knew would take me away from the country for several years, while setting up Saraii and even presently to support with operational activities at site.

My greatest achievement has been to see Saraii, which was just an idea on paper come alive; to evolve to be a place that travellers seek out to experience.

I'm lucky to be surrounded by people who are supportive, and who motivate me to reach higher.

Q. What are your goals?

A. My goal is to set up a chain of sustainable tourism locations in Sri Lanka similar to Saraii, which promotes Slow Travel among tourists.

Each location, will have its own local identity, but with the health of the environment and society as the underpinning principle. I aim to contribute to the focus of the country to become the "green hub" of Asia by creating unique tourism offerings that would attract responsible tourists to the island.

Q. What is your message to society?

A. If each of us is conscious of the choices we make in life and the impacts they have we can contribute to creating a more responsible society and making the world a better place becomes a less daunting prospect.

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