Hambantota, the Candidate City for Commonwealth Games in 2018

Accommodation

On the run up to Commonwealth Games in 2018, a massive programme to develop accommodation facilities around the games venues in Hamabntota is now in progress.

Visitor numbers to Sri Lanka increased by 46% between 2009 and 2010. This year on year growth is expected to continue over the next decade, guided by a long term strategy for sustainable tourism growth.

• An extensive programme of hotel construction and refurbishment, as part of a long term strategy to enhance and promote Sri Lankan tourism
• SLTDA (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority) target for 13,400 visitor rooms across the Southern Province by 2016
• The Hambantota 2018 Commonwealth Games will be a catalyst for domestic and international tourism growth across the Southern Province
• A Games Hotel Association will coordinate and manage hotel bookings – a post-Games legacy supporting tourism growth
• 1,400 rooms available within 1km of the Commonwealth Games Park
• Free accommodation for the Commonwealth Games Family.

There are a number of hotels that will be constructed adjacent to the Games Park. These hotels will be developed next to the planned 18 hole golf resort, business and IT park development and will provide a mix of tourist and business hotel accommodation.

It is understood that Candidate Cities have a clear responsibility to ensure a wide range of affordable room rates in all hotel categories in order to encourage as many visitors to the Games as possible. It is also recognised that there may be price sensitivity for some visitors/spectators, both indigenous to the host country and from various parts of the Commonwealth.

In a mature economy, there is obvious merit in a question that compares the maximum room rate in 2011 with the maximum room rate proposed for 2018.

The District will benefit from a significant increase in new high quality hotels featuring well known international brands. These blue-chip brands will help to service this new and sustainable economy and to support and accelerate the positioning of the District as one of the leading tourist destinations in the world, on a par with, for example, Mauritius and the Seychelles.

The year on year increase in visitor numbers of 46% from 2009-2010 is testimony to this positive growth.

The Games Family Hotel will be the Cosmos Hotel, an additional four-star hotel located next to the Games Park, which is due for completion in September 2012. Its location next to the Games Park ensures that the Games Family will be ‘in the heart of the action’ and no more than 1km from the Games Village and 90% of the competition venues.

Provide guarantees for a minimum of 4,000 rooms in the following star categories:

• 5 star – 200 rooms
• 4 star – 1,400 rooms
• 3 star – 2,100 rooms
• 2 star – 300 rooms

Sri Lankan tourism has a long term strategy already in place that includes bidding for and hosting the Games. By 2016, the District will have the necessary capacity and range of hotel accommodation to stage major sport events, accommodate significant increases in tourism and deliver high profile international conventions and conferences. This new high quality hotel provision will be complemented by the coordination and management systems developed by SLTDA and will create a tourism legacy that delivers benefits across the Southern Province.

The Games Hotel Association

The establishment of a GHA will provide spectators with the highest levels of service, building on Sri Lanka’s international reputation for high quality accommodation and service standards. The GHA will comprise the SLTDA, hotel managers and other key tourism partners and will ensure a cohesive and transparent approach to informing and managing spectators. The GHA will provide:

• A single point of contact, disseminating information to both accommodation owners and Games spectators
• A website, launched by 2016 in time for the 2016 South Asian Games, in collaboration with a hotel booking agency. This booking portal will link with transport provider websites (air, rail and bus booking portals). It will provide information on member accommodation, tour operators, Sri Lankan tourist information and will store visitor data for future promotional activities.
• An interface between spectators and accommodation providers, ensuring that smaller hotels and guest houses are afforded the same opportunities as those larger internationally established hotels
• Accommodation information provided at all points of entry into Sri Lanka.

Alternative accommodation

An inventory of all other guest houses in the area shows that, in addition to those being upgraded and listed in Table 12.7, there are around 1,695 further guest house rooms. Matara, Galle, Kandy and Colombo also all have a significant selection of hotels and tourist attractions, all within 3 hours of the Games Park. In terms of accommodation for volunteers, the ‘Host a Volunteer’ programme will encourage the 80% of volunteers expected to come from the Southern Province to provide free accommodation to volunteers from outside the area. This will provide the opportunity to fully immerse visiting volunteers in the rich culture of the Southern Province. There will also be a ‘home stay’ programme that will be attractive and cost effective for many visitors.

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