John Keells eyes new hotel properties in Maldives, bookings down in Trinco

John Keells Holdings eyes the Maldives for hotel expansion as city hotels see a slight drop in bookings and its resort on the East coast suffers from current political instability.

A fresh wave of violence between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government broke out in the North and East including Trincomalee, over the past few weeks.

The diversified blue-chip has two city hotels in Colombo that brings in business traffic and 11 resort properties in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Further growth in Maldives is on the cards.

In the pipeline for re-branding under the Chaaya brand are the Hakuraa Club in the Maldives, The Citadel in Kandy and Yala Village in Sri Lanka.

Parent company John Keells Holdings is among the largest listed conglomerates by market capitalisation, on the Colombo Stock Exchange.