Crown Sri Lanka to employ 2,500 locals
-Packer
“Crown Sri Lanka”, the 5-star luxury
integrated resort in Colombo, will be a “must-see” landmark tourist resort
located on the Beira Lake in the heart of the Colombo resort district.
Crown Sri Lanka is intended to be
contemporary and iconic in design and will provide a luxury resort experience
that the Crown brand is renowned for throughout Asia.
The proposed Crown Sri Lanka Resort will be a
5-star facility with 450 rooms and suites, signature dining experiences and
entertainment offerings, conferencing and event spaces, gaming areas, retail outlets
and a specially designed water feature attraction on the Beira Lake.
On the immense international tourism
opportunity provided by the project, James Packer, Chairman of Crown Resorts
said, “A proposed Crown resort would help redefine luxury tourism in Sri Lanka
and play a significant role in helping to drive increased international
in-bound tourism, especially from the emerging middle classes in India and
China.”
Packer recognised the growth of tourism in
Sri Lanka and his personal fondness for the country, stating; “Sri Lanka is a
beautiful and unique country, it has overcome a great deal of adversity and is
growing strongly, I am confident it has a very bright future.
I am extremely excited about working together
with the Sri Lankan people, because the country has huge tourism appeal and the
potential to develop a mass traveller market. I truly believe as a destination
that it is “Sri Lanka's time to shine in Asia.”
“An integrated resort on the waterfront in
Colombo can also assist Sri Lanka to compete with other global cities for major
international conferences and events. Integrated resorts are now regarded by
governments and tourism authorities as critical pieces of tourism
infrastructure,” Packer said.
The total project cost to the joint venture would
be approximately US$ 400 million.
Packer, on the potential employment impact of
the project, said; “It is expected that the proposed resort would employ around
2,500 Sri Lankans and Crown's record on training and education is first-class.
We have committed ourselves to providing
careers and employment pathways for Sri Lanka's youth from around the country
should this project proceed.”
Australian Cricket Captain, Michael Clarke
has agreed to work closely with Crown on the education and training aspects of
the proposed project.
James Packer noted that cricket legend and
Sri Lankan tourist Ambassador Tony Greig had encouraged and helped pave the way
for Crown to come to Sri Lanka, and that Tony’s wife Vivian was also highly
supportive of the project.
Crown launched its website
Extract form- DailyNews