Business
Four questions with Sri Lankan Hotelier Sanjiv Hulugalle of Mauna Lani, Hawaii
We publish an interview with Sanjiv Hulugalle, the General Manager and Vice President of Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection in Hawaii on opening his Hotel last November and the protocol that had to be adopted to meet the issues. The strategy adopted is of relevance for Sri Lanka when we are presently mapping a policy to open the country for tourism.
by Christina O’Connor Pacific Business News
When Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection reopened in January of 2020 following a $200 million redesign, Vice President and General Manager Sanjiv Hulugalle had been looking forward to welcoming guests to the revamped property.
Instead, the Hawaii Island resort was closed for most of the year, having shuttered in March due to Covid-19. Following a months-long closure, Mauna Lani reopened in November 2020.
We recently checked in with Hulugalle to chat about the reopening, current operations and his outlook for the future.
How have things been going since reopening?
We opened in early November, and we opened pretty much everything – the guest rooms including all our amenities and all of our operations, obviously with a much lower number of employees. We originally had about 600 employees, we have less than 300 employees back to work now.
We’re finding that we are doing anywhere from 30-40% occupancy on any given day. Even with the number of reservations we have, it’s better to be open than closed, because our burn rate was so much higher having it closed, from a cash-flow perspective. It has a much more positive effect on the team and the employees’ morale as well.
We actually opened [on-property restaurant] Canoe House in July, and that has been a huge success. We are doing half-capacity of what we normally did, but even with that, we now have a waiting list of about two months to get into that restaurant.
Have you noticed any new trends in what guests are looking for?
We’re seeing that people who want to travel, are not rate resistant. They want to make sure that we are following safety protocols, but they also want to make sure that we have all of our services open, including things like the Spa, the Fitness Center, Golf and Restaurants.
We are finding that our bungalows, which are like Residences, are in very high demand. Some have sold out for the holiday season. Families are looking to travel and want completely private experiences.
We have also launched a program to accommodate guests who want to continue to work and learn remotely while staying with us. We have spaces in the resort that we’ve created where guests can bring their computers and sit down to work. I saw a group of kids the other day at a long table that we set up at the south lanai of the resort, and all of them were on the computer doing [online] classes. We’re just trying to make it really fun and easy and engaging.
One of the things that we have found is that we are now providing more educational experiences to guests – doing things like our Turtle program [Malam a Honu], and teaching guests about the ecology of our surroundings around the ponds.
Tell me about some of the health and safety protocols you’ve implemented.
Our goal is to have a safe environment for all of our guests, employees and the community.
For all of our guests, when they check in, we make sure that they have a negative Covid test prior to their stay, and also all of our guests who come from the local surroundings, we do a temperature check on them at the entrance and we ask them specific [health] questions. We have taken a proactive approach to make it easy for guests to do their pre-travel testing by partnering with a company called Vault.
Guests have a lot of questions about how does it all work and what are the testing protocols. We have a pre-arrival team that is dedicated to taking care of guests’ questions on pre-arrival Covid -19 testing. We call every single guest before they come and make sure they have all of their documentation and all of that information.
We test our employees every three days – we’ll do a screening of 50 [employees] in different departments. The team member testing has given confidence to the employees, which obviously has given confidence to the guests as well.
I think the most important thing is sending reminders to guests of mask usage. All guests, when they are moving around the resort, have to wear a mask. It’s an important part of safeguarding our guests, our employees and the community, and we make sure that that happens.
We make sure that [lounge chairs and beach chairs] are socially distanced. We are also very careful in the back of house – or heart of house, as I call it – we have very strict protocols with regard to the handling of equipment and supplies coming in. At our restaurants, we continue to use gloves – for every new table we touch, we change our gloves. And we also have Sanitizer available everywhere.
How do you envision the future for the property as we move into 2021?
I think it’s going to be challenging, there is no question. It’s going to be a challenging market place, but I think there is so much pent-up demand that when we do get the vaccine in full effect and we have a lot more confidence in travel, I think things are going to come back strong. People will be a lot more conscientious about safety, but people want to travel and I think Hawaii is going to be a destination where people really want to come.
Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence estimates that 2.3 million bank cards were leaked on the dark web, based on an analysis of data-stealing malware log files from 2023-2024. On average, every 14th infostealer infection results in stolen credit card information, with nearly 26 million devices compromised by infostealers, including more than 9 million in 2024 alone. Kaspersky released its report on the infostealer threat landscape while the technology world gathers at MWC 2025 in Barcelona.
Kaspersky experts estimate that approximately 2,300,000 bank cards have been leaked on the dark web. This conclusion is based on an analysis of the log files from data-stealing malware, dated 2023-2024, that were leaked on the dark web market. While globally the share of leaked cards is well below one percent, 95% of the observed numbers appear technically valid.
Infostealer malware is not only designed to extract financial information, but also credentials, cookies and other valuable user data, which is compiled into log files and then distributed within the dark web underground community. An infostealer can infect a device if a victim unknowingly downloads and runs a malicious file, for example one disguised as legitimate software, such as a game cheat. It can be spread through phishing links, compromised websites, malicious attachments in emails or messengers and various other methods. It targets both personal and corporate devices.
On average, every 14th infostealer infection results in stolen credit card information. Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence experts found that nearly 26 million devices running Windows were infected with various types of infostealers in the past two years.
“The actual number of infected devices is even higher. Cybercriminals often leak stolen data in the form of log files months or even years after the initial infection, and compromised credentials and other information continue to surface on the dark web over time. Therefore, the more time passes, the more infections from previous years we observe. We forecast the total number of devices infected with infostealer malware in 2024 to be between 20 million and 25 million, while for 2023, the estimate ranges between 18 million and 22 million,” says Sergey Shcherbel, expert at Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence.
In 2024, Redline remained the most widespread infostealer, accounting for 34% of the total number of infections.
The most significant surge in 2024 was in infections caused by Risepro, whose share of total infections increased from 1.4% in 2023 to almost 23% in 2024. “RisePro is a growing threat. It was first discovered two years ago but seems to be gaining momentum. The stealer primarily targets banking card details, passwords and cryptocurrency wallet data, and may be spreading under the guise of key generators, cracks for various software and game mods,” explains Sergey Shcherbel. Another rapidly growing stealer is Stealc, which first appeared in 2023 and increased its share from nearly 3% to 13%.
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon’s prowess in comprehensive disclosure of sustainability-related information to stakeholders has won its 2023 Annual Report two top awards at the 2025 Sustainability Reporting Awards presented by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
The Bank was adjudged the overall runner-up and the winner in the Banking category at these awards, repeating the achievement of its 2022 Annual Report which was similarly honoured by the ACCA last year.
The ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards recognise Annual Reports that clearly acknowledge and explain the economic, environmental and social impacts of the business to internal and external stakeholders, demonstrating the organisation’s policies, targets and long-term objectives towards the goal of sustainable development.
Commercial Bank’s 2023 Annual Report also won two Golds, a Silver and a Bronze at CA Sri Lanka’s ‘TAGS’ Awards 2024, excelling in the key aspects recognised by the awards programme which is dedicated to Transparency, Accountability, Governance, and Sustainability – TAGS.
The Bank won the Gold for ‘Corporate Governance Disclosure’ in the Financial Services sector, the Gold for the Best Annual Report among the private sector banks, the Silver for ‘Digitally Transformative Reporting’ across all sectors, and the overall Bronze award for Excellence in Corporate Reporting.
Caterpillar equipment dealer UTE has delivered the country’s largest Cat D8 Track-Type Tractor to NEM Construction Pvt. Ltd., marking a significant milestone in heavy machinery. This delivery strengthens the long-standing partnership between UTE and NEM Construction, which spans over 45 years. The Cat D8 is expected to boost operational efficiency in large-scale projects. As the sole authorized dealer for Caterpillar in Sri Lanka, UTE continues to provide top-tier machinery and after-sales support. The handover is particularly notable as Caterpillar celebrates its 100th anniversary. NEM Construction’s Chairman, Raja Nanayakkara, praised the Cat D8’s superior performance and UTE’s unmatched service and parts support, which have been key to the company’s long-term collaboration. This purchase highlights the continued trust in both Caterpillar and UTE’s expertise in supporting Sri Lanka’s construction industry.
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