Improvements in occupancy rates and revenue have helped Galadari Hotel report a turnaround.
Galadari Hotels (Lanka) PLC has seen a surge in accumulated losses due to heavy foreign exchange losses during the first nine months of this year. However, the hotel has improved significantly during the September quarter on improved occupancy rates.
Galadari Hotel has recorded its best ever occupancy and highest revenue since its inception and the 450 room hotel enjoys an average of fifty percent occupancy, its General Manager Sampath Siriwardena said.
"Despite the recession in the UK, many from the country have opted to travel to short haul destinations, but still tourists from the UK continue to head our occupancy with an average of 65 percent to 70 percent," he said.
"There is a steady flow of tourists from the UK now, but the situation was quite different during the war," he added.
"We need to move forward from traditional beach tourism and explore the niche markets," he said, adding that the hotel has gone in to promote sports tourism in a big way, with success.
The country’s tourism industry has a great future if the product is promoted aggressively and we could truly be the "Wonder of Asia," he added.
A number of visiting cricket teams including school teams have chosen Galadari as their hotel and their average stay was around two weeks, Siriwardena pointed out.
Galadari will be hosting the crew of the Amazing Grace television series for the third year in succession. "We are trying to woo similar groups in the future," he said.
The Oberoi Hotel School graduate and senior hotelier said that we should always market what the country naturally possesses as we have an abundance of locations with scenic beauty and steeped in history and abounds in cultural significance.
Siriwardena was of the opinion that we should promote locations such as Pottuvil point in Arugam Bay which is one of the best surfing destinations in the world.
The country’s tourism industry has to move with the latest trends and promote events such as ‘night races’ as there are many adventure seeking motor racing enthusiasts in India and the Maldives who would want to come and witness such events if they are organised here, he said.
Galadari Hotels (Lanka) PLC has seen a significant performance in its profitability during quarter recently concluded.
The company reported a net profit of Rs. 339.7 million during the September 2012 quarter, a significant improvement considering the Rs. 45.5 million loss reported a year earlier.
Revenue increased 46 percent to Rs. 487.4 million. The company made a massive foreign exchange gain of Rs. 251.4 million after reporting a loss of Rs. 36.3 million a year earlier. Finance cost declined to Rs. 31.5 million from Rs. 33.3 million a year ago.
Accumulated losses during the nine months ending September 2012, however, surged to Rs. 646.3 million, from Rs. 21.9 million a year ago. The exchange loss amounted to Rs. 812.6 million during the nine month period, from a gain of Rs. 38.9 million a year ago.
Iceberg 2 Limited has a 16.18 percent stake in the hotel while the Employers’ Provident Fund holds a 13 percent.
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