Chaya
brand to be unveiled on May 6
John Keels Holdings’ 4-star hotel brand Chaya is billed to
be unveiled this Saturday with Habarana Lodge being renamed as Chaya
Village Habarana.
Company sources said that Habarana Village will be followed by Citadel
Hotel in Kandy, branded as Chaya Citadel Kandy, and the Yala Village
as Chaya Sanctuary Yala. Club Oceanic and Coral Garden hotels are
to be renamed later.
The
group earlier launched its Cinnamon brand of 5-star hotels with
the Cinnamon Grand (former Oberoi). The Trans Asia is to be Cinnamon
Lakeside in October while the Bentota Beach Hotel and a property
in the Maldives would be renamed later.
The
company's hotel sector posted tourism industry in Sri Lanka and
the region is yet to fully recover from the impact of the tsunami.
Industry analysts said that despite a reported increase in arrival
numbers to Sri Lanka, earnings of resorts have significantly declined
as most of the visitors were staying in Colombo or were in Sri Lanka
for purposes other than holiday and the current situation will not
help much. Last year the two City hotels of JKH, Trans Asia and
Cinnamon Grand, accounted for 33 percent of revenue and 58 percent
of operating profits.
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