Hayleys PLC has set-up Hayleys Leisure Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, its sixth sector in a bid to expand its reach into leisure and become the third biggest player in the market, a company official said. “This is the leisure arm of Hayleys PLC and with this sector we want to expand our reach into the leisure industry with a strong focus on hotels, inbound tourism and aviation,” the official told the Business Times. John Keells, Aitken Spence and Jetwing are so far the biggest in this business.
Hayleys has businesses in Global Markets & Manufacturing, Agriculture & Agri Business, Transportation & Infrastructure, Consumer, and Investment & Services’ sectors.
The official said the company is scouting for properties around the island in a bid to capitalize on the tourism boom. “We are especially looking at resorts on an ‘Own and Operate’ basis,” he said.
Hayleys shed its stakes in boutique hotel Vil Uyana (50%) and Seashells Hotel (49%), which they owned with Jetwing last year. “Both these entities are loss making and we do not have considerable control. Also Vil Uyana was bleeding from day one,” a Hayleys official said, at that time.
Hayleys and Jetwing now own four hotels –Tropical Villas, Jetwing Beach, Hunas Falls, Lighthouse and a land at Nilaveli as well.
The official said Hayleys has scouted for land in the East such as Arugambay, Trincomalee and Pasikuda and that the company wants to put up hotels in these areas as soon as possible. “The company wants to capitalise on the peace dividend and gear up for the booming hotel industry,” he said. |
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