Part Fourteen : PASSIONS OF A GLOBAL HOTELIER

Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum
chandij@sympatico.ca

I consider Public Relations (PR) as one of the most important aspects in running any business. In the context of managing Mount Lavinia Hotel (MLH) during the early 1990s, I identified the following twelve segments of people with whom I needed to have good PR:

1. Internal Customer – Employees

During my efforts to shortlist employee suggestions, ‘Establishing quality circles in all departments, to earn a national award’ was identified as a goal for 1991. Before formalizing quality circles, we initiated special clean-ups using the Sri Lankan village concept of ‘Shramadana’ (donation of time and effort). This practice brought a new sparkle to the hotel.

We also launched a high-quality employee newsletter and a monthly variety show to raise funds for the Staff Welfare Association. Our guests bought tickets to attend an entertaining monthly show. Employees also created a hotel choir and composed a hotel anthem. A series of sporting events—cricket, football, athletics, and cycle races—further boosted employee motivation. They were particularly excited about our plan to set up an International Hotel School (IHS) within the hotel.

2. Management Team

In one-on-one chats with each of the 18 managers, I focused on their training and development needs for the next three years. As the IHS planned to deliver a series of management seminars with world-renowned experts, and the managers were highly motivated by the opportunity to attend these free of charge.

After the New Year celebrations, I took the relevant managers to all five-star internationally branded hotels in Colombo, MLH’s competitors for the food and beverage business. I challenged the team to surpass these competitors with remarkable and exceptional New Year’s Eve celebrations in 1991. I suggested we photograph their Christmas decorations and create something different, more creative, unique and elegant. When a team member was impressed by a hotel hosting three New Year’s Eve dances, I proposed we set a new Sri Lankan record with six dances on December 31st. Twelve months later, we achieved this.

3. Hotel Guests

We enhanced our weekly guest cocktail parties by increasing the menu items and rotating the location—rooftop, beach, and gardens. The main purpose was to improve PR with guests and promptly resolve any complaints. We increased the number of hotel representatives attending the events, including extra Guest Service Officers and Sales Associates.

Special attention was given to long-stay and repeat guests for whom MLH was a second home. For example, Rita and John Ashby from Birmingham, England, spent six months every year at MLH. John, a British Air Force officer, had served in Ceylon, where he met and married Rita.

In 2003, some 10 years after I left MLH to pursue my global career, I was contacted by Rita. She told me that John is terminally ill, and he wants to see me. At that time, I used to travel to London every other month to attend a board meeting and found little time to spend a day with Ashby’s. John was in bad shape and had only a few months more to live. It was an emotional parting.

When Rita drove me to airport, she told me: “John had three final wishes which he has now nearly completed. He wanted to visit MLH for one more time, see you before he died and his ashes to be buried in Sri Lanka.” In my efforts to hold back my tears, I was loss for words.

Employees who took part at the first ‘Shramadana’ at MLH

4. Tour Operators

MLH dealt with seventeen European tour operators, signing annual contracts during visits to major travel fairs like ITB in Berlin, WTM in London, and BIT in Milan. Maintaining good PR with them was crucial for ongoing business. Towards the end of the winter season, tour operators rewarded travel agents with free trips using unsold charter flight seats.

We treated these travel agents like royalty. Specially the British travel agents loved to hear my version of the legend of Lavinia’s love affair with the British governor from 1806 to 1811, when we visited the historic wing of MLH.

At a rooftop guest cocktail party

5. Industry

My PR advantage with the tourism industry stemmed from being a Licensed Tourist Guide Lecturer. This was beneficial when dealing with Sri Lankan tour guides. Having worked with the Ceylon Tourist Board, I knew most of their directors personally. My connections with the beverage industry also led to MLH being a chosen venue for bar competitions with me being invited to judge such competitions and deliver keynote addresses.

The Ceylon Hotel School, where I had been a student 20 years prior and a Senior Lecturer 10 years prior, had shifted to Mount Lavinia. Its principal, Sarath Seneviratne, a former student of mine, sought my help to develop a 60-hour course in Hospitality Marketing for fourth-year students. I agreed, developed the syllabus, and delivered the course to three batches of students over the next three years, free of charge as a service to our alma mater.

6. Professional Associations

Owing to previous contacts, my PR was strong with four relevant professional associations.

As the Present Vice Patron of Sri Lanka Association of Personal Secretaries (SLAPS), I also had an excellent rapport with their executive committee. That resulted in MLH being awarded many catering contracts and me being invited as the keynote speaker at their seminars. I was also the Chief Judge for SLAP Secretary of the Year Competition, and they nominated me as the Boss of the Year in 1991.

As a Past President of the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association (CHSGA), I had a good rapport with their current executive committee. CHSGA gave the contract to MLH to host their annual gala event – Graduation Ball and appointed me as the Chair of its organizing committee.

The local hotel association – Mount Lavinia Hotels Association (MLHA) elected me as their President. My main contribution was in training and development for managers of these hotels.

Most of the board members of the umbrella body for the hotel industry – Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), were my friends and colleagues. During my last year in Sri Lanka, they appointed me as the Chair of the Hotel Skills Improvement committee.

To be continued next Sunday as ‘PR: The Essential Ingredient in Hoteliering – Part B’