Kamal Munasinghe was recently appointed as General Manager for Cinnamon Grand Colombo and Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo by the Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts chain.
Munasinghe has over 25 years of experience in many prestigious hotels in Sri Lanka like Mount Lavinia Hotel, Kingsbury, Best Western, Mövenpick, Marriott International, and Alila Hotels and Resorts. He has also worked overseas – Switzerland, Malaysia, and Vietnam – in the hospitality industry, adding to his experience and capability in the field. He is a hospitality graduate of Schiller International University, Switzerland.
In his 25-year long career, Munasinghe has achieved many milestones, the most notable being the opening of the first-ever Alila in Malaysia. Aside from that, he is also commended for many refurbishments that added that extra element of class and elegance to hotels. A notable few being leading the refurbishment and rebranding of the InterContinental Hotel to The Kingsbury, a 410-room refurbishment of the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur, and introducing the Liquid Sky Bar at Renaissance Riverside Saigon.
Both Cinnamon Grand Colombo and Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo are considered to be two of Sri Lanka’s premiere five-star hotels, with the two properties combined featuring the largest variety of restaurants that Colombo has to offer. Munasinghe was appointed after the Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts group discussions on strategically restructuring and navigating the industry in line with the new normal that the global pandemic has caused us.
Speaking with Cinnamon Grand Colombo and Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo General Manager Kamal Munasinghe, he commented: “I am pleased to take over as General Manager for two of Sri Lanka’s most highly sought after five-star city hotels,” adding that he looks forward to strategically uplifting the brands and the industry as a whole, as they continue to navigate through a post-Covid world.” He explained that his goal as General Manager is to focus on delivering a safe and comfortable environment for guests and associates, dubbing this of paramount importance, whilst they strive for continued excellence.
As the General Manager, Munasinghe stated that is it his prerogative to enhance the hotels’ offerings whilst strengthening their position in the industry. Only then will they be able to better align the properties to cater to modern travellers – both internationally and locally.
Munasinghe observed that luxury is all about personalisation: “It is imperative that we strike a strategic balance between willingness to take risks once business resumes, and having an agile presence in the market.”
When asked about Sri Lanka’s future given the unprecedented times, Munasinghe stated that we, as a country, need to develop a professional hospitality workforce to deliver a memorable experience for our guests and allow foreign workforces to be part of our industry. He further explained that this step will allow Sri Lanka to be known as a key travel destination and provide the country with the much-needed exposure and publicity, adding that these are all incredibly significant factors in developing Sri Lanka post Covid.
Speaking on what the airport reopenings mean for hotels as part of the tourism industry, he said: “Tourism is a sector that has been greatly affected since the Easter bombing. The opening of the airports is a good move to revive tourism. We can start to expect more tourists to arrive in the country, but we also need to make sure and follow protocol and ensure that no further spread of the virus occurs.” He added that as a hotel, this is a great trial period to test how they can navigate the situation and also find ways to operate mid-Covid. “We will take it one step at a time and when we come across difficulties and issues, we will find a solution for that and move forward.”
Munasinghe also has a firm belief that Sri Lanka holds the opportunity to become the world’s most sustainable tourism destination featuring wellness, wellbeing, and mindfulness. He uses this to highlight that Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts is a diverse chain of hotels, both in Sri Lanka and the Maldives and as part of John Keells Holdings PLC. They are one of the largest listed conglomerates in Sri Lanka with interest in sectors such as leisure, transportation, property, consumer food and retail, financial services, information technology, business process operations, and plantations, which are exactly the sectors that can contribute to boosting our economy.
