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| Sunday, 27 July 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Tourism industry honours veterans Four doyens of the tourism industry - Herbert Cooray, George Ondaatjie, Prof. Tony Furkhan and Prema Cooray - were honoured with lifetime awards for their contributions to the tourism industry at the recent Annual General Meeting of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL). Here are excerpts from the citations made at the awards ceremony. Herbert Cooray
After university, he worked as a teacher at Gurukula Vidyalaya, Kelaniya for two years. At this point he became interested in the mercantile sector and joined Harrisons and Crossfield where he remained for five years before taking six months off to tour England, the Soviet Union, Europe and Eastern Europe with friends. Having returned to Sri Lanka, Cooray decided to venture out on his own. Following in his father's footsteps, he took to the construction industry. He constructed many private and commercial buildings, including hotels such as the first five-star beach resort, the Triton, at Ahungalla. He is a past president of the Institute of Builders of Sri Lanka. The late G. E. B. Melhuisen, a pioneer in Sri Lanka's hotel industry, commissioned Cooray to build the Seashells Hotel in Negombo, thus introducing him to the world of tourism including Sri Lanka's first charter operator Vingressor. Cooray was responsible for building the Vingressor group's first hotel, the Blue Oceanic Beach Hotel in Negombo in 1974. From there on, he went on to build his own and other hotels under the brand name 'Jetwing' in many parts of the island. Melhuisen invited Cooray to join the Board of Directors of Melhuisen's Blue Lagoon Travel Agency. Around the same period, Dieter Feld of the German tour operator Jet Reisen approached him to start a destination management company to handle the Jet Reisen business. Thus began Jetwing Travels in 1981.Cooray is also Chairman of Trade Finance and Investments Ltd., a finance company based in Colombo, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.Married with two children, Cooray continues as Chairman of Jetwing Hotels and Jetwing Travels. George Ondaatjie
Ondaatjie built Tangerine Beach Hotel in 1983 and Royal Palms Hotel in 1993. He is a major shareholder of Nuwara Eliya Hotels Limited and has substantial holdings in Associated Hotels Company. He was given Honorary Life Membership of the Ceylon Hotels School Graduates Association in 1996.Ondaatjie was chairman of the Finance Houses Association and Chairman of PATA Sri Lanka Chapter from 1994 to 2000. He served as a director of PATA from 1998 to 2000. He was featured in 'Who's Who of Business in Asia' as a top tycoon in the region and was conferred with the 'Deshabandu' title in 1994 in recognition of his contribution towards the promotion of tourism. Ondaatjie is married with three children and is the present Chairman of Tangerine Group. Prof. Tony Furkhan
Having joined the Executive Committee as a member in 1976/1977, he served the association under five presidents before serving as President from 1991 to 1993. He has also served in several subcommittees and has successfully negotiated with officials to get concessions and benefits to the hotel industry. He was an active participant in THASL's name change and drafting its present constitution. Furkhan was one of the architects of the Tourism Promotion Authority, which is to become law this year. President of THASL from 1991 to 1993, he still serves on the Executive Committee as a co-opted member and is currently Chairman of the subcommittee on Fiscal and Monetary Affairs. His contributions to the hotel industry spans over 36 years. His services to the industry and the academy were recognised in 1987 when the Sri Lankan President awarded him the title of Deshabandu. He received the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1994, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants' Business Leader Award in 2003 and the Honorary Life Membership of the Ceylon Hotels School Graduates Association in 1996. Prema Cooray
He joined Aitken Spence in 1976 and was one of the first employees of both Aitken Spence Travels and Aitken Spence Hotel Management. In 1980 he left Aitken Spence to join Stafford Group of Companies as General Manager where he planned, built and operated Dolphin Hotel Waikkal. He re-joined Aitken Spence in 1984 as General Manager (Hotels) and served the company for over 20 years before being appointed Chairman of Aitken Spence and Co. Ltd. in 2002. He was a pioneer in venturing in to Maldives in 1991. The Rannahli Tourist Resort in South Male, built in 1996, was the first resort to be built there by a Sri Lankan company.Cooray is a pioneer and leader in the development of eco-friendly tourism in Sri Lanka, especially with the development of Kandalama Hotel in Dambulla. He was responsible for the formation of the Tourism Cluster in Sri Lanka which is a Competitiveness Initiative supported by USAID. He is the first and current Chairman of the Tourism Cluster which pioneered the new vision of tourism to include culture, nature and adventure. After leaving Aitken Spence early this year, he joined the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as its Secretary-General and CEO. Cooray has a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura and is an Associate of the Society of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and a member of the Hotel and Catering International Management Association. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
Herbert Cooray was educated at St. Benedict's College and St. Joseph's
College, Colombo and at the University of Colombo where he read for a
Degree in Sociology. At the university he was President of the Student
Union. He continued his penchant for politics and joined the Marxist Party
under the leadership of stalwarts like Philip Gunawardena and Dr. N. M.
Perera.
George Ondaatjie studied at St. Joseph's College, Colombo. He joined
the mercantile sector in the 50s and set up Mercantile Investments Limited
in 1964. He built Nilaveli Hotel in 1972, which continued operations even
during the most difficult periods when terrorism threatened the tourism
industry. He served in the managing committee of THASL for a decade before
serving as President from 1989 to 1991.
Prof. Tony Furkhan served the THASL for the longest period on record.
After completing his education at St. Benedict's College, Colombo,
Prema Cooray served Turquan, Young and Co., Chartered Accounts firm from
1966 to 1971. His first employment was with Ceylon Fertiliser Corporation
(1972-1976) as an accountant and deputy finance manager.
