The Chief Executive of luxury spa operator Sixth
Senses, Sonu Shivadasani, is to visit Sri Lanka next month, to announce the joint venture between his company and Sri Lanka’s resort operator Aitken Spence to construct an up market resort in the Southern Coastal line of the country.“Mr Shivadasani will be here to open the construction of the Ahungalle Luxury Resort and Spa Complex, which was originally billed as Evason Hideaway next month,” an Aitken Spence official said.
Aitken Spence H
otels managing director Malin Hapugoda told the media earlier that the joint venture project is to come up near Ahungalla, in Beruwala, a prime beach resort where it has two properties, Heritance and Neptune.The investment for the project is estimated at USD 20 million and the ownership structure would be 50:50. Presently Sixth Senses operates spas at Aitken Spence-owned hotels, Kandalama and Tea Factory.
Sonu Shivdasani, Chairman and CEO, founded the Six Senses group together with his wife, Eva. British born, he is a former student of Eton College, and holds a M.A. in English Literature from Oxford University.
Sonu began his career with a two-year induction in the family business which covered many businesses except tourism.
According to an interview he has given to Meridia Capital in 1991, Sonu reduced the amount of time he spent in the family businesses and made a small investment in Pavilion Resorts. The original shareholding was later extended to full ownership and renamed as Six Senses Hotels & Resorts, later to become Six Senses Resorts & Spas.
The company’s focus was changed to the higher end 5 star designer niche. The executive team also changed so that the management’s skills reflected the requirements of the new strategic direction.
In October 1995, he opened his first new build resort in the Maldives, and created the brand: Soneva. This was followed by the Evason brand, initially in Thailand and Vietnam, and Six Senses Spas.
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