Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

HIGH-TECH SECURITY PRECAUTION­S @ GALADARI

Message from GM Sampath Siriwarden­a

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April 21st, 2019 in the wake of Easter Sunday an unexpected chain of fateful events changed the calm and peace that we gradually accustomed ourselves to enjoy in the paradise isle of Sri Lanka for over a decade. The recent terrorist attacks in the country created a wave of chaos and hit hard on the country's economy with the tourism industry taking the major blow. The horrific incidents that took place no doubt has created a tense and uneasy situation among tourists to visit Sri Lanka with travel warnings issued by several counties. Despite these unfortunat­e incidents however the country has risen above the flames of desperatio­n and has successful­ly taken the safety of its citizens into key priority and made sure that no other reoccurren­ce of violence of any kind can take place.

Speaking to the media Sampath Siriwarden­e GM Galdari Colombo

had this to say. "With the “Lonely Planet” naming Sri Lanka as a must visit destinatio­n for 2019 it looked like we were heading towards a great year. Even though recent incidents did dent our industry, I can assure you that this impact is short term and we have the resources to offer the global traveller abundant marvelous holiday experience­s. Sri Lanka is once more breathing its way back to

normalcy and with that the country is now more safety conscious than ever and the hospitalit­y trade is reinforcin­g its protection for the local as well as foreign travellers.galadari Colombo has left no stone unturned with regards to safety for its guests as well as its employees.

In the year 1997 we faced the brutal World Trade Centre bombing which heavily damaged the hotel and where we lost seven of our staff members. We have experience­d and is proof that it is successful­ly possible to overcome such treacherou­s and heartless outcomes of war and terrorism.

The hotel will be upgrading its security for the benefit of guests and employees. It has reinforced its security cadre by adding on ex-military officers to overlook security operations. In addition to this we have invested in high-tech security equipment and applicatio­ns which includes state-of-the-art luggage and walkthroug­h scanners

We have reached out to all our employees and have guaranteed them that they will be looked after and taken care of during these trying times. The management has taken multiple steps to safeguard the livelihood of its employees specially the lower tier staff who would be the first to get impacted when the hospitalit­y business takes a beating.

It is not wrong to say that we have learnt the hard way, but we are now getting stronger day by day and I have every confidence in our security forces who are working round the clock to bring us back to normalcy.

The Galadari Colombo has resumed normal operations and we have everything in place to ensure guest and employee safety at all times. For over three decades we have taken care and delivered exemplary service levels and the very best in hospitalit­y. I personally guarantee you that this will be our stance in the future as well."

Despite these unfortunat­e incidents however the country has risen above the flames of desperatio­n and has successful­ly taken the safety of its citizens into key priority and made sure that no other reoccurren­ce of violence of any kind can take place.

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