Kamal Munasinghe, Area Vice President Colombo Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and General Manager, Cinnamon Grand Colombo was recognised as the Business Leader of the Year in the Hospitality sector at the annual CEO Awards held recently.
Starting his career almost 3 decades ago, Kamal has had the privilege of working with some of the biggest hospitality brands around the world and to learn and understand the ethos behind each of them. It was this expertise that he brought with him to Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and has been able to successfully implement some of the strategies adopted by these international brands.
Some of his most notable career accomplishments have been the opening of the first-ever Alila in Malaysia; leading the refurbishment and rebranding of the Continental Hotel to the Kingsbury; a 410-room refurbishment of the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur; and introducing the Liquid Sky Bar at Renaissance Riverside Saigon, to name a few.
Kamal was first appointed as General Manager of both Cinnamon Grand Colombo and Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo as a part of the restructuring that took place at Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts post-pandemic. Since then, he has been instrumental in spearheading the transformation of the Colombo properties under the brand. Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts is a diverse chain of hotels both in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. It is a member of John Keells Holdings PLC which is the largest listed conglomerate in Sri Lanka with interest in sectors such as Leisure, Transportation, Property, Consumer Food and Retail, Financial Services, Information Technology, Business Process Operations and Plantations. The Colombo sector properties that include Cinnamon Grand Colombo, Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo and Cinnamon Red Colombo are all distinct in their own way. It is Kamal’s prerogative to enhance their offerings, strengthen their position in the industry and better align the properties to cater to modern travellers.
Of all his achievements he believes the most significant has been the ability to motivate and build teams. The need to develop a professional hospitality workforce to deliver a memorable experience for our guests. Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts have taken it upon themselves to create this workforce and are currently working on a significant project where they will create their own academic programmes. Through this they hope to not only strengthen their own cadre but also send out highly skilled professionals to work in the entire sector.
Another initiative that he is humbly proud of is the Meals that Heal programme. The programme provides much-needed healthy meals to marginalised communities around Colombo and has gained international exposure as well. Meals that Heal was awarded a PATA Gold Award as well for the work that it is doing with those who need it the most.
When asked about his feelings on receiving this award, he remarked “I think of this award as a recognition of my team for their continued efforts in delivering excellence in operation. It is a representation of a team’s effort, and it is each individual contribution of my team that has enabled me to be the recipient of this award.”
Motivating people in an environment like today is not an easy task in any business. One must work very closely with your team to ensure that you feel the pulse of your team every day. Kamal believes that no leader can deliver anything alone and it is the team that makes everything happen in their organisations. As leaders one must understand that fact. Their role is to provide the environment and tools and proper guidance to deliver what is expected. Genuine care, clear communication, transparency, opportunities to grow and most of all being one of them, he feels are the most required ingredients to keep a team motivated.
He confidently believes that receiving the award was gratification for all the hard work that has been put in over the years, and he trusts that the recognition will provide an opportunity to grow the initiatives they are working on currently while giving them a strong foothold to contribute positively to the revival of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.