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Wednesday, 16 August 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Annual General Meeting of the PATA Sri Lanka Chapter was held on 31 July at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
The Sri Lanka Chapter enables its members to conduct their various assigned responsibilities for selling travel related products and providing services to visitors to the island in a more effective manner. The key aim is to promote Sri Lanka as a PATA destination, under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
Denesh Silva, Director of The Kingsbury Colombo/Amaya Leisure PLC was elected as the Chairman for the year 2017/2018 on the completion of the tenure of the outgoing Chairman Hussain Jayah.
Prabath Harshakumar, Head of Business Development for Asia region of Walkers Tours Ltd. and Assistant Vice President of John Keells Group and M. Idroos, Executive Director, World Avenues Ltd. were elected as Vice Chairmen.
At the meeting, the elected Chairman Silva highlighted on forming a “Youth Brigade” to take the Chapter forward. In his speech he mentioned that PATA Sri Lanka Chapter “hopes to expand the scope of youth activities and encourage the young executives to actively take part in Chapter activities.”
The following committee members were elected on to the Committee of the PATA Sri Lanka Chapter:
Asitha Panabokke, Operations Manager of Mahaweli Reach Hotel, Dimitri Cooray, Manager-Operations of Jetwing Hotels Ltd., Zahara Cader, Managing Director of Tallman Tours Ltd., Cammy Gunasekera, Director of Viluxur Holidays.
Board of Advisors – Ruan Samarasinghe, Managing Director of Jetwing Hotels Ltd., Jayantha Panabokke, Managing Director of Mahaweli Reach Hotels Ltd., Ratten Abdulhussein, Director of Pan Lanka Travels & Tours Ltd, Shamali De Vaz, Managing Director of Silver Line Tours Ltd., Sega Nagendra, Director of Travel On Ltd.
Hussain Jayah will join the committee in his capacity as the immediate past chairman.
Kumudu Hennidege, Manager – Marketing and Promotions of Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Malraj Kiriella, Director General of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and a representative Sri Lankan Airlines will be joining in an ex-officio capacity.
Membership of the Chapter consists of 68 local members, comprising travel agents, tour operators, sightseeing operators, ground/water transportation operators and hoteliers whose businesses are situated within the geographical area of Sri Lanka.