World-class Hilton goes to Weerawila 

The Hilton hospitality group has signed up with local investor K.D.U. to establish a property in Weerawila in southern Sri Lanka under the DoubleTree brand called the "DoubleTree by Hilton Weerawila Rajawarana Resort".
The K.D.U. Group that has built its name in the black tea manufacturing sector is currently looking at grabbing a share of the potential in the tourism industry that has been growing over the past few years, KDU Group Chairman Saman Upasena said at the media briefing held on Monday to announce the partnership with Hilton.
The US$27 million hotel would comprise 140 rooms with 80 scheduled for opening next year as part of the first phase of the project and the rest to be completed within two years.
The hotel would also comprise a hall with a capacity of 600 and considered to be larger than those currently available at Hilton's Colombo hotel, Hilton Worldwide Vice President Operations South East Asia and India William Costley told reporters.
He noted that they hope to attract business, leisure and pilgrim traffic to this destination and was optimistic of Sri Lanka attracting four million visitors by 2020. This is Hilton’s seventh new property, signing up earlier this year with the local Melwa group to manage another six in Sri Lanka. (SD)