Gitanjali Chakravarthy Haaland makes history as first woman Vice President of CHSGA

The hospitality industry which had been historically male-dominated, for the first time in the association’s history appointed Gitanjali Chakravarthy Haaland as the Vice President at its AGM coinciding with the 50th golden anniversary of the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association. 

The dynamics of corporate leadership in the hotel industry are changing and despite facing challenges in the workplace and balancing personal lives, more women are breaking the glass ceiling by putting themselves for leadership roles. CHSGA, thus set an exemplary role and benchmark to promote equal opportunity and rights to women in the representative body of the hotel industry.

On her appointment, when asked, “What drove you to work your way up? And what does a woman need in the hospitality industry to be successful?” Gitanjali stated: “I wanted a very meaningful professional life. Something that I always believed in is that ‘If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist’. Hospitality has always been my passion. Whichever role I played in the hotels I worked for, I have done so with enthusiasm and utmost dedication and I believe that is what has helped me come this far, saying yes to challenges and not allowing fear to get in the way of opportunity. It’s a people-oriented industry, you need to have the passion for taking care of your internal team and external customers to drive success. One needs to have a strong mindset, be result driven and utilise the strengths in skill, knowledge, experience and emotions to pursue dreams, and not wait for it to come to you.” 

Haaland, a proud product of Ceylon Hotel School and School of Tourism (presently known as Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management) possess over 30 plus years of local and foreign experience. 

Proven career driven attitude that’s imbedded in her genes brought her the opportunity to hold senior positions worldwide at renowned hospitality chains such as Mövenpick, Taj and Como Hotels & Resorts. This immaculate individual also groomed the next generation of hoteliers to be competent at the premier level during her tenure as a Senior Lecturer and the Head of the Housekeeping Management Department at SLITHM. 

Haaland created history in September 2019 in Sri Lanka Tourism, when she took up the challenge to be the first Sri Lankan female to hold the position of General Manager for an international hotel brand, the newly-ventured Hilton property in Yala, which is scheduled to open its doors during the second quarter of 2022.

In 2020, Haaland was honored with the Pioneering Woman Leader award in Mumbai. Furthermore, she was previously recognised at the Top 50 Professional Career Woman Awards and as Sri Lanka’s Woman Leader in Hospitability (Gold category) organised by Women in Management – Sri Lanka. 

Apart from being a hospitality professional, Gitanjali has initiated numerous social community projects which elevated the living standards of many.