HRAWI concludes its 18th Regional Convention
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The 18th edition of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India’s (HRAWI) Regional Convention successfully concluded recently. Themed ‘Surfing The Wave Of Global Tourism’ the Association’s maiden international convention was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka and was flagged off by the President of HRAWI, Dilip Datwani. The inaugural ceremony took place in the presence of several dignitaries and distinguished guests including Chief Guest - Suja K Menon, Head of Economic & Commercial Wing, High Commission of India, Colombo who delivered the keynote address, Pratap Sarnaik, Member of Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra; Sanath Ukwatte, President of Hotel Association of Sri Lanka; Kumar De Silva, Chairman Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and former Sri Lanka cricket team captain, Aravinda De Silva.
The HRAWI had held the three day convention in Sri Lanka with the objective of sharing the hospitality cultures of the two nations while also learning and promoting global tourism best practices.
Datwani said, “I would like to thank the Hotel Association of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau for partaking in our convention and lending us their valuable support. It was a privilege to host and meet eminent personalities from the Sri Lankan hospitality fraternity. The convention helped identify the common interests and, strengthened ties between the two nations for advancing together into a new era of global tourism and hospitality.”
The convention held several business sessions including discussions on Managing Hotel Operations Effectively, Understanding the Impact and Influence of Food & Travel Bloggers, Developments in Hotel Interiors & Architecture, Emerging Restaurant Trends & Global Sri Lankan Cuisine.
Datwani further added, “The landscape of Hospitality has evolved to encompass several different specialised industries that contribute towards its development. So besides conducting key sessions on improving efficiency in management and operations of hotels, we also integrated sessions on unconventional subjects. Food and travel bloggers and others, who through several app based platforms have converged as a voice, are influencing the course of hospitality and tourism today. We included a session on this topic and benefited with the insights provided by some of the best Subject Matter Experts in this domain. Likewise the convention also had speakers with expertise in the fields of interiors and architecture and renowned chefs to speak on global cuisines.”