India’s Taj proposes converting Nuwara Eliya’s colonial-era post office to hotel
Daily FT: India’s Taj Group has proposed converting the Nuwara Eliya Colonial-era Post Office into a hotel.
“The proposal came to the Presidential Secretariat and the specifics will be made available by the Secretariat once the project gets off the ground,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardana confirmed at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing recently.
The esteemed building, which also served as the Nuwara Eliya post office was constructed in 1894 and is famous for its distinctive Tudor-style architecture.
Noting the growing influx of Indian tourists to Sri Lanka, he highlighted attractions like Sita Eliya, a nearby site steeped in Ramayana mythology. Sita-Eliya is a town near Nuwara Eliya and is named after the Sita Amman Temple.
Gunawardena, who is also in charge of the Department of Post, voiced support for moving the Post Office if it might encourage greater economic activity in the area.
“The country has barely recovered from a severe currency crisis with the support of the IMF. If there is potential to increase foreign reserves through foreign direct investments (FDIs), we should support the Government’s strategy for converting underutilized State assets into investment opportunities. It would not only increase FDIs but also develop economic activity, job creation and people’s livelihoods,” he stated.
According to the Cabinet Co-Spokesman, at a time when no development agency or country is willing to extend financial aid for development work without restructuring the country’s foreign debt, the conversion of State-owned property with history, architectural and cultural lineage will serve in generating foreign reserves to run the country.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s expanding tourism industry has presented many new business/investment opportunities in the industry, especially in the leisure and hospitality sectors. The growth and business potential in the tourism industry have attracted many foreign brands in the leisure and hospitality sectors to explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka. It is in such a backdrop that India’s Taj hotels group is looking at investing in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. With the local tourism authorities engaged in continuous promotional campaigns while exploring new tourism concepts have further expanded the business/investment opportunities in the country’s leisure and hospitality sectors to meet the growing demand. Given the growing industry and the expanding opportunities in the tourism industry, foreign businesses/investors could explore more opportunities in the development programmers related to the industry as well as in the supplementary infrastructure development programmers.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20231109/Z_4 |