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| Sunday, 15 December 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Prema Cooray : A long and colourful journey
Name: Prema Cooray School: St Benedicts College, Kotahena Children: Three sons Present Position: Chairman Aitken Spence and Company Chairman Tourism Cluster, an initiative of The Competitiveness Initiative Hard work, courage to take up new challenges, looking for opportunities to be developed and treasuring and practising the values instilled by his father are the pillars of success for Prema Cooray, Chairman Aitken Spence. Education Born to a family of three brothers and one sister, Cooray had his education at St Benedicts College, Kotahena. His father was a teacher at the college before being appointed as a principal in a government school. "Discipline was the key and we were god-fearing. I still take part in school activities as and when I can, because besides my parents, my school played a big role in making me what I am today," he said. Career After leaving school, Cooray joined Ernst and Young to learn accounting and started practising as an accountant. "During my tenure at Ernst and Young, I had a fine exposure to the business world as I was able to visit so many companies for my work. I was involved with the Fertiliser Corporation. It taught me how to interact with different people and relate to them. This is one of my greatest fortes - interacting with and understanding people. This was good exposure for me in my career advancement as a good executive and I am very happy that I went there," Cooray recalled fondly. "The two senior partners during my tenure at Ernst and Young were two exceptional human beings who were my mentors, teachers, advisers and friends all bundled into one." In 1976, he took the decisive step of joining the private sector and moved to Aitken Spence Hotels. Though the leisure industry was still at its infancy, he was attracted to it as he liked moving around with people. Aitken Spence Travels was formed around this time. It had only one agency, Jet Tours. Cooray was the first executive of Aitken Spence Hotel Management, looking after the properties of Neptune and Pearl Beach Hotels. Within three years, Aitken Spence improved its turnover to Rs 100 million from Rs 5 million and included two more tour operators, Scan Tours and TUI. One of his good friends, Mithra Wettamuny taking over Stafford Motor Co opened another opportunity for Cooray who moved in as General Manager of Stafford. "Within one year, we wanted to move to the hotel sector. I got involved in construction and marketing and opened Hotel Dolphin Waikkal. Although the hotel was well recognised, we sold it in 1984," he said. He rejoined Aitken Spence Hotels as its General Manager after the departure of its then general manager. "Life has been good since I rejoined, but marketing was tough." Cooray was appointed a Director of Aitken Spence Hotels and was able to secure the management of Kosgoda Beach Hotel, Hibiscus Beach Hotel, Browns Beach and Bandarawela Hotel. "These properties helped us to gather strength and we were big although we were not making money," he said. Cooray became a Board member of the Aitken Spence Group when Mr C.P. De Silva was Chairman and Mr Ratna Sivaratnam, Managing Director. He was appointed to the Main Board in 2000 as Deputy Chairman and as Chairman in 2002. "During the period 1991/92, tourism was doing fairly well and we saw an opportunity in Maldives which was growing as a resort destination. "Investors were reluctant to move there as the country is guided by Shariya Law in contrary to a country with a sound legal framework. But we secured two properties; one in Bathala Islands with 40 rooms. The hotel at Ranalhi Islands is beautiful and had a great potential. We built the resort and started operations in April 1986. It was a dream come true and brought great strength and depth to Aitken Spence". The Aitken Spence Group is the biggest international tour operator in Maldives. In Sri Lanka too, the Group added two hotels; the Kandalama (1994) and Tea Factory (1996). Hotel Kandalama has earned many accolades including becoming the best eco-friendly hotel and winning the Saga Food Award for the best cuisine. Most of its staff was recruited from the village and trained. "They are second to none in the world," he said proudly. "During the last three years, we experienced tremendous growth in the Maldives hotels while Sri Lanka is yet to show its true potential," he said. Future of Aitken Spence The Group also has two properties in Nilaveli and in proximity to Triton Hotel, Ahungalla which can house two hotels. "We will not stop looking for opportunities in the region in countries such as Mauritius, Seychelles as well as India for new strategic partnerships and opportunities to further develop the travel industry." Future of Sri Lanka "With peace on the horizon, tourism could take a leap as Sri Lanka has the diversity and the potential to attract different types of travellers be it the more affluent class or the niche market of tours on the theme nature, culture and adventure as Sri Lanka is second to none with a large diversity within a small area. "The island is one of the first 10 bio-diversity hot spots in the world and is largely unexplored. If the country explores its opportunities in an organised manner, we can attract many tourists, making Sri Lanka one of the finest countries in the tourism sector." East Coast The East Coast has the potential of attracting first class tourists with its clean beaches, species watching and sea sports in the Armugam Bay. It is an area of unparalleled diversity in the world. If tourism takes off in the East Coast, with planned sustained development, it would be a platform for Sri Lanka to enter the high end of the world tourism map. Cooray was confident that good hotel brands and other companies with facilities for tourism will come to Sri Lanka. This will give a boost to the industry and move the country to the high end of the market. Tourism Authority The new authority to be set up will give more muscle for the private sector to play a leading role to take tourism to greater heights in the future. "I sincerely hope that the new structure will give capable and experienced people the responsibility and power to take decisions, keeping politics aside. This is one of the reasons that we have not been able develop our full potential," he added. Family Cooray is the father of three sons. Two of them are doctors while the other is a computer professional. (SG) |
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