Travel / Lifestyle

Hilfswerk Austria, Aitken to build Rs 18m hotel school

by Surekha Galagoda

Hilfswerk Austria together with Aitken Spence will build a hotel school in Ahungalle at a cost of Rs. 18 million. Construction work began on January 26.

Aitken Spence donated two acres of land and they will equip and run the school as a social responsible activity of the company for the community, said Country Manager Hilfswerk Austria David Mangala.

The curriculum will be certified by the Ceylon Hotel School Sirimavo Bandaranaike Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management SBITHM. Hilfswerk is constructing the school at Uragaha, Ahungalle.

Another project undertaken by Hilfswerk Austria is upgrading the SBITHM curriculum. The cost of the project is Rs. 19 million which includes the cost of the six scholarships given for lecturers to study at the ITH Klessheim Salzberg, Austria, considered one of the best schools in the world in providing training in tourism and hotel management to support the SBITHM programs.

Three lecturers have already returned to the country and are attached to the Bandarawela and Matara satellite hotel schools. The second batch of three students will be completing their teacher training in June this year.

Two youth are following a course in travel agency management while their female counterpart is doing hotel management.

Mangala said, "We also changed the five-year management diploma at the SBITHM to a three-year diploma to cater to the needs and trends in the hospitality industry worldwide.

ITH experts helped develop the new curriculum while Sri Lankan experts also contributed and include subjects such as Food and beverage, Wine studies, project management, business management, Intercultural Communication and management, Front office, restaurant and management, Sustainable tourism Management, web designing and internet marketing".

The first batch of 30 students to follow courses under the new syllabus were recruited last year, said Tourism Project Manager Hilfswerk Sandamala Wickremaratne.

She said that at present SBITHM is taking steps to implement the second stage of the Quality management system after the principal and two lecturers attended a two-week training program at the ITH Salzberg in quality management systems.

Once it is implemented the Austrian experts will visit Sri Lanka and evaluate the system before affiliation is given.

Hilfswerk is also conducting training programs for the staff of Tourist Board owned guest houses. We have already completed training at Nuwara Eliya, Anuradhapura and Kataragama while the training for the Bandarawela staff was held on February 5-6," she said.

Hilfswerk Austria is one of the biggest organisations for development cooperation, humanitarian aid and cooperation with Eastern Europe. Hilfswerk has 29 offices including Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka they are involved in tourism and other development projects.

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CHC ‘kiddies Club’ local tour package to mark 40th anniversary

The Ceylon Hotels Corporation (CHC), a pioneer in domestic and international tourism launched the ‘Kiddies Club’ and the local tour package to mark its 40th anniversary this year.

CEO, CHC, Anura Lokuhetty said the CHC, a member of the Gardiner Group has always endeavoured to offer a wide range of affordable holiday packages for local and international travellers.

Tourism is not catering primarily to foreign tourists but domestic travellers as well. Today the focus of tourism has been to cater mainly to foreign travellers and not the domestic sector, he said.

“The Kiddies Club and the local tour package to Kataragama, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and Galle will help children to learn more about their country”, Lokuhetty said.

He said we believe that there is much to see and learn about one’s country first than others. Many people do not take time nor make an effort to educate themselves.

It is important that children get to know about their country, its history, culture and geography.

Due to the increasing cost-of-living and the hassle of travelling most children do not get the chance to visit important places in the country, he said.

The CHC is in the process of upgrading the facilities in all its hotels to provide a better service and attract more foreigners to the country, Lokuhetty said.

Tourism in Sri Lanka has suffered for well over 20 years due to the war. The industry must come up with something novel and look at ways and means to develop tourism in the country.

The rich cultural and natural diversity would help boost domestic tourism and develop the cottage, fisheries and agricultural industries, Lokuhetty said.

Lokuhetty said the occupancy rates in hotels have dropped due to the prevailing security situation in the country. Foreign patronage is around 40 percent while locals are around 50 percent.