Travel / Lifestyle

Minor International, Serendib tie-up to boost tourism

by Elmo Leonard

In a symbiotic move, to improve tourism trans borders, Minor International Pcl, headquartered in Thailand, one of the largest hospitality and leisure companies in the Asia Pacific region joins hands with the Serendib Group of Hotels, Sri Lanka. The benefactor at large will be Sri Lanka tourism, in a show of confidence that the island is safe for tourists.

The other will be the 18th Century Dutch styled Serendib Hotel Bentota (going into hibernation in March) to emerge in November, as Anantara Resort, Bentota.

Minor International is one of the largest hospitality and leisure companies in the Asia Pacific region with over 500 restaurants and 16 hotels, meeting the growing needs of consumers in these dynamic markets.

The company has expanded to include 16 resorts under the Four Seasons, Marriott and Anantara brands in Thailand, Vietnam and the Maldives, including several award wining hotel and resort properties.

It is also the leading premium destination spa operator with 23 Mandra and Anantara spas that have consistently been named as the best in Asia and among the best in the world.

The upgrading of Serendib Bentota will entail expenditure of $500 million, William Ellwood Heinecke, CEO of Minor Group, Thailand, said in Colombo.

Heinecke, white born and a naturalised Thai, was brimming with confidence about Sri Lanka tourism. He expected peace to eventually come to the island, but he was not prepared to wait till that day. Sri Lanka is too ravishing a country for tourists to be kept out of; tourists don't like to stay away, either, he said.

The uniqueness of Sri Lanka, its scenic beauty, its beaches, changing contours and climate and the richness its history has to offer, is too much to leave out. "Now is the time to come into Sri Lanka," Heinecke said.

The class of upmarket tourists who the Minor group caters for are bold and intelligent, Heinecke said. They know that no place in the world is totally safe.

They know that in the event of a bomb going off, it would not be where tourism is focused and that tourists are not targeted in most parts of the world.

Complementing Minor Resort and Hotel operations are over 500 restaurants systems under The Pizza Company, Swensen's, Sizzler, Dairy Queen and Burger King. Heinecke, claimed that all the above are Thailand's market leaders, in addition to leading in nearly all concepts in their respective segments.

Minor is also one of the largest players in the airport and remote site catering segments together with having its own large ice cream and cheese factories to support both owned restaurants and third parties.

Minor's plans are to continue developing its already substantial equity operations in all business segments in Thailand and selected markets abroad, as China for food services and the Maldives and Bali for resorts and spas.

Minor is complementing this with a growing stream of franchise and management revenue derived from leveraging its own brands in markets from Africa, the Middle East to South and East Asia.

Hemas Holdings Ltd is one of Sri Lanka's top conglomerates and owners of the Serendib group of hotels.

CEO Hemas Holdings Husein Esufally, said that the tie-up will help to raise the bar and attract a new generation of high-spending tourists to Sri Lanka.

For Minor, Bentota is a beginning and Dolphin Hotel Waikkal and Sigiriya Hotel are also in the grapevine, chairman, Serendib Leisure Management, Abbas Esufally said. Heinecke, did not disclose more. "Bentota is first."

Bentota Beach was designed by Geoffrey Bawa, reputed to blend nature, the surrounding and the theme.

Anantara resorts, bear similar sentiments, related to its architecture and espousing the natural, culture and history.

Anantara is derived from the Sanskrit, meaning 'borderless water.' All Anantara resorts offer peerless unobtrusive service, spa pampering and a range of adventure activities associated with the location. In the Anantara Resort Golden Triangle, guests can interact with elephants and learn to drive the elephant like the Thai caregivers.

This experience is in the heart of Thailand's northern hill-tribe country. Sri Lanka too has its mahouts who drive elephants. What ingenuity will Minor bring into Sri Lanka?

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SriLankan invests over Rs. 350 m to promote Lanka

SriLankan Airlines has invested more than Rs. 350 million in advertising campaigns overseas in the last two years to promote Sri Lanka as a tourist destination, among its many strategies to encourage travel into the country.

The national carrier recently launched its latest campaign in London, 'You can see the world in Sri Lanka,' a Rs. 10.2 million month-long series of media and Internet advertisements that will run through January.

"As the national carrier of Sri Lanka, SriLankan Airlines continuously emphasized the need to project a positive image of the country throughout the world. The airline has invested and will continue to invest heavily in promoting Sri Lanka as a travel and tourism destination," said, CEO of SriLankan Peter Hill.

These dedicated campaigns focus completely on promoting Sri Lanka as a destination. "We significantly increased our promotions of the country following the tsunami, and our efforts are continuing into 2007 and beyond. We are fully committed to promoting this country, even at a time when the airline is undergoing severe financial constraints," said Head of Corporate Communications Chandana De Silva.

The advertising campaigns have included 'Rediscover Sri Lanka' in 2005 with Sri Lanka Tourism, the Tourism Cluster and USAID in which SriLankan contributed Rs. 230 million (USD 2.3 million); Rs. 16.4 million in collaborative campaigns with foreign tour operators such as Kuoni, Saga and Mercury Direct; the Rs. 18 million 'See the World in Sri Lanka' campaign; Rs. 25 million on dual-destination promotions of Sri Lanka and the Maldives in Far Eastern markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand; the Rs. 22 million 'Magic of Sri Lanka' campaign in early 2006 which also offered 30% discounts on airfares and more than Rs. 40 million to publicize the 'Valentine's Day Buy One Get One Free' campaign immediately after the tsunami.

"Our marketing campaigns are carefully targeted at selected markets to obtain the maximum returns for the country. We work with professional advertising agencies and public relations agencies in each overseas market," said Manager Advertising Priya Epitawala.

"These campaigns focus on the country's attractions, including the warmth and friendliness of the people, and other cultural and human qualities of Sri Lanka.