Financial Times

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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