Tourism bullish Jetwing in Rs. 8 b expansion
- Post-war rebound encourages Group to add 162 rooms and villas within a year to bring total to 640
- On-going projects in Jaffna and Colombo and new hotels to be added in Dambulla, Wellawaya and two on east coast
- Chairman Hiran Cooray expresses confidence in country reaching 2.5 m tourists target by 2016
- Says Sri Lanka blessed with security and stability – most important factors for global traveller and international travel media interests on the rise
- Calls for more hotels and brands though warns those new and making haphazard investment could burn their fingers
Family-owned Jetwing is harnessing the post-war rebound in tourism with an on-going expansion worth around Rs. 8 billion.
Chairman Hiran Cooray told the Daily FT that the overall expansion has already seen the opening of several new properties.
Among those are the 80 room Jetwing Yala with an investment of Rs. 2.1 billion, the 35-room bread and breakfast hotel Hotel J in Negombo as well as The Three by Jetwing. Work on the 70-room city hotel coupled with 28 apartments with a Rs. 500 million investment has commenced too. In partnership with MMBL Group, Jetwing is also engaged in building a 55-room city hotel in Jaffna town.
In the pipeline are also hotels in Dambulla – a four star with 90 rooms and Trincomalee, Uppuveli and also in Arugambay in Pottuvil and Wellawaya – similar to Vil Uyana with 20 villas.
Hiran said the expansion program is financed by a mixture of bank loans and equity. For equity the Group has floated Jetwing Symphony for which a private placement for 30% was done with plans to take it public later on. Four hotels are coming under Jetwing Symphony – Jetwing Yala, Colombo, Dambulla and the two properties in the east.
“We have added around 162 rooms and villas in the past year to the Jetwing brand portfolio including from villas which we have begun managing,” Hiran added.
The Group has around 10 hotels and 12 villas in operation with a room and suites strength of 586 and 55 villas.
A seasoned hotelier Hiran unlike some others in the industry doesn’t believe there will be an oversupply of hotels and rooms in the country.
“We need more hotels and we need more international brands,” emphasised the Jetwing Chairman. He however cautioned that those who are new to hospitality industry and haphazardly invest may burn their fingers.
Jetwing’s strong confidence and growing optimism is manifested by its own post-war story. Since the end of the conflict and rebound in tourism, Jetwing has upgraded several of its properties including Jetwing Sea, Jetwing Blue and Jetwing Lagoon. The on-going expansion and roll out of new properties reaffirms its commitment and bullishness.
“Sri Lanka is blessed as a tourist destination especially with peace now. We have safety and stability which are the most important factors for the global traveller. This offers Sri Lanka an incredible opportunity,” Hiran said.
With east coast being developed, according to Hiran Sri Lanka has also become an all year-round-destination for tourists. This he said was a further boost for the industry.
Whilst acknowledging since the end of the conflict in May 2009 there has been natural growth in tourism, Hiran believes the real pick up and opportunity was just beginning to happen.
Jetwing Chief is also emphatic and confident that the target of 2.5 million tourists by 2016 is a reality and not a mere fancy dream.
“Whilst tourist arrivals have grown the interest by travel media has been phenomenon,” pointed out Hiran. For example he said at the recent ITB Berlin, there were around 100 journalists at Sri Lanka’s press conference which he said wasn’t the case in the past.
He also said marketing by the industry in their own ways with the trade have helped the growth momentum as well. Hiran welcomed finalised plans to launch the international destination marketing campaign saying it was long due.
As part of its innovative offering, Jetwing in partnership with MMBL Group has also launched the unique Yathra by Jetwing – a two bed roomed luxury vessel for private and romantic experiences. Initial plans are to operate it from Bentota including an overnight stay in the surroundings of Sinharaja forest. Pricing ranges between $ 300 to $ 400 per couple.
Hiran said the new venture has been inspired by the Kerala success but Yathra by Jetwing is more luxurious and the scenery of the route is breathtaking making it the entire experience unparalleled.
Jetwing has been renowned for and shown success by building on its foundation of being passionate, as well as the experience of true, traditional Sri Lankan hospitality. This has constantly kept Jetwing abreast with pioneering discoveries making it the essence of its brand.
Recently Jetwing Vil Uyana, a flagship property of the Group won the Environment Award at the 2014 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards organised by the World Travel & Tourism Council and held in Hainan, China. Jetwing said the win is historic as the unique eco-luxury resort beat tough competition in the form of Great Plains Conservation and Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and is the first time a Sri Lankan property has won at this prestigious ceremony.
Set up 40 years ago, Jetwing’s overall offering in the hospitality industry includes Jetwing Travels, Jetwing Hotels, Jetwing Events, Jetwing Air, Jetwing Holidays and Jetwing Eco.
[Via Daily FT]
