Sector Reviews
Leisure & Aviation
Business Domain
The Sector comprises Tours (destination management), Aviation (general sale agent for passenger and cargo, travel agency, airport ground handling supervisory services), and Hotels & Resorts (ownership and management of hotels and resorts). The Leisure & Aviation Sector comprises of 11 companies, with all of them based locally.
Key Performance Indicators
| Indicator | Measure | Unit | FYE 31st March | ||
| 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | |||
| Growth | Revenue | Rs. mn | 2,062 | 1,645 | 944 |
| Earnings Before Interest and Tax | Rs. mn | 60 | 150 | 119 | |
| Profit After Tax | Rs. mn | (26) | 132 | 91 | |
| Assets (Avg) | Rs. mn | 7,720 | 5,127 | 2,290 | |
| Capital Employed | Rs. mn | 5,123 | 4,503 | 1,688 | |
| Profitability | Return on Average Capital Employed* | % | 9 | 31 | 7 |
| Liquidity | Current Ratio | Times | 0.44 | 1.24 | 1.55 |
| Stability | Gearing | % | 27 | 13 | 1 |
| Asset utilisation | Asset Turnover Ratio | Times | 0.25 | 0.37 | 0.41 |
| Productivity | Ebit per Employee | Rs. mn | 0.03 | 0.14 | 0.63 |
* Excluding Real Estate
Includes equity accounted investees
* Amaya Group was purchased mid 2011/12
Operations
Aviation and Destination Management
General sales agents in Sri Lanka for: British Airways (passenger), IAG Cargo (BA), Qantas Airways, Oman Air (passenger), Oman Air (cargo), Nippon Cargo Air Lines, All Nippon Airways, Air India Express, Air Seychelles, Hainan Airlines, Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines, General sales Agents in Maldives for: IAG Cargo (BA), Oman Air (cargo) Hayleys Aviation Services: Supervision of ground handling services for British Airways, Oman Air, Air India Express and RAF Travel Agency Business: Airline ticketing and outbound holidays. Destination Management Company (DMC): Inbound holidays, MICE
Hospitality
The key milestones during the year were the re-launch of The Kingsbury following a major expansion of the former Ceylon Continental Hotel and the Amaya brand of Hotels winning TripAdvisor’s Best Service Excellence Award for the second consecutive year in 2013. Amaya also won TripAdvisors’ Travellers’ Choice Award 2013 and was nominated for the prestigious 2013 World Luxury awards.
The unveiling of The Kingsbury as a leading luxury hotel was strategically important for the Hayleys Group, as it caters to a wider section of the tourist market, and serves to harness the synergies of related services. Amaya Leisure took over the management of Hunas Falls Hotel, built 24 luxury villas at Amaya Lake and introduced a new camping site titled Wild Trails by Amaya which includes safaris.
Strategies in Action
The successful preparations that led to the recommencement of British Airways flights to Sri Lanka, was a key achievement in terms of broadening our international connections. Activities during the year included improving internal processes, staff training, product development and aggressive marketing efforts. Café forest situated in the vicinity of Kurunegala was launched during the year. The cafe is managed by Amaya and is a place of rest and rejuvenation for the weary traveller.
Oman air, the recipient of consistent international accolades for its excellent products and services, recognised Sri Lanka as one of the best performing stations within its network during the year.
Hayleys Tours was appointed as the exclusive selling agent for COSMOS Aviation to market domestic air transportation services within the island, thereby expanding the business scope of the DMC. COSMOS is a Helicopter and Airplane Charter operation provider with a fleet consisting of 2 Cessna 152’s, a Piper Seneca and one R44 Aircraft.
A concierge service unit handling MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) was introduced by Hayleys Tours during the latter part of the year, mainly targeting local corporate offices as well as foreign principals.
The DMC further expanded its product portfolio by introducing a ‘Special Interest’ segment. It has successfully marketed this new product in collaboration with several leading specialised tour operators across Europe.
Several training and development programs were conducted involving the participation of executives and managerial level staff marking an increase of 34% in the number of hours spent on the development of human resources within the sector when compared to the previous financial year.
A new branch office of Hayleys Travels was opened in Negombo during the last quarter of the Financial Year with the intention of expanding the entity’s market size by attracting new customers in a new geographical location. This is expected to widen the scope of trading activities by opening unexplored avenues and fuel the growth of the Travel Agency by enhancing its profitability.
Hayleys Tours expanded its operations globally by establishing an overseas representative office in France and participated in several international travel trade fares during the financial year.
Outlook
Aviation will benefit following the commencement of online operations by British Airways in April 2013 for both passenger and cargo areas. The fundamentals of the hospitality industry continue to be strong, and we look forward to positive demand trends in 2013 and beyond with all elements in place. During FY 2012/13 the Passenger GSA’s and Travel Agency handled passenger numbers in excess of 70,000 whilst on the Inbound Tourism side there was an approximate 60% increase in the number of guests over the previous year.
