Zinc Journey in Sri Lanka to brand hospitality
A top Nepalese businessman on the Forbes list of billionaires has invested heavily in the Sri Lankan hotel sector establishing his Zinc Journey brand and will be exploring other sectors as well. CG Group Chairman Binod Chaudhary who has a 35 per cent stake in the Taj Hotel in Colombo and 50 per cent each in Vivanta by Taj and Taj Exotica and Spa is also now sharing a 50 per cent partnership with Jetwing Hotel in Vil Uyana; 50 per cent partnershi for 11 rest houses under the Ceylon Hotels Corporation (CHC); and Arika Villa in Dambulla managed by the group in addition to the three Mandira bungalows in Hatton.
Announcing the launch of the Zinc Journey brand in Sri Lanka, CG Corp Sri Lanka Chairman Tilak De Zoysa told the Business Times on the sidelines of the media briefing held at the Taj in Colombo that this brand is capable of taking the hospitality sector to “another level.”
He noted that they would be able to provide an improved product and service levels and believed this to be an “encouraging experience.”
Jetwing Hotels Chairman Hiran Cooray said that Jetwing Vil Uyana will be sharing a 50/50 per cent partnership with CG Corp that had essentially bought over the Hayleys shares.
In future, this venture could be expanded into Jetwing’s future investment into a Kandy hotel as well, it was pointed out. “(Mr.) Binod is keen to expand the portfolio with Jetwing into cities like Kandy,” Mr. Cooray said. Watawala Plantations Chairman Vish Govindasamy said that some of its estates have an excess of bungalows which could be used for the hotel sector. However, since the plantations company is not involved in this business they have entered into partnership with CG Corp’s Zinc Journey brand to its three bungalows Strathdon, Dickoya and Craig Appin under the Mandira name.
These bungalows comprise five large boutique rooms, Mr. Govindasamy said adding that “When (Mr.) Chaudhary invested in Sri Lanka it was in the thick of the conflict”. Galle Face Hotel owner Sanjeev Gardiner said that 11 of the CHC owned Rest Houses also entered into a partnership with the Zinc Journey that would initially be opening its Sigiriya and Ella rest houses in April and October this year respectively. ”It’s good to have a partner with a vision consistent with ours,” Mr. Gardiner said. Their hotels would be upgraded and fine tuned in line with the requirements of the brand.
The Zinc Journey brand is based on five key areas of ultra personal service, high quality of wine and dine options, a value added experiences allowing the guests to join in the company’s programmes; and working with locality. Mr. Chaudhary who was unable to attend the briefing in Colombo stated in a media release that they were committed to growing the tourism potential in Sri Lanka and noted this to be just the beginning of “what we believe will be further introductions to hospitality lifestyle brands.” CG Group is Nepal’s first multinational corporation and is the organisation that was famous for its “Wai Wai” noodles that sold about a billion packets annually traded in over 35 countries worldwide.