JKH To Invest $ 100 Mn. In Leisure

Blue chip John Keells Holdings plc (JKH) in the last two years has committed or is investing a total of US$ ($) 100 million in the leisure sector, its Deputy Chairman Ajit Gunewardene told reporters on Tuesday.
The occasion was the unveiling of two of their rebranded and refurbished hotel properties, renovated at a cost of $ 16 million, in an event that took place at the Group’s premier city hotel, Cinnamon Grand.
Gunewardene said that JKH will continue to invest in the leisure sector, including plans to build a 200 plus room city hotel and another hotel of similar room capacity at Beruwela.
He said that they are gearing to meet international competition, with international hotel chains expected to put up shop here with the war end. “Our people are being trained here and overseas and our talent can match international competition,” said Gunewardene.
“We are investing in both ‘hardware’ and ‘software.’”
JKH will be the cutting edge trendsetter in the industry.
He said that the leisure sector comprises 40% of the Group’s total asset base, whilst last year it contributed to 30% of the Group’s bottomline.
Meanwhile the unveiling of Chaaya Tranz (formerly Coral Gardens) and Chaaya Wild Yala (formerly Yala Village), with the structural changes that these properties underwent, blending with the environment and being eco friendly took place on that day. The two hotels will be opened to the public in November, coinciding with the start of the island’s tourism season.
Chaaya Tranz, located at Hikkaduwa, where, apart from the beaches, its seas are also famous for the colourful coral gardens found at the bottom of the sea (which could be seen when going on glassboats), its sea turtles, and last but certainly not the least, whale watching off the coast of Mirissa which is in the vicinity, are among its several attractions.
Chitral Jayatilake who is in charge of the John Keells Group’s “Nature Odyssey” told this reporter that whales off Mirissa became public knowledge only in the last four years. They would have had been there before, but that would have had been known to only nature scientists who may not have had wanted to make it public due to fears that that might lead to the disturbance of the eco system, he said. Some of those whales, including the blue whales found off the shores of Sri Lanka (SL), which are in fact the world’s largest mammals, may be resident to the shores off SL as opposed to being migratory creatures, he said. Whales are found in the continental shelf and right round to Trincomalee, said Jayatilake.
Whale watching in Sri Lanka is possible half the year round.  The Kanneriya Rain forest is also located just 16 minutes away from Chaaya Tranz.
Meanwhile Chaaya Wild Yala, located in the vicinity of Yala National Park, has the largest concentration of leopards and which have been filmed and featured by the likes of the National Geographic. Other game includes elephant, bear, crocodile, wild buffalo, more than 220 varieties of birds and the list goes on.
The rejuvenated Chaya Tranz and Chaaya Wild hotels will command room prices of $ 200 each, up from their previous rates of $ 60 and $ 100 respectively, due to increased demand emanating after the war end. However Jayantissa Kehelpannala, the Group’s Resorts’ Sector Head said that forward booking for this winter has had experienced a slight retardation on a year on year basis, a development peculiar not only to JKH, but to the island’s leisure sector as a whole. He however expected a rush of last minute bookings, assisting to bring about equilibrium, and complementing the reaching of the Government’s 750,000 tourists target for the year.
Kehelpannala attributed those mini tourism reversals to the economic crisis in the West, SL’s biggest tourism market and a rise in room rates here after the war end, which makes Sri Lanka a more expensive leisure destination compared to what it was before.