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Victoria Golf & Country Resort awarded Sri Lanka’s Best Golf Course at World Golf Awards

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Victoria Golf & Country Resort (VGCR) secured the award for Sri Lanka’s best golf course at the eighth Annual World Golf Awards. The World Golf Awards celebrate and reward excellence in golf tourism, world-class courses and golf destinations, recognizing leaders setting the benchmark in the industry. Votes are cast by professionals working within the golf industry and by golf tourism consumers.

VGCR is owned by John Keells Properties (JKP) and managed by Troon International. It is located by the Victoria Reservoir, in the hills of Digana. The golf course has been lauded for its picturesque nature and unique sporting experience.

“Victoria Golf & Country Resort’s recognition at the World Golf Awards is a validation of JKP’s investment in its properties and future growth, the untiring efforts of the staff and the faith that members, residents and guests have in the quality and distinctive experience on offer at the resort,” said Nayana Mawilmada, Sector Head of John Keells Properties and Executive Vice President – JKH.

The award also has considerable significance for Sri Lanka’s tourism sector. “Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is in the process of recovering from the pandemic. As we continue to navigate current challenges and as global tourism and travel gradually open, it is important to keep building and investing for the future. Golf tourism constitutes a key segment of the global travel and tourism marketplace. The award also provides a boost for the country as it signals Sri Lanka’s numerous offerings and experiences that speak to a wide demographic of global travellers,” noted Asela Wavita – General Manager of Victoria Golf and Country Resort.

The unique shapes and contours of VGCR, flanked by scenic vistas, create a challenging and memorable sporting experience even for seasoned golfers who have experienced fine courses around the world. Landscaped on a 517-acre land, the course was designed by Donald Steele & Co. in 1977 and is ranked among the “100 Most Beautiful Golf Courses in the World” by Golf Digest. VCGR’s recently introduced turnkey holiday villas and townhouses located within the golf course have been well received. Over 50% of Sunrise Ridge Holiday Homes have been sold to date while all premium land plots from phase one, which was launched in September 2020, have been sold out.

Further, the golf course and its facilities have been extensively renovated recently – the course was laid out with Turf Grass “Zorro Zoysia” from USA and installed with state-of-the-art automated irrigations systems. The recent award at the World Golf Awards reaffirms the quality of the course, unique experience and world-class standards at the Victoria Golf & Country Resort.

Victoria Golf & Country Resort is managed by Troon International, the biggest golf resort and club management company with over 640 resorts around the world. Through its partnership with VGCR, Troon International brings world-class agronomy practices and turf management as well as club house management and operations, offering unique golfing experiences in Sri Lanka and exclusive benefits and access to Troon-managed courses around the world for members of VGCR.

The World Golf Awards™ is part of World Travel Awards™, which is currently celebrating its 27th anniversary. Their global media partners include Destination Golf, TV5Monde, International New York Times, Bloomberg and CNBC with a monthly readership of 1.7 million and a TV audience reach of 90 million.



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Sri Lanka still ‘under test’ before it can receive crucial second tranche from IMF

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From left: Sarwat Jahan, IMF Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, IMF, Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, IMF, Huong Lan 'Pinky' Vu, Communications Officer, IMF at the press briefing held at the Central Bank head office in Colombo yesterday.

by Sanath Nanayakkare

International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff concluding their visit to Sri Lanka yesterday reaffirmed their support to Sri Lanka to move out of the ongoing economic crisis, but did not specify an exact timeline for releasing the second tranche of its Extended Fund Faculty (EFF) arrangement to Sri Lanka.

The IMF mission team led by Peter Breuer and Katsiaryna Svirydzenka that visited Colombo from September 14 to 27, is yet to be convinced that it has received a robust programme from the Sri Lankan authorities where they indicate how they would be addressing the persistent revenue shortfall besides outlining progress in foreign debt restructuring which would give Sri Lanka a breather to balance its financing requirements as it starts to repay its foreign debt.

“We had constructive and productive discussions with the Sri Lankan authorities on economic performance and policies underpinning the first review under the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. The people of Sri Lanka have shown remarkable resilience and the authorities have made significant progress on important reforms. The discussions will continue towards reaching a staff-level agreement in the near term that will maintain the reform momentum needed to allow Sri Lanka to emerge from its deep economic crisis, Peter Breuer said.

“The objectives of the IMF-supported program will continue to focus on restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, while protecting the poor and vulnerable, safeguarding financial stability and stepping up structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities and unlock Sri Lanka’s growth potential, he said.

However, the press briefing given by the IMF team yesterday signaled that they needed to see more economic and financial policies to support the approval of the First Review of the program under the EFF arrangement.

“Sri Lanka has made commendable progress in implementing difficult but much-needed reforms. These efforts are bearing fruit as the economy is showing tentative signs of stabilization. Inflation is down from a peak of 70 percent in September 2022 to below 2 percent in September 2023, gross international reserves increased by $1.5 billion during March-June this year, and shortages of essentials have eased. Despite early signs of stabilization, full economic recovery is not yet assured. Growth momentum remains subdued, with real GDP contracting by 3.1 percent in the second quarter on a year-on-year basis and high-frequency economic indicators continuing to provide mixed signals. Reserve accumulation has slowed in recent months, he said.

Speaking further Peter Breuer said: “Sustaining the reform momentum is critical to put the economy on a path towards lasting recovery and stable and inclusive economic growth. The authorities have met the program’s primary balance targets and remain committed to this important pillar of the program so as to support their efforts to restore debt sustainability. However, revenue mobilization gains – while improved relative to last year – are expected to fall short of initial projections by nearly 15 percent by year end, in part due to economic factors.

“The onus of fiscal adjustment would fall on public expenditure if there were no efforts to recoup this shortfall. This could weaken the government’s ability to provide essential public services and undermine the path to debt sustainability. To increase revenues and signal better governance, it is important to strengthen tax administration, remove tax exemptions, and actively eliminate tax evasion.

“Against continued uncertainty, it also remains important to rebuild external buffers through strong reserves accumulation. Building on the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s success in controlling inflation, refraining from monetary financing will help keep inflation in check. Other challenges include maintaining cost recovery in electricity pricing.

“The government has made steady progress on structural reforms. Key legislations passed in Parliament, including the new Central Bank Act and the Anti-Corruption Act, could improve governance if implemented effectively. The IMF Governance Diagnostic report would inform future reform measures to strengthen governance when published.

“A new welfare benefit payment scheme was enacted with new eligibility criteria that aims to improve targeting, adequacy, and coverage of social safety nets. To ensure financial stability, steps were taken on conducting bank diagnostics, developing a roadmap for addressing banking system capital and liquidity shortfalls and improving the bank resolution framework.

“The authorities have also made headway on regaining debt sustainability through the execution of the domestic debt restructuring and advancing discussions with external creditors. As Sri Lanka is restructuring its public debt which is in arrears.

“Executive Board approval of the first program review requires the completion of financing assurances reviews. These financing assurances reviews will focus on whether adequate progress has been made with debt restructuring to give confidence that it will be concluded in a timely manner and in line with the program’s debt targets.

“Discussions are on-going, and the authorities are continuing to make progress on their plans for revenue mobilization targets, anti-corruption efforts, and other important structural reforms.”

The IMF team held meetings with President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayaka, Secretary to the Treasury K M Mahinda Siriwardana, and other senior government and CBSL officials, during the visit. The IMF team also met with parliamentarians, representatives from the private sector, civil society organizations, and development partners.

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‘Imposing minimum room rates on five star hotels could ruin tourism sector’

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Tourists in Sri Lanka

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

The imposing of a minimum room rate on five star hotels on the basis of a recent gazette notification is actually killing the industry. Room rates, accordingly, could henceforth rise to between 80 percent and 100 percent, top travel and tourism industry expert Chandana Amaradasa said.

“The minimum room rate of a five star hotel currently comes to about US $ 65 but with the new gazette notification it would go up to US $ 170 per day. But our competitors, such as, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam are maintaining a minimum room rate of US$ 80 to US$ 85, Amaradasa told The Island Financial Review.

Amaradasa said that the tourism industry is just picking- up and ‘this type of move is detrimental to the entire sector because these room rates are normally determined by demand and supply and not by gazette notifications.

Amaradasa added: ‘At present, Colombo five star hotels are mainly patronized by Indian tourists, corporate clients and MICE tourists. This will not only impact hotel revenue but the outside supply chain as well. Nowhere in the world is the tourism industry regulated in this manner and this would enable our competitors, such as, Vietnam and Thailand to attract tourists.

“As a long term consequence, some of the airlines could also pull out of Sri Lanka and hotels will halt recruiting new staff and training them with the limiting of their revenue sources.’

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ADL’s journey continues: Unveiling new offices in Indonesia and Malaysia for tech excellence

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Axiata Digital Labs (ADL), the renowned technology hub of Axiata Group Berhad, is proud to announce the grand opening of two new offices in Indonesia and Malaysia. These strategic expansions, respectively, mark significant milestones in the company’s journey since it’s inception in 2019. This signifies ADL’s unwavering commitment to revolutionizing the telecommunications industry and propelling the global rate of digital transformation.

The inauguration of these state-of-the-art offices exemplifies the dedication ADL has towards expanding its footprint and harnessing the power of innovation across Southeast Asia. As the first CMMI 2.0 Level 3 IT organization in Sri Lanka and an ISO-certified company, ADL is well-positioned to lead the charge in transforming traditional telcos into techcos through its groundbreaking Axonect Product Suite.

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