Galle Face Hotel wins PATA Grand Award for Heritage Hotels

At a time when tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka are increasing by leaps and bounds and the ‘Visit Sri Lanka’ year is in progress, the news that the Galle Face Hotel (established in1864) has been awarded one of the four Pacific Asia Travel Association Grand Awards in the Heritage Category for 2011 is very welcome news indeed.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) announced the winners of the 2011 PATA Gold awards, which have long been proudly supported and sponsored by the Macau Government Tourist Office.

‘The Story of the Legendary Galle Face Hotel’ – The Galle Face Hotel has been awarded the PATA Grand Award 2011 for Heritage Hotels by an international panel of judges among 122 entrees from 102 organisations worldwide.

The awards will be presented on 11 April 2011, as part of the 60th Anniversary and Conference of PATA, to be held in Beijing, China.

The Galle Face Hotel was one of the founder members of the Sri Lanka Chapter of PATA over 40 years ago. Cyril Gardiner, previous Chairman of the Galle Face Hotel and father of the present Chairman, Sanjeev Gardiner, was an International Director of PATA in the 1970s.

The hotel has had a long association with PATA and as early as 1972, the World President of PATA, Ohta stayed at the Galle Face Hotel.  Marvin Plake and Lakshman Ratnapala, two distinguished Executives Vice Presidents of PATA, were regular visitors to the Galle Face Hotel.  All have written about the Galle Face Hotel in the hotel’s VIP book in glowing terms.

In the early 1980s, the PATA Conference was held in India. The PATA Workshop however, was conducted in Colombo, with the official dinner being hosted at the Galle Face Hotel.

The directors and employees of the Galle Face Hotel are delighted that the hotel has won the PATA Grand Award in the Heritage category, thus establishing a further link between the Galle Face Hotel and PATA.