UK travel personality “Gamit” passes away
View(s):Well known travel trade personality Gamini Ameresekere, better known to friends and business acquaintances as ‘Gamit’, passed away at his home in London on January 1.
Gamini Ameresekere
The proprietor of ‘Taprobane Travels and Tours’, Gamit Ameresekere’s firm was the leading tour operator and a pioneering consolidator in specialist markets in the UK since Air Ceylon and Airlanka days, one of the first to be appointed as agent for the national carrier in the UK. His agency was the “top agent” for Airlanka and later SriLankan Airlines spanning the 80s, 90s and the 2000s. He took pride in being the national carrier’s “top agent” despite several more lucrative offers by other airlines.
A spokesman for the airline in the UK noted that Mr. Ameresekere was “fastidious about all financial dealings, his agency enjoyed a reputation for being financially solid and trustworthy. He was fair to his competitors too, never under-cutting them or engaging in unethical practices”. In 2004, the airline gave him a special tribute to appreciate his 25 years contribution to the national carrier. Other airlines like UTA, KLM, Swissair and lately Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait Airways also chose his agency as “preferred agent” for the London-Colombo sector.
Mr. Ameresekere was quick to recognize the potential in high-end travel and began Sri Lankan Tours to handle tailor-made holidays. Sri Lankan hoteliers and ground operators relied on him to promote their products at a time when Sri Lanka was going through protracted insurgencies in the north and the south.
A large-hearted personality, Mr. Ameresekere’s party during the annual World Travel Market in the UK with food items specially flown from Colombo was a well-attended and much talked of event among the airline community in the UK
An old Royalist, Gamit Ameresekere won hockey and table tennis colours while at school, captaining the table tennis team in 1961. He won the Governor General’s prize for General Classics in 1960 and English Literature in 1961. He was the Editor of the College Magazine in 1961 and 1962.
He joined Unilever London Financial Group upon his arrival in the UK in 1966 and worked in the group till 1974 when he ventured to the travel industry, starting his own company, Taprobane Travel and later, Sri Lanka Tours.
He was the inaugural President of the Old Royalists Association of the UK (ORAUK), which was formed under the patronage of E.L. Bradby and J.C.A. Corea, two former Principals of Royal College. In recognition of his services to the Association and to his alma mater, the Association conferred the title of Patron on Mr. Ameresekere.
His wife, Ranjini and three children, Sasha, Asitha and Anouska were by his bedside when he passed away. A private family funeral is to be held in London.