Life style
My aim to get back Mount Lavania Hotel to where it should be
With extensive experience in luxury hotel and resort management here and abroad , Dewapura joins the Mount Lavinia Hotel in a critical time to spear head the much-needed turn around the property’s strategic planning and direction, positioning, product and services development.
With the experience in turning around distressed properties and several pre-opening hotels in various locations in the world, Dewapura had spent working in various positions at Starwood Luxury Collection, Hilton Curio Collection, Marriott Autograph Collection and Independent lifestyle and luxury hotels in Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East, Caribbean, and North America.
Anura was born in Sri Lanka – Swedish and US citizen, trained & educated hospitality industry in Europe. Having worked in over 17 countries moved back to motherland Sri Lanka from New York USA.
Anura’s passion for hospitality with transformational and purpose driven leadership style, core values, empathy, humility, strategic mind, and drive contributed to many success stories in the businesses including Mount Lavinia Hotel from 2008-2012 period. Anura loves to travel, to explore cultures, cuisines and enjoys golf, Jazz and Bluegrass music.
Former Executive Chef earned his BA honors degree in International Hotel Management from University of Manchester Metropolitan UK and Higher Diploma in Catering from Swiss Management Institute in Switzerland an attended PDP program at Cornell University in US. Anura is a Certified Hotel Administrator, prestigious certification awarded from American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.
Q Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?
A : My Hospitality journey started from Home, with the aspiration of being a European Chef amidst my parents dislike. I cooked my first meal when I was 12 to feed my brother and sister during 1971 insurgence time and the rest was history.
After being an Executive Chef in Europe at the age of 28, Sweden,in Denmark, Spain and Australia where I worked for. I left the kitchen after preparing a dinner for “Michelin Awards Event” for sixty five two and three Star Michelin Chefs which I consider as one of my biggest accomplishments.
Later I moved to administration positions such as Director of Food and Beverage, Director of Operations, General Manager, Managing Director and my most recent position Regional Director of operations Upstate New York and currently I am working as Chief Operating Officer of Mount Lavinia Hotel Group.
I was privileged enough to fulfill my passion for travelling the world through my career, where I have been to eighteen countries.
Q As an experienced hotelier what do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?
A : To be successful in this industry I personally advocate commitment, discipline and empathy with the correct understanding of the customer needs regarding what, when and how they want it. These practices bear my philosophy of serving customers.
On the other hand a clear vision of who I want to be with a proper plan have led me to succeed without obstacles. I believe service excellence will make someone keep thriving forward to raise the bar of success for the survival in the hospitality industry.
This industry keep evolving and altering all the time with trends, travelling patterns, technology, habits and generational changes. Therefore being able to welcome new trends and adapting to them is a must. I believe the adage, “you are good as your last day performance” has made me the person who I am today.
I like to feel people, guests and team by talking and engaging with everybody. I am a future driven personality with no hesitation with past. And I live with certain moral values where I don’t treat anyone differently than I should be treated, therefore it has been a journey of handling everyone equally with respect and same level of interest under any designation and any dissimilarity.
My love for this Job; as long as I love what I do, I keep on doing it.
Q What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?
A : Technology does the most impact on this industry. It will efficiently enhance the service by providing many platforms, implemented systems for customers (online facilities), under palm access, quick and accurate fingertip information but for the best outcome, technology should be used with better balance without any extremes. According to my personal experience, I believe finding a balance between technology and human touch is a pre-requisite.
I also believe in good employees and employee retention. It’s quite a challenge to protect skillful employment by providing them with benefits, salaries, titles, team work and interactions while they are properly treated with respect and empathy under good care. My goal is to make them want to come to work; not they have to come to work. This itself a success.
Q Tell us about something that Mount Lavinia offers that no else can?
A : My love for this property, its culture and character, heritage and people who work here made me to come back. Though I was successful in my career abroad, I was a Sri Lankan, deep within me and Mount Lavinia Hotel where I worked was my best choice. Of course, it was a challenging task after the Covid and the economic crisis. But I was determined to come back and bring the hotel to its former glory.
I had the opportunity to build a good team around me. The uniqueness of this hotel; no one will find it anywhere. Why? This has a historic background, beautiful architecture, colonial heritage , breathtakingly beautiful setting, dedicated employees working for more than 60 years (Chef Publis, Aruni, Camilas, Kumari) they are pretty much Mount Lavinians.
Their love for this beautiful property, is an unusual trait,I feel my job is to build up on them while focusing and guiding them towards the right direction, the direction to success. Mount Lavinia is a destination not just a hotel. That’s why we are going to create a home out of it with good food, fine wine, art, culture, entertainment and specially, best and most romantic Terrace in the world with a 360 angle of ocean view. Above characteristic had made the Hotel; best pick for weddings and for other events.
Q How would you describe your management philosophy?
A : I’m a purpose driven Transformational Leader. I am keen for why I came here, which showcase my purpose of getting back Mount Lavinia where it should be and more than used to be. I have transformed once and I’m fully aware of my capability complex of transforming again. My target is to make the hotel the best in town. It is easy to work around a motivated team and exceed the expectations of our guests and ownership.
Q As a new COO what are your targets and expectations for next year?
A : We are working on with two targets, to build this place with a good management team and build up a trained and talented employees and work together for a common mission and vision. My aim is to deliver a service excellence and a superior product. To obtain the desired outcome a wide variety of guest and employee focused strategies will be implemented.
Second target would be to meet the profit oriented financial objectives for year 2024 and by the end of 2024 we are expecting a well-established, efficiently running, profitable and well positioned Mount Lavinia Hotel with a promising future. I believe in myself and my team can achieve these targets within a year.
Q Do you have any plans to adopt more sustainable practices in your planned initiatives?
A : Yes I do. When I was the GM we implemented a concept of “Green going Greener”, which is a sustainable effort of Mount Lavinia Hotel . The hotel is committed to maintain environmental issues, while seeking opportunities to protect resources, reduce waste, and conserve energy and water through the maintenance of quality service expectations for guests.
Energy conservation, waste management, water conservation, community development, switching to use environment-friendly products and erosion control are the key performance areas which were practiced back in the days. The hotel had received Bronze and Silver certifications for EarthCheck Awards in years 2010 and 2011 respectively. Therefore I would love to re-introduce this concept and work alongside the Green policy I personally believe it is our responsibility as individuals to follow up a planet saving approach for a favourable future.
Q Your plans to position the hotel as a destination?
A : Mount Lavinia Hotel itself is a destination. The paradise beach with alluring city views, mesmerizing history with a romantic love story, tantalising food, good music, art and culture are distinct features of Mount Lavinia It is called “Governor’s Mansion Destination “. My plan is to recreate this excitement and experience while serving top class culinary cuisine, bringing guest chefs, artists, reviving our theme dinner concepts such as Soul food, Ape kama, Latin food, Italian food are on the cards.
Q Moving forward what legacy would you like to leave behind from your leaderships with many years of experience?
A : “It’s the legacy that I left that brought me back”. I would like to be remembered as the person who transformed and brought Mount Lavinia to new heights and to deliver the superior results in service, products, profitability and value for the ownership.
Q Making a vision into a reality can be very daunting. We would love a deep dive into your process for all your initiatives?
A : When creating a vision and a mission, initiatives should be started with the team by ensuring that they believe in it too. That’s pretty much the ground work which will be obtained with training, product knowledge, and customer service while practically applying from every angle of the organization by acquiring a strong HR, value systems, culture, and teamwork for a fulfilled vision. We have to start from the bottom from operating standards reviving all policies, procedures and the best practices of the overall hotel. These strategies will go parallel with the plan delivering products and service, meeting customer expectations over and beyond.
It is my duty to identify both strengths and weaknesses and help them to develop and work on these strengths to be successful. In a nutshell we are constructing a successful foundation for the future.We have done it once and we are capable of doing it again.
Q At Mount Lavinia Hotel, your popularity with the staff is well known. Share some of your secrets in keeping an engaged, safe and happy team?
A : My day starts in the morning walking through departments and talking to my team along the way. I do respect them thier point of view. I am a a good listener, trying to solve thier problems. I care for thier wellbeing and trying to put a smile on everybody’s faces that makes me genuinely happy. I will make sure to keep them motivated on their job.
Q You are currently focusing on building a strong leadership team financial success and tremendous growth for the hotel. How do you plan to give your best in these times of growth?
A :I I will build long term strategies based on trends and demands in keeping with the hospitality industry trends We have to make ourselves prepared for the waves of changing and adopt ourselves to planning and implementation. My mission is to exceed the expectations of the guests.team members, supplies,shareholders by providing a hospitality experience with respect and integrity.
Q How are you settling as COO Mount Lavinia Hotel?
A : It is like coming home but different from my previous arrival in 2008. It is challenging but so far everything is running smoothly according to my expectations.I have a strong leadership and a competent team to make my plans successful.My aim is to make Mount Lavania hotel a trendsetter in the hospitality industry in the near future.
Q How do you see tourism in Sri Lanka then when you were GM and now?
A : The tourist arrivals globally fell abruptly and came to a halt, Thanks to the government efforts, tourism is picking up and we need to have professional experts, and have a committed vision to bring in more tourists and make Sri Lanka the hub of tourist destination.We have the best pristine beaches,fine dining experiences,fascinating sightseeing and rich cultural heritage. However tourism in Sri lanka has much more untapped potential. However,it is only through right policies and proper planning, we can leverage the economic prospects of the travel and tourism industry.
Q What are some lessons learnt with your prior experience in traveling and working in different countries?
A : I have led several hospitality organizations in US and around the world. I have learnt much from my associates and prior experiences. I believe the team spirit is best positive vibe to ensure a smooth running in any organisation specially in the hospitality sector.
Q What are your plans for the upcoming season?
A : “Christmas around the world” is this year’s theme for the season of joy. We are planning to commence our festive celebrations by the Thanksgiving Dinner which will be an extravagant event like never before. Christmas tree lighting ceremony has also lined up in the seasonal agenda while country themed Christmas dinners will be served and their traditions and cultures will be celebrated throughout the month of December. Christmas day Brunch will be star among the festivities because of the big scale planning and Christmas-eve dinner will be organized to usher the true seasonal atmosphere for the guests.
The 31st night is bundled up with all goodness and surprises for a glamorous welcoming of year 2024.
In his new capacity at the Mount Lavinia Hotel, Anura will steer the hotel towards unprecedented success. His dynamic leadership, coupled with a strong focus on operational excellence and customer centric strategies will undoubtedly set a new benchmark in the hospitality industry.