Winners of the first ever Presidential awards for excellence in travel and tourism at the awards ceremony held on Monday at the Presidential Secretariat with Premier Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda and Deputy Minister Faizer Mustapha and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunge. Pix by Nishanka De Silva.

Resilient tourism sector gets Presidential awards

Mahinda Rajapaksa busy but Premier does the honours

The country’s resilient travel and tourism sector was bestowed with Presidential awards for their outstanding contribution to socio-economic development of the country.

Though President Mahinda Rajapaksa was to personally handover the first ever awards, due to pressing matters of national politics, he was absent and Premier Ratnasiri Wickramanayake did the honours.

The awards ceremony, held at the Presidential Secretariat, was the brain child of Minister for Tourism Milinda Moragoda and an initiative of Sri Lanka Tourism.

Lankan glamour at the reception held on Sunday night to announce the awards.

Winners were selected by a panel of judges comprising of Nalin Attygalla (Chairman), Dr. Hilary Cooray, Dr. L.N. Senaweera, Nihal Rodrigo, Mrs. Sujatha Weerakoon and Ganaka Amarasingha.

Mr. Attygalle said the inaugural Presidential Awards for Travel and Tourism 2007 is aimed “to recognize and reward excellence among stakeholders of the past and present. It also aims to encourage and ensure an even greater contribution from its stake holders in the future, to ensure the sustainable development of the Tourism Industry..

Based on an idea conceived by the Minister of Tourism Milinda Moragoda, Presidential Awards for Travel and Tourism has been an initiative of Sri Lanka Tourism.

This year’s awards, consisting of 44 awards, covering 11 industry segments acknowledged all aspects and sectors of the tourism industry In Sri Lanka. It will also recognise individuals who have played a major role in meeting the many challenges the Industry has faced, by sharing their vision and energy for the development of this great industry.

A number of awards were presented posthumously: two former ministers, Dharmasiri Senanayake and Anandatissa De Alwais, as well as the renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa, Mrs. Pearl Heenatigala (former Principal, Ceylon Hotel School), A.C.H.C De Zoysa (first chairman of Ceylon Tourist Board), former Chairman of John Keells Holdings Mark Bostock and the promoter of first Ayurveda Resort in Sri Lanka, the late Sudanapala Rodrigo.

Tourism is the 4th largest foreign exchange earner in Sri Lanka, providing a livelihood for nearly a million people. Tourism has helped underline Sri Lanka’s image as a warm and friendly nation, with a unique natural beauty of its own, with sandy beaches, lush green vegetation, over 2500 years of national heritage and culture and opportunities for adventure. Other awards were bestowed on the performances of star class hotels, There were also awards in the following categories: airline, resort, communication, service excellence, tour guide, chef of the year, best destination, loyal partners in travel (local and foreign) and best provincial council promoting tourism. An award was also given for exceptional individual contributions in the hotel industry which was carried away by P. Pabilis Silva of Mt. Lavinia Hotel.