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Luxury
$3.5m Leopard Mountain resort near Adam's Peak
Called Leopard Mountain, it will have 20 up-market villas in a neglected 200-acre tea plantation in Maskeliya, which is known for producing some of the island's finest teas. Construction is expected to start in three months. "We are talking with two parties, one local and the other foreign, for investment amounting to US$ 3.5 million," Susanne Filippin, Managing Director, Sanasuma Developments (Pvt) Ltd., said, but added it is too early to say who they are. She said the company has planned luxury villas, each complete with a summerhouse, a jacuzzi and its own garden, and a number of sauna and steam baths to be ready for next year's winter season. The company initially will target the same clients as Elephant Corridor. "We are targeting Elephant Corridor clients, because they travel around the country and want similar type of accommodation, especially in these parts in the island," she said, adding that the company designed Leopard Mountain to cater to up-market clientele. At the Elephant Corridor, room rates range from US $ 275 to US$ 1025 a night. "We have included a lot of water bodies and walkways in the plantation and have designed serene surroundings that include large manicured gardens," she said, adding that Leopard Mountain will have a magnificent view of Adam's Peak. She said the hotel will try out novel concepts such as encouraging the customers to pluck tea and enact the whole process of making tea. "We will pack the tea for the clients in boxes and let them take it back to their own country," she said. She said that the company plans to sell its own bottled water from the tea estate within the hotel chain, along with dairy products. "We will go into milk, yoghurt and cheese production and sell them within the hotel chain as well," she said, adding that the huge area of land they have at the tea plantation will provide plenty of space for cows and buffalos to graze. Sanasuma Developments also has ambitious plans to start the first vineyard in the country, plant oranges for producing marmalade and grow coffee for the hotel chain. “The climate in this area is similar to the climate in the Mediterranean where these plants can grow easily," Filippin said. She said these ventures will not be done on a large scale, but if it takes off well, they may be planned as a commercial venture. The hotel will have horse riding, biking and a host of other outdoor activities including pilgrimages to Adam's Peak. Filippin said that the hotel will have a staff of 150 and will try and employ many of the former workers of the defunct plantation. She also welcomed the USAID's US$ 3 million funding through The Competitiveness Initiative (TCI) to lure more tourists to visit Sri Lanka as part of its overall post-tsunami recovery initiative as a very good start. She pointed out that the country has attracted investments for more up-market and unique properties during the last five years and that Sri Lanka will always be a viable destination for tourism, which is proven by how quickly the industry is bouncing back after the tsunami. Meanwhile, USAID Head Carol Becker, who was in the country recently, announcing the grant, said that Sri Lanka can quadruple tourists arrivals to two million from the current 0.5 million within a short period. Filippin said that since the country is targeting one million tourists with an average spend of US$ 155 per night, more up-market ventures are needed. In 2004, the average spend by a tourist was US$ 74 per night and the Sri Lanka Tourist Board had planned to increase it to $ 84 in 2005, before the tsunami. |
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