Many Sri Lankans will be surprised to find out that the story behind Ceylon Tours Limited, the oldest travel company in the country which celebrates 64 years tomorrow, can trace its beginnings back to a plush cocktail party at the legendary Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City and some innovative advertising in The New York Times.
At the heart of any success story, there is always a charismatic leader and in the case of Ceylon Tours, it was P.A. Ediriweera who along with Sir Justin Kotelawala, developed a long lasting friendship which turned into a lucrative partnership to promote tourism in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Ediriweera, born in Ahangama in October 1915 was fondly called Ediri by his Sri Lankan friends and Eddie by his American friends. He met Sir Kotelawala for the first time after the end of the Second World War. Mr. Ediriweera was 31 years of age in 1946 when Ceylon Tours was established but it was actually a year earlier in New York City when the story started, the family said.
Mr. Ediriweera, having served as a war correspondent, had several influential friends and contacts at The New York Times. Along with Sir Kotelawala, the duo was welcomed in grand style at the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue in the heart of Manhattan. A cocktail party was arranged and on a suggestion by Mr. Ediriweera, the travel industry was invited and was amazed by black and white pictures of Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was then known.
Using his contacts at The New York Times, which enjoyed one of the highest circulations in the US, Mr. Ediriweera was able to get advertisements on Sri Lanka targeting the American reader. Mr. Ediriweera and Sir Kotelawala's reactive minds came up with unique phrases like 'Visit Ceylon, the resplendent land, we have NO Coca Cola BUT offer you virgin Ceylon Tea.' Others included 'Come, relax in Ceylon, we DON'T have TV, BUT will give you palm fringed beaches, sun kissed the year round.'
The advertising worked and travel offices were swamped with inquiries. On their way back to Sri Lanka, they stopped off in England and selected the vehicles required for their business which included six iconic Bedford buses with the famous 'Golden hind' which brought much recognition to the company.
Ceylon Tours was formed as a company in July 1946 and can proudly say it is the first travel company in the country to be established prior to Sri Lanka gaining independence and long before the Tourist Board existed. The first office was located at the Grand Oriental Hotel. The board of directors included the Chairman Justin Kotalawala, Managing Director, Ediriweera and Directors D.B Dhanepala, Rosaline Coch and D.P Abeywardena.
In 1949, Mr. Ediriweera opened an office at the Queens Hotel in Kandy and operated vehicles in Colombo from the Colombo Swimming Club. In the latter part of that year, he leased a hotel in Anuradhapura called Grand Hotel and began running the St. Michelle in Bolgoda. The island which belonged to Sir Kotalawala was leased to Ceylon Tours to operate as a club.
In spite of business doing well, Mr. Ediriweera flew to Los Angeles in 1954 and met with Universal Studios which led to introductions to United Artists and Horizon pictures who agreed to visit Ceylon to make it the venue for their next film shoot. First came the movie 'Outcast of the Island' which is the first British film shot on the island in 1951. This was followed by 'Planters Wife' in 1952 and 'Purple Plain' in 1954 starring Hollywood legend Gregory Peck.
However, the Academy Award winning film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' filmed in Sri Lanka in 1957 is widely held as one of the greatest movies of all time. Starring William Holden and Sir Alec Guinness, special permission had to be obtained from the Ministry of Defense & External Affairs for any foreign movie was filmed in the country. It was Mr. Ediriweera along with the film's director David Lean who met with Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake to secure permission for the film to be shot in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Ediriweera passed away in 1985 after four decades of perseverance and hard work. Three of his children have carried his legacy with the same enthusiasm, passion and dedication for tourism that was handed down to them. They worked their way up through the company ranks, learning everything from mechanics and operations on the way up.
Ceylon Tours has diversified into other businesses such as General Sales Agency for airlines and Real Estate in addition to inbound and outbound travel tours and handling of cruise liners. The company's primary business is handing inbound tours into Sri Lanka by charter or regularly scheduled flights. Ceylon Tours works with several tour operators with the main markets being France, Germany, Scandinavia, Belgium, Austria, Australia, the UK, US, Japan, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam amongst others, the family said. |
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