Colombo Skalleagues attend 47th Asian Area SKAL Congress

SKAL International Colombo members at opening ceremony

The 47th Asian Area SKAL Congress was held in Macau SAR from 21-24 June with the theme ‘2018 the Year of Gastronomy Macau’. 

SKAL International Colombo was represented by Immediate Past President Dushy Jayaweera, Secretary Zahara Mufti, Treasurer Keethi Jayaweera, Young Skal Coordinator Rohitha Mendis and Young SKAL member Shanika Jayaweera. 

Over 170 SKAL members from 23 clubs attended the Congress, making the Macau Congress one of the most successful in recent times. The keynote speaker at the Congress was Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA) CEO Dr. Mario Hardy, who spoke on ‘Setting the stage for Sustainable Tourism Development’.  Other interesting speeches were made by Dr. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office who spoke on ‘Macao, World Center of Tourism and Leisure’ and Grant Bowie, CEO and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings who spoke on ‘Tourism and Leisure Innovation in Macau’.   

A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between SKAL and PATA to enhance cooperation between the two organisations. Dr. Hardy signed on behalf of PATA while SKAL International CEO Daniela Otero signed on behalf of SKAL. The Immediate Past President SKAL International Colombo, Dushy Jayaweera, who is also the Director of Young SKAL for the Asian Area of SKAL, was the moderator of a panel discussion on ‘Young Skal in the Asian Area’. One of SKAL International Colombo’s Young SKAL members, Shanika Jayaweera, Events Manager at Shangri-La Hotel Colombo, was chosen to be one of the 15 panellists from the Young SKAL members from Asia who attended the Congress.   

The Congress ended with a gala dinner held at the MGM Cotai which is the newest hotel to be opened in Macao. 

The next SKAL Asian Area Congress will be held in Bangalore, India in May or June 2019.