Aitken Spence Hotels reaffirmed its position as a trendsetting industry leader in hospitality, achieving the highest number of wins at the recently concluded South Asian Travel Awards (SATA) 2019, winning six regional awards and eight country awards.
Aitken Spence Hotels in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and India were feted in the Gold and Silver categories. Gold awards were presented for the South Asian region and silver awards were presented for excellence in the Sri Lankan, Maldivian and Indian markets.
The iconic Heritance Kandalama secured wins for both Sri Lanka and South Asia under the Leading Eco-friendly Hotel/Resort category. Heritance Kandalama, designed by legendary architect Geoffrey Bawa, celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. The world’s first tea factory converted into a hotel, Heritance Tea Factory was awarded the Leading Theme Hotel/Resort in Sri Lanka and the region. Providing an authentic ayurvedic experience and having presented Sri Lanka as a leading wellness provider to the world since 2011, Heritance Ayurveda was adjudged the winner again from both the country and region as a Leading Wellness and Spa Hotel/Resort. The hotel with the widest beachfront in Sri Lanka, Heritance Negombo was adjudged the winner in the Leading Designer Hotel/Resort Sri Lanka segment.
Aitken Spence Hotels in the Maldives contributed to wins through Adaaran Prestige Water Villas – Leading Bungalow/Villa; Adaaran Select Meddhupparu – Leading Dive Hotel/Resort and Adaaran Select Huduran Fushi – Leading Surf Hotel/Resort. The three resorts won awards in both the country category and the South Asian region.
Turyaa Chennai, India, located in the country’s Information Technology corridor and garnering significant success as a business hotel, won the Country Award for Leading Boutique Hotel.
Commenting on this recognition, Aitken Spence Plc Director, Tourism and Leisure Head and Aitken Spence Hotels Management Chairperson Stasshani Jayawardena expressed delight at the group having recorded the most number of wins at South Asia’s most prestigious hospitality and travel industry awards.
“As a key player in the highly competitive and ever-changing industry of hospitality, Aitken Spence Hotels has consistently pursued excellence not just in the experience offered to our guests but also in the work environment enabled for our suppliers and staff. We endeavour towards this with a commitment to attain sustainable growth, contributing positively to the people, planet and economy. Awards such as these reaffirm our strategies and our vision to create this holistic growth through a superior product offering and service from the heart,” she asserted.
“At all hotels where we are located, we work tirelessly to offer our guests a holiday which celebrates locality while promoting unique opportunities for them to experience. The awards we have won celebrate just this,” she said.
Jayawardena thanked the management teams, hotel General Managers and all the teams at the hotels for their dedication which she said had strengthened the company’s growth.
Launched in 2016, the prestigious awards for travel and tourism stakeholders in the region are affiliated to regional associations. The awards were held for the third consecutive year at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai, India. With over 500 entries from the Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Bhutan under 36 categories, the recognition thus received further reiterates Aitken Spence Hotels’ leadership in the region as an innovative hospitality service provider.
Aitken Spence Hotels’ portfolio consists of 21 properties, with 11 properties owned and managed in Sri Lanka, five in the Maldives, four in Oman and one in India. The hotel chain recently introduced the ‘Heritance’ brand of hotels to the Maldives earlier this year with the opening of the premium all-inclusive all-villa property Heritance Aarah.
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko