The Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association (CHSGA) appointed Priyal Perera as its newly elected President at the 48th AGM held at Cinnamon Resorts, Habarana.
He is a veteran hotelier with over 30 years’ experience in the hotel & business sector. Priyal Perera becomes the 37th President of the CHSGA, succeeding Samantha Gunarathne, who served a term of two years as the President. CHSGA, which is the alumni of the Ceylon Hotel School (Presently known as Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management / SLITHM) is the leading representative tourism and hospitality sector in Sri Lanka, representing almost 1000 hotels and guest houses, which employ over 60,000 people throughout the country.
The CHSGA has a membership of over 4,000 professional hoteliers who are Graduates of the Ceylon Hotel School (SLITHM), who are employed in senior management positions locally and overseas.
Three hundred members attended the event, including members from overseas and past presidents. Chief Guest of the Occasion was Dilip De Silva, Patron CHSGA / Chairman SLITHM. The Guest of Honor was Sumitra Gunasekara, a veteran hotelier and former Group Director of John Keels Holdings. The members enjoyed the fabulous weekend and expressed their appreciation for a well organized three days. The re-launch of the CHSGA Hotelier Magazine was a matter of great interest to the members. It is a hospitality and tourism news portal to serve the industry professionals, with Thakshila Galappaththy, who is also the Chief Editor. Copies of the magazine were distributed at the AGM are also available on the website.
A special feature highlighting two major annual assignments of CHSGA were showcased. “Propel” the Soft skills development programme & the “Hotel Show Colombo” the annual exhibition for the Trade to be held in November 2019.
The new President outlined his vision & milestones for the association. He will prioritize & address the ongoing challenges faced by the industry, focusing and ensuring sustainable business environment to support overall aspects of Sri Lanka tourism, with the help of relevant authorities. His key priorities include mitigating the risks posed to the industry from economic setbacks, tackling the high cost of doing business in Sri Lanka, increased marketing and product development support for tourism in the region and the continued expansion of skills and training support for the employees within the tourism and hospitality industry. His key priorities will include close cooperation with the SLITHM in order to upgrade & sustain professional standards of the Hotel School.
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