The Lighthouse Hotel PLC, where the Hayleys and Jetwing groups have the controlling interest, has seen profits in the year ended March 31, 2008 dip to a five-year low of Rs.26.9 million from Rs.35.8 million the previous year despite turnover growing to Rs.258 million from Rs.226 million a year earlier.

The company’s Chairman, Mr. Hiran Cooray, noted that tourist arrivals in the last calendar year had dropped to 495,000 from 560,000 the previous year with the existing security situation continuing to affect arrivals especially of high end tourists.

"This was evident even at the ITB 2008 Travel Fair in Berlin, where contracting new operators proved to be a challenging task," Cooray said.

"The current travel advisories in key markets are not supportive of Sri Lanka and still continue to include Anuradhapura and Yala in addition to the North East as places under category ‘Do not Travel’".

He said that the abrogation of the Ceasefire Agreement also contributed to the negative publicity the country was receiving internationally.

"There was a significant impact in the rise of fuel in the international markets which affected the cost of air travel. In addition to this, the escalating cost of food, electricity and wages have resulted in a heavy burden on the operation of the hotel," he said.

The activation of the long overdue Tourism Act No.38 of 2005 with four organizations established under it enabled active private and public sector partnership to help grow the tourist industry.

"This union has resulted in the strategic focus of marketing the destination, which should positively impact the tourist arrivals to the country from our traditional markets as well as from our emerging new markets, such as China, India, Russia and the Middle East," he said.

The Lighthouse Hotel continues to be refurbished and upgraded on a case by case basis dependent on occupancies. Jetwing Kurulubedda comprising two luxury villas, had been added to the hotel on the river bank of Mahamodera and commenced operations last November.

"These two luxury villas built on stilts consists of a bedroom suite, a large terrace with casual and relaxed seating and a spacious plunge pool below. A dining pavilion overlooking the paddy field and marshes, a lounge surrounded by nature with a ramp leading to the edge of the river and a sprawling lawn for relaxation are available for the guests to experience," he said.

The hotel continued focusing on attracting high yielding segment in the market and web marketing they have actively implemented had seen positive responses from free independent travelers.

The company, with a stated capital of Rs.460 million has reserves of Rs.1.8 billion and retained earnings of Rs.64.3 million in its books.

The major shareholders are Carbotels, a member of the Hayleys group with 27.35%, Jetwing Hotel Managements (16.90%), Mercantile Investments (11%) and Merrill J. Fernando & Sons (8.31%). The Jetwing group and the Cooray family together have a stake ahead of the Hayleys interest.

A dividend of 50 cents per share has been proposed for the year under review.

The directors of the company are: Messrs. Hiran Cooray (Chairman), N.G.H. Cooray, R.A.E. Samarasinghe (MD), N.G. Wickremeratne, Ms. N.T.M.S. Cooray, B.R.L. Fernando, V.K. Wickremasinghe, R.A. Ebell and N. Wadugodapitiiya.