Holiday Inn Colombo Rebranded as Ramada Hotel Colombo, The owners, Alhambra Hotels Limited, will Bid Farewell to Holiday Inn Family after 35 Years

28th November 2009, www.dailymirror.lk

In a strategic move, the Holiday Inn Colombo will be rebranded and launched in its new avatar as Ramada Hotel Colombo from next week.

The owners of the star class property, Alhambra Hotels Limited, will bid farewell to the Holiday Inn family on 30 November 2009 as the sun sets on the franchise agreement between Alhambra and Holiday Inn.

The Holiday Inn Hotel group is moving towards an operating model that focuses on hotel management in Asia Pacific Region which has prompted the Board of Alhambra to remodel its operational strategies for the hotel.

Last week Alhambra Hotels Ltd. embarked on a new partnership by entering into a long term Franchise Agreement with the Wyndham Hotel Group to license the property under the Ramada Hotel Brand.

Ai Yi, Director of Development for Wyndham, was in Colombo to conclude the formalities of the transition. The Wyndham Hotel Group is the world's largest franchisor/hotel group with some 9.000 hotels worldwide.

The Chairman of Alhambra Hotels Fahmy J Cader and the Board of Directors, Imthiaz J Cader, M. Shanthikumar and the Executive team were emotional to part ways with the Holiday Inn brand after sharing a mutually beneficial and very cordial relationship for over 35 years.

Nevertheless the rebranding will infuse a new energy into the organisation and bring with it new opportunities, glamour and excitement.

Following the soft launch of the hotel on 1 December 2009, the management together with the architect and design experts of Wyndham will work towards the renovation and upgrading of the hotel.

"This stellar addition in Colombo, together with the Ramada Airport Hotel at Katunayake and the Ramada Resort at Wadduwa will give a strong Brand presence to Ramada in Sri Lanka," Nihal Samarasinghe, Honorary Ambassador of Tourism Promotion-Germany, who was instrumental in introducing the Ramada Brand back to the Sri Lankan market .

"Ramada is a power brand that has great potential in many more cities in this fast developing island. International hotel brands like Ramada that cater to the discerning upper middle class traveller will no doubt thrive in post war Sri Lanka which is fast becoming a sought after tourist destination," he added.