Hilton Hotels, one of the top four hotel chains in the world, extended its footprint further in Sri Lanka with DoubleTree by Hilton signing a management agreement with KDU Adventures (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of KDU Group (Pvt) Ltd.
This is to manage the 140-room DoubleTree by Hilton Weerawila. The property is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2018. KDU Adventures (Pvt) will invest US $ 18 million in the project. The latest signing brings the current Hilton pipeline hotels in Sri Lanka to seven properties. In addition Hilton also manages two hotels in Colombo. “We are looking to manage more hotels in Sri Lanka as we see a bright future for tourism in Sri Lanka,” said Vice President, Hilton South East Asia and India, William Costley.
“With a fast-growing, global portfolio of more than 500 upscale properties, we are delighted that our award-winning DoubleTree by Hilton brand is gaining attraction in Sri Lanka. The DoubleTree by Hilton Weerawila will mark the fourth upcoming DoubleTree by Hilton property in this emerging market,” he said.
“As tourism in Sri Lanka continues to grow, expanding our footprint in developing towns, including Tissamaharama, supports our mission to be the world’s most hospitable company by being in destinations where our guests want to travel,” Costley said. He also said that the government target of attracting 4 million arrivals by 2020 is a reality.
Costley said that the Hilton was in Sri Lanka not only in good times but during bad times (war) as well. He said that Sri Lanka was one of the few countries to have the highest density of 9 Hilton group hotels. If and when Mattala Airport is fully operational deep south tourism would really pick up.
Meanwhile Chairman, KDU Group, Saman Upasena said that they will further invest US$ 9 million to add 60 more rooms to the hotel. “We also invested on luxury staff quarters including a swimming pools and large play ground area.” He said that they will also invest on two other hotels in Dambulla and Colombo and would also tie up with Hilton to manage them.
The KDU Group originating from Sabaragamuwa is the world’s largest black orthodox tea manufacturing facility in the world. It owns eight factories in the Sabaragamuwa Province and produces 12 million kilograms of tea annually, contributing to four percent of Sri Lanka’s entire tea production.
KDU Group has also ventured into F&B, hydropower, and petroleum industries and this is their first diversification to the leisure sector. DoubleTree by Hilton is a fast-growing, global portfolio of more than 500 upscale hotels with more than 119,000 rooms in gateway cities, metropolitan areas and vacation destinations across six continents.
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