The Kingsbury, trading as The Kingsbury PLC, formerly the Ceylon Continental Hotel Colombo and the Ceylon Inter-Continental Hotel, is a nine-story hotel located at 48, Janadhipathi Mawatha in the city centre of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was built by U. N. Gunasekera, and is owned by Hotel Services (Ceylon) PLC, which is a subsidiary of Hayleys PLC. It was refurbished and reopened in January 2013.
Hayleys PLC was founded in 1878 and has since become one of Sri Lanka's largest multinational and diversified conglomerate. Hayleys single-handedly accounts for approximately 4.2% of Sri Lanka's export income, and 3.9% of the country's tea and 4.5% of its rubber production. With over 30,000 employees, Hayley was also the first listed entity in the country to surpass annual revenue of US$1 billion in Fiscal Year 2017/18. The company operates over 16 business sectors: eco solutions, hand protection, purification, agriculture, consumer and retail, leisure, textile manufacturing, construction materials, plantations, industrial solutions, power and energy, transportation and logistics, BPO, tea exports, projects and engineering, and investments and services. Hayleys comprises over 130 business units and subsidiaries, nine of which are publicly listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange. In addition to Sri Lanka, Hayleys today has manufacturing facilities in Indonesia and Thailand and marketing operations in Australia, India, Bangladesh, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, UK and USA and its products are sold in 80 countries.
Dharshan Munidasa is a Sri Lankan chef, restaurateur and television personality. He founded Nihonbashi and the Ministry of Crab, two of Sri Lanka’s most successful restaurants, both of which are the only Sri Lankan restaurants on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants List. He was the host of the popular TV series Culinary Journeys with Dharshan.
One Galle Face is a mixed-use complex of buildings currently being built near the Galle Face Green in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is also Sri Lanka's first internationally and developed and managed mixed use project and was officially opened on 8 November 2019. The facility consists of four skyscrapers, one which will be open for businesses to set up offices, two for the residential component, and the fourth as part of a hotel. A shopping mall is also part of the project. The premises in its entirety is owned by Shangri-La.
The following lists notable events that took place during 2019 in Sri Lanka. This year marks the fewest non-working holidays in the country as most of the public holidays fall on weekends.
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, there were smaller explosions at a housing complex in Dematagoda and a guest house in Dehiwala. A total of 267 people were killed, including at least 45 foreign nationals, three police officers, and eight bombers, and at least 500 were injured. The church bombings were carried out during Easter services in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo; the hotels that were bombed were the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Tropical Inn. According to the State Intelligence Service, a second wave of attacks was planned, but was stopped as a result of government raids.
Zion Church is an evangelical church located in Batticaloa. The church is located at 34A, Central Road, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.
The Cinnamon Grand Colombo, trading as Asian Hotels and Properties PLC and formerly called the Hotel Lanka Oberoi, is a luxury five-star hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Cinnamon Grand is located at 77 Galle Road, Western Province, Kollupitiya, Colombo.
National Tawahujja Jama'ath is a Sri Lankan Islamic terrorist jihadist group implicated in the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings. It is believed to have ties to the Islamic State (ISIL). President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena banned National Thowheed Jamath on 27 April 2019 and designated it as a terrorist organisation along with Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim.
Shantha Mayadunne was a Sri Lankan chef and television personality.
The Old Army Headquarters refers to the former military headquarters complex of the Sri Lanka Army. Situated next to Galle Face Green and Baladaksha Mawatha, the complex bordered the Beira Lake and had its main entrance at the Slave Island end of Baladaksha Mawatha, Colombo 3. The complex also included the Ministry of Defence buildings, located close to the Galle Face terminus of Baladaksha Mawatha. Apart from operational and administrative offices, it contained the centers of several regiments and corps of the Sri Lanka Army, as well as the Colombo Military Hospital and the army sports grounds.
Janaka Ratnayake is a veteran entrepreneur awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2000. A BSc. (Hons) in Public Administration degree graduate from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and a Master of Business Studies from the University of Colombo. He also successfully completed an executive education program at the prestigious University of Harvard, U.S. Currently Ratnayake serves as the Chairman of Trillium Property Management and Services Ltd, City Housing and Real Estate PLC, Trillium Residencies Pvt Ltd, and Rent A Comp Pvt Ltd.. Ratnayake is known for leading state institutions as a former chairman and chief executive of Export Development Board of Sri Lanka (EDB), Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL), Merchant Credit Sri Lanka (MCSL), MBSL Savings Bank, and MBSL Insurance and now the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka.
Jayasinghe Arachchige Chandima Nuwan, popularly as Chandimal Jayasinghe, is a Sri Lankan cosmetologist, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is best known for organizing bridal competitions, Miss Sri Lanka and Miss World competitions as well as his royal birthday parties. He is currently the National Director of Mrs. World.
Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, trading as John Keells Hotels is a major Sri Lankan hospitality company. The company was recognised as the most valuable hospitality brand in Sri Lanka for 2019 with a brand equity of seven billion Sri Lankan Rupees. Philip Kotler, the renowned marketing author included a 10-page reference of the company in his 2010 co-authored book, Asian Competitors: Marketing For Competitiveness In The Age Of Digital Consumers on the effective use of social media and various digital initiatives.
Cinnamon Life Colombo is the first integrated resort in Sri Lanka and the largest private investment in the country. It is planned to open in the second quarter of 2021.
Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, trading as Trans Asia Hotels PLC, is a five-star luxury hotel located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange and John Keells Holdings own a stake of 92% of the company's shares, 48% directly and 43% through its subsidiary Asian Hotels and Properties PLC. Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo has 346 rooms including 20 suites.
Taj Samudra, trading as TAL Lanka Hotels PLC, is a five-star luxury hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel is a listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1982 and the majority of the shares is held by Taj Hotels. The hotel is located right opposite Galle Face Green facing the Indian Ocean. The hotel is one of the oldest five-star hotels in the city of Colombo. Brand Finance ranked Taj Samudra 78th amongst the 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka for 2021.
