Business

SLITHM chief on a mission to bring back the glories of the Ceylon Hotel School era

Published

2 years ago

2024/09/20

Thilina Walpola

Shirantha Peiris

By Harischandra Gunaratna

The chairman of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM), Shirantha Peiris, in an interview with The Island Financial Review recently said that his dream was to take the school back to its ‘golden days’ when it functioned as Ceylon Hotel School.

‘The Ceylon Hotel School produced world class hoteliers, where some of them held top positions in hotels owned and operated by international chains in different parts of the world, he said.

Peiris assumed duties as the chairman of SLITHM in June 2022 and the institute has seen steady advancement during this short period, according to SLITHM sources.

When queried as to how the standards and the quality of such a prestigious institution had deteriorated, Pieris admitted that there was a drop in the quality of some of the students. He attributed the deterioration of standards to multiple reasons, which he has identified and rectified.

Some of the improvements effected by him relate to the student enrollment process. For example, students are now enrolled purely on merit, with external influence not being taken into consideration. The same practice is followed with regard to employee recruitment.

Pieris added: ‘When I left school in 1982, it was extremely difficult to join Ceylon Hotel School as there was a very clear and a transparent selection process. At present we adopt the same practice.

‘When I assumed duties, one of my first tasks was to look into the existing value chain of the organization and introduce efficiency.

‘The institution follows a strict enrolment process with multiple eliminating stages to ensure that the right candidate is selected.

‘We must ensure that only the right students who have a passion for hospitality are enrolled as this has a positive impact not only in meeting customer expectations, but often exceeding same when our students are in the industry. We have seen this many a time in the industry, where our students have maintained high standards in a consistent manner.

‘Deteriorating standards of English of some of the staff members and students in the school is an issue. It has to be addressed and recommendations are made to the senior management. English is mandatory when engaging in hospitality as well as when being employed.

‘The standards of students who pass out of the institution are high and they could secure employment in any top-class hotel in Sri Lanka with handsome remuneration packages. We need to ensure that every student meets these criteria and this cannot be done overnight. If you look around the leading hotels, most of the General Managers and senior management are former students of SLITHM (Ceylon Hotel School). We need to maintain these standards, be consistent and adopt the best practices at SLITHM. Our main objective is to train people for the local industry.

‘SLITHM had the very first Innovation Fair last week which was an excellent initiative by the Director General – SLITHM, where we were able to witness our students’ innovation and creativity, not restricting to the usual practices but also introducing AI driven technology. During the last two years we have introduced multiple events for students, including sports activities, which will be an annual event from now on.

‘We have nine schools, covering all provinces and at present seven schools run at full capacity and one of the constraints is that we need more space to run the institution. We have already communicated to the authorities requesting additional space to increase the number of students. We are working towards increasing the number of students at the Jaffna and Batticaloa schools as well.

‘It is imperative that we introduce and engage in global best practices and be current with the rapid changes that take place in hospitality and tourism. Restructuring and succession planning have commenced and are on-going.

‘We are also focused on the wellbeing of our employees and have introduced a “Pink Day”, which takes place in October as it is ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’. On this day we have health care experts creating awareness and all our female employees are invited to go through a screening process at no cost. We will be introducing employee engagement initiatives too to ensure that we have a work force that is engaged in being high performers.

‘SLITHM also has the “Samudra Training Hotel” (STH) located in the Colombo School. STH is currently going through a transformation process and will be a fully operational hotel before this winter. The Samudra Restaurant has been fully renovated and is already in operation. The other areas that will be operational soon are the pub, the terrace with a beautiful ocean view and all rooms refurbished with the support of the industry. We have already written to the industry and have received positive responses. The uniqueness of this operation will be that the hotel will be run by students. STH will be a place to talk about very soon.

‘Another area we are working towards is going paperless and introducing automation where applicable. In this day and age, we cannot be comfortable with old practices and need to embrace technology.

‘I must thank my staff for their contribution and continuous support in the transformation process as well as all stakeholders working closely with SLITHM.’

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Business

Focus on developing the Coconut and Food & Beverage export industries into a USD 3 billion economy within the next two years

Published

8 hours ago

2026/06/27

Priyan

A discussion was held on Friday (26) afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and industrialists in the coconut and food and beverage manufacturing sectors on developing the coconut and food and beverage export industries into a USD 3 billion economy within the next two years.

Accordingly, the objective is to expand the coconut-based export industry into a USD 2 billion sector and the food and beverage export industry into a USD 1 billion sector, and extensive discussions were held on the plans required to achieve these targets.

The President stated that the Government is prepared to provide every possible form of incentive necessary to promote export diversification and encourage value-added products.

Proposals and suggestions aimed at developing these industries were also presented during the meeting, and the President further noted that future plans would be formulated after taking all such proposals and recommendations into consideration.

The President also expressed agreement to provide incentives for establishing industries in the Northern Province and assured that the Government would extend its fullest support for setting up coconut-based manufacturing industries in the region.

Attention was also focused on plans to streamline the importation of raw materials required for export production while safeguarding domestic producers. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake further stated that his Government’s objective is to build the country’s economy into an export-oriented production economy by strengthening domestic supply chains.

Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Anil Jayantha Fernando; Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Dr Harshana Suriyapperuma; Secretary to the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, Thilaka Jayasundara; and Chairman of the Export Development Board, Mangala Wijesinghe, were among those present.

The President of the Sri Lanka Food Processors Association, Aruna Senanayake; Vice President Rasika Seneviratne; Managing Director of CBL Group, Shyamali Wickramasinghe; Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Catering Ltd, Mangala Wijesekera; Managing Director of Ma’s Tropical Food Processing (Pvt) Ltd, Mario D. Alwis; Chairman of the Consumer Foods Sector of John Keells Food Holdings PLC, Daminda Gamlath; together with a number of leading business leaders from the food production sector were also present.

President’s Media Division (PMD)

Business

Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association unveils strategic roadmap for the future at 9th AGM

Published

18 hours ago

2026/06/27

Thilina Walpola

The newly elected Office Bearers and Executive Council of the Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association for 2026–2027.

The Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) successfully held its 9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 23 June 2026 at Hilton Colombo Residencies, bringing together members of the country’s organized retail sector to review the Association’s achievements over the past year and outline its strategic priorities for the future.

The AGM formally adopted the Annual Report and Audited Accounts for the financial year 2025/26 and elected the Office Bearers and Executive Council for the year 2026–2027.

Infiyaz M. Ali, Director of Healthguard Pharmacy Ltd, was announced as President of the Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association for 2026–2027. He will be supported by Mahesh Wijewardena, Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC, as Senior Vice President, and Kumar De Silva, CEO of SPAR SL Private Ltd, as Vice President.

The newly appointed Executive Council comprises senior representatives from leading retail organizations across Sri Lanka, reflecting the Association’s continued commitment to representing the diverse interests of the retail sector.

Addressing the gathering, President Infiyaz M. Ali emphasized the importance of collaboration, innovation, and industry advocacy in driving the next phase of growth for Sri Lanka’s retail sector.

“Retail continues to be one of the most dynamic sectors of the Sri Lankan economy. As consumer expectations evolve and technology reshapes the industry, the role of SLRA is to create opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and collective action. We remain committed to supporting our members and contributing to the sustainable growth of the retail ecosystem,” he stated.

The AGM was honoured by the presence of Wasantha Samarasinghe, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, who attended as Chief Guest. In his address, the Minister highlighted the importance of the retail sector as a key contributor to economic development, employment generation, and consumer welfare, while emphasizing the need for stronger public-private collaboration to strengthen the industry’s competitiveness.

Members also had the opportunity to gain insights from the Guest Speaker, Chayu Damsinghe, Head of Macroeconomic Advisory at Frontier Research, who shared perspectives on Sri Lanka’s economic outlook, emerging business trends, and the opportunities and challenges facing the private sector in the years ahead.

A key highlight of the evening was the presentation on the upcoming Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2026, SLRA’s flagship industry event, which will be held under the theme “Retail Without Boundaries – Building the Next Growth Engine.” The forum is expected to bring together more than 500 industry leaders, retailers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, technology providers, and investors to discuss the trends shaping the future of retail.

The Association reaffirmed its commitment to supporting retailers through industry advocacy, professional development initiatives, policy engagement, and knowledge-sharing platforms that foster innovation and business growth.

Since its establishment in 2015, SLRA has played a pivotal role in bringing together retailers from diverse sectors including FMCG, fashion, healthcare, consumer electronics, and digital commerce, creating a unified voice for the industry.

With a renewed leadership team and an ambitious programme of activities planned for the year ahead, SLRA looks forward to working closely with its members and stakeholders to strengthen Sri Lanka’s retail sector and contribute to the country’s economic development.

Business

Month-end profit-takings drive stock trading; indices up

Published

18 hours ago

2026/06/27

Thilina Walpola

CSE trading was yesterday driven by month- end profit-takings, market analysts said.Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index went up by 2.77 points, while the S and P SL20 rose by 10.91 points.

Turnover stood at Rs 1.91 billion with two crossings. Those crossings were; ACL Cables 2.1 million shares crossed to the tune of 209 million; its shares traded at Rs 100 and Hayleys 100,000 shares crossed for Rs 24.1 million; its shares traded at Rs 240.

In the retail market companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were: Hayleys Rs 141 million (587,000 shares traded), Lanka Realty Rs 105 million (1.8 million shares traded), CIC (Non Voting) Rs 81 million (3.1 million shares traded), HNB Finance Rs 79 million (8.3 million shares traded), Dialog Axiata Rs 56.7 million (1.2 million shares traded), Colombo Dockyard Rs 48.6 million (371,000 shares traded) and Singer SriLanka Rs 46.6 million (586,000 shares crossed).

During the day 63.9 million share volumes changed hands in 18300 transactions.

It is said that manufacturing sector counters, especially Hayleys, performed well while construction related companies, especially ACL Cables, also performed well. Banking sector counters, especially HNB, were also notable on the floor.

Meanwhile, Lee Hedges concluded negotiations with Amana Bank to sell and transfer its land and premises in Kollupitiya for a total consideration of Rs 2.7 billion, with the transaction completed on June 25, 2026.

Lee Hedges shares were trading up 2.52 percent, at Rs.325.75, while Amana Bank was up 1.13 percent at Rs.26.80.

Yesterday the rupee was quoted at Rs 336.90/337.00 to the US dollar in the spot market, from Rs 337.25/35 the previous day, while bond yields were quoted slightly higher, dealers said.

The telegraphic transfer rate for Sri Lanka’s rupee against the US dollar was 332.3416 buying, 342.0372 selling; the euro was 376.2315 selling, 389.9580 buying; and the pound was 436.5994 buying, 451.8110 selling.

By Hiran H Senewiratne