Competitive Strategy, Sustainable Tourism and Human Capital – Sri Lanka's Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings and Heritance Kandalama (A) By Wee Beng Geok & Ivy Buche

Abstract

In September 2008, Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC (ASHH), a leading Sri Lanka hotel group was well known for the iconic resorts it owned and managed, including Heritance Kandalama, a resort which had won many international awards for its ecological and environmental practices. Besides operating 10 hotels in Sri Lanka, the group had eight resorts in the Maldives, where it promoted an environmentally sustainable hotel operations model. The Maldivian resorts were the prime contributor to ASHH profits as tourists stayed from Sri Lanka due to an ongoing civil conflict.

In 2007, ASHH moved into the Indian sub-continent. The group's demonstrated capability in developing and operating cultural and environmental heritage sites drew the interests of several Indian hospitality investors. Its success in managing the Maldivian resorts also attracted some hotel property owners in the Middle East.

In 2008, the group's key strategic overseas thrusts were: (a) Expanding the group's premium 'Heritance' brand of hotel properties in India and Oman and (b) Growth through hotel management contracts in India and the Middle East. A key challenge was to successfully and profitably export its Heritance brand without diluting the current brand equity. Also, could the hotel group's sustainable development philosophy be successfully deployed overseas? What were the challenges and how they could be overcomed?

Instructors may wish to follow this case with "Competitive Strategy, Sustainable Tourism and Human Capital - Sri Lanka's Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings and Heritance Kandalama (B)". Case B explores the environment management and CSR strategies at Heritance Kandalama resulting in an organisation anchored on sustainable development.

Issues: Sustainable tourism, Brand equity, Managing hotels in a war-torn context.

View case details in our E-catalog ››

About the Authors