Cinnamon & Chaaya Hotels and Resorts celebrate World Tourism Day

27th of September 2011 marked a special day in the calendar for the largest hotelier in Sri Lanka. The unveiling of two newly refurbished and rebranded properties took place at Cinnamon Grand Colombo. Chaaya Tranz Hikkaduwa and Chaaya Wild Yala scheduled to open on the 1st of November 2011 was revealed at a media briefing.

Other members of the resort sector celebrated the day in a myriad ways, focusing on school children and the underlying theme that tourism is a dynamic industry that will be developing in leaps and bounds in the following years. The objective of focusing attention on this age group was to create a interest among the students to become a part of the tourism industry.

Cinnamon Lodge Habarana celebrated on the theme ‘Tourism – Linking Cultures’, twenty ordinary level students from the Paluagaswewa School were selected to take part in the programme held at the Hiriwadunna village. The resident naturalist Mr. Tharaka Koggala spoke to the gathering of students on the history of the village, soft adventures available for tourists that visit Habarana, nature trails offered by the excursion counter, the importance of protecting the environment, wildlife and the surroundings and a brief introduction to bird watching.

Chaaya Citadel Kandy planned their celebrations around one of the five pledges upheld by the John Keells Hotels Group “I will care”, 35 school students at the Rahula College were introduced to table etiquette, table arrangements, room arrangements and a cookery demonstration to expose these students to the hospitality trade. The resort organized an art competition for 10 students of the Dodanwala Deaf and Blind school. Later on Chaaya Citadel Kandy gifted school stationary and gift vouchers to the participants and four computers were donated to Dodanwala Deaf and Blind School.

Chaaya Blu Trincomalee invited students and school leavers to take part in a tourism orientation programme. The team at Human Resources spoke of the developing oppurtunities in the leisure sector and how best the students can prepare themselves to become a part of it. Meanwhile the resident naturalist spoke of the Pigeon Island and the importance of coral conservation. Finally the Nature Trails team together with the members of the PADI certified dive centre held a demonstration of life saving techniques.

Bentota Beach Hotel organized a series of events to commemorate the World Tourism Day at Elakaka Maha Vidyalaya, Bentota. Starting the event, Mr. Sanjeeva Perera, the General Manager addressed the students. During the first session, 75 students were educated on the tourism trends in the world as well as in Sri Lanka. Thereafter a demonstration by Jayantha Fernando awarded the best Flair Bartender in Down South Region in 2011 followed by a vegetable carving demonstration.

Chaaya Village Habarana celebrated the day by upgrading and renovating the archeological office situated at the entrance to the historical Ritigala Mountain. The office which was in a very bad state was given a facelift by renovating and painting, the surroundings of the office was cleaned and two waste bins were donated  for the collection of garbage. The objective of the resort is to furnish the information points at famed tourist attractions, in order to ensure that these offices can continue to exist as a value addition.