Elephant Corridor undergoes changes to suit modern times
Cycling at the resort
Faced with an increasingly competitive environment in the hospitality industry at Sigiriya, the Elephant Corridor Hotel located near the town of Dambulla is now ready under a new operational management to bring about change in the brand’s culture established more than a decade ago.
Taking up the challenge, the company’s new operational management under the hotel owning company Sierra Construction (Pvt.) Ltd, a leading general engineering contracting firm, has joined forces with the staff to develop a new culture platform designed to rapidly turn around the brand’s performance.
Famed as the first luxury boutique hotel in Sri Lanka, Elephant Corridor Hotel was the only hotel located in Pothana, Kimbissa off Sigiriya on 200 acres of natural landscape in 2003.
Adopting environmentally friendly methods, the hotel had been able to attract a large number of foreign travellers. Its 22 rooms are built on 13 acres to preserve the natural environment surrounding it.
With the increase in tourist arrivals, several new hotels have sprung up in the area, creating a competitive environment for existing hotels like Elephant Corridor even though it was an iconic brand for all times, Sales and Marketing Manager of the hotel, Krishan Panagoda told the Business Times.
Focused on leadership and talent development, the ‘Tourists Notice’ initiative was introduced based on the message to each individual employee that “You are the brand and ‘Tourists Notice the difference that you make,” he pointed out.
The main goal was and is to bring about change in the performance of the Elephant Corridor brand and to structure the effort so as to maintain its higher level of performance, he said adding that the service delivered by all the staff members has now been made very formal, cordial and structured.
The renovation of the hotel to cater to the needs of modern day tourist is now being carried out section by section. The unique layout of the resort will allow for renovations to be completed in phases within each of the resort buildings, limiting disruptions and minimising inconveniences to guests.
A new marketing plan is now being implemented through foreign and local travel agents to attract high end tourists from Europe including countries like UK, Germany, France, and Russia, he disclosed. According to the plan, “we are going to popularise the hotel as a wedding destination as well as high-end corporate outing venue and corporate meetings, functions including international conferences and outdoor training activities”, he disclosed.
The Elephant Corridor Hotel is a perfect resort for travellers to explore the ruins of the ancient cities of Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura.and make adventurous tours to Minneriya and Kaudulla national parks, the Ritigala gardens, the golden temple at Dambulla and of course the Sigiriya Rock Fortress.