LAUGFS to enter hospitality industry with star-class hotels

LAUGFS Leisure Ltd., a subsidiary of diversified Sri Lankan conglomerate, LAUGFS Holdings, recently held a foundation laying ceremony for its 110-room luxury hotel in Pasikudah.

Construction at Pasikudah is currently underway through a major investment of Rs. 2.5 billion from LAUGFS. The property will be designed with state-of-the-art amenities and has a commercial opening scheduled to take place in June 2014.

The Pasikudah property will offer 5-class services and amenities, including 10 luxury villas, whilst still maintaining 4-star affordability, in keeping with the LAUGFS corporate philosophy of under-promising and over-delivering in terms of quality.

Developments in Pasikudah will be part of a concerted push by LAUGFS into Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, with the Group now carrying out multiple simultaneous developments in strategic tourist hot-spots across the country including Chilaw, Kalutara and potentially Negombo.

LAUGFS Leisure’s Chilaw property will see the construction of an 87-room hotel on 16 acres of uniquely located real-estate allowing all rooms on the property access to scenic dual-views of the Chilaw Lagoon and the Indian Ocean.

LAUGFS has invested Rs. 1.2 billion in the Chilaw development which is scheduled to reach completion in June 2013.

Meanwhile, a feasibility study is also being carried out for a massive 250-room property in Kalutara. Once completed, the Kalutara property will be the Group’s largest development in the tourist sector as well as a number one tourist destination of the island with incomparable magnitude and quality.

All properties will maintain a minimum 4-Star rating in order to capitalize on the significantly increased volumes of tourist traffic into the country, particularly in the 3-4 Star segments, during Sri Lanka’s post-war tourism boom.

Tourism in Sri Lanka is one of several sectors identified by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as potential high-growth industries and through its early positioning; the Group is now ready to drastically increase the scale of its operations in the sector.

LAUGFS first took the bold step of entering Sri Lanka’s tourism sector in 2005 at a time when the industry was stagnant due to drastically lowered arrivals. Having invested early into the sector, the Group has since funded the majority of its tourist developments through capital raised during its Initial Premium Offering (IPO).

Prior to the construction of its own hotel chain, LAUGFS Leisure had already been steadily gaining experience in the sector through the management hotels outside their umbrella.

Previously known as just a power and energy company, LAUGFS has since grown dramatically into a stable and highly diversified conglomerate in Sri Lanka.

The Group has businesses catering both to domestic and international markets and as part of its on-going diversification, is now looking to enter the Sri Lankan Financial Services market in the near future.

LAUGFS operates across several sectors including consumer retailing, education services, tea, rubber production, lubricants, industrial tyres, engineering and hydro power.