City hotels geared for festive season

By Lalin Fernandopulle

All city hotels are geared to celebrate the festive season with a range of entertainment options for holiday makers, said City Hotels Association, President M. Shanthikumar.

He said that the occupancy rate in most hotels is over 80 percent which is an increase from last year's occupancy rate of around 75 percent.

“The winter season has been good for hotels in the city which cater to a diverse range of visitors. A large number of guests is attracted to city hotels during the Christmas and New Year season which is celebrated on a grand scale,” Shanthikumar said.

He said besides the traditional markets such as UK and Germany, the number of visitors from emerging markets such as Russia and China has increased year-on-year.

The growth in the number of visitors year-on-year has been around 10-15 percent. Shanthikumar said that many city hotels such as the Taj and Ramada have refurbished their rooms giving a face-lift to their properties. The Kingsbury is a new hotel adding to the number of hotels in the city. The Galle Face Hotel has commenced refurbishment while Hilton Colombo will undergo refurbishment shortly.

He said that Mirage which has commenced operations and Ozo, a Thai chain hotel which will open by the end of 2014 will add to the number of hotels in the city. Colombo has 28 hotels with five, five-star hotels and two, four-star and two, three-star hotels.

He said that Sri Lanka Tourism will achieve its target of attracting 1.2 million visitors this year and the industry has revived fully.

LF