Features
Confessions of a Global Gypsy
An Introduction to a new weekly column
By Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
My Life
I am proud to be a Sri Lankan (SL), who spent a lifetime treating “the world as my oyster”. I have been often criticised by my traditionalist friends and members of my family, for being a rolling stone. Retrospectively, I am pleased to have been able to gain diverse experience around the world, by being just that – a global gypsy, frequently moving from place to place, and job to job. For most people I know, a career means stability and settling down within a comfort zone. Good or bad, in my case it was different. Through out my career when I landed in a well-paid, comfortable job, after some time I have gone after new challenges, roles and jobs. At some times It has not worked well financially, but it certainly made my life richer in variety and diversity. In my adventurous career journey, I was fortunate to have opportunities to hold interesting positions in South Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and North America, and provide hospitality to 34 Heads of State/Government. I rose up from the lowest ranks in the hospitality industry. Among others, I gained experience as a Dish Washer, Bus Boy, Waiter, Bell Boy, Room Boy, Receptionist, Barman, Cook, Executive Chef, Operations Manager, Tourist Guide Lecturer, Travel Agency Director, Food and Beverage (F&B) Director, General Manager (7 hotels), MD, VP, President, Senior Lecturer, Professor, Principal, Program Coordinator, Academic Director, Academic Chair, Dean, Leadership Coach, Hospitality and Tourism Management Consultant, and also being a conference/seminar presenter in 38 countries. In 
Career Journey
This year, I celebrate 50 years in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector, and I am happy to share my stories with you. Starting from next week, on this feature page in the Sunday Island, I will contribute a weekly column themed: ‘Confessions of a Global Gypsy’. This is based on my unusual career journey, mainly related to the following 31 full-time leadership positions I held:
Tropical Gardens Inn, SL
– Resident Secretary
Havelock Tourinn, SL
– Assistant Manager
Bentota Beach Hotel, SL
– Trainee Executive Chef
Coral Gardens Hotel, SL
– Executive Chef
Hotel Ceysands, SL
Hotel Swanee, SL
– Manager
HM&MS Ltd., John Keells Group Corporate Office, SL – Manager – Operations
Ceylon Hotel School, SL –
Senior Lecturer in Food and Beverage Operations
Streamline Services Travel Agency & Hospitality Education Consultants, SL – Partner & Director
The Village, SL
– General Manager
The Lodge, SL –
General Manager
Le Galadari Meridien Hotel, SL –
Director of Food and Beverage
Hotel Babylon Oberoi, Iraq –
Food and Beverage Manager
Schiller International University, England
– Program Advisor / Acting Director – Hotel School
Mount Lavinia Hotel, SL
– General Manager
Mount Lavinia Hotel Catering Services (BMICH), SL
– General Manager
International Hotel School, SL
– Managing Director
Forte Crest / Guyana Pegasus Hotel, Guyana
– General Manager
Timberhead Amazon Eco Resort, Guyana
– General Manager
Pegasus Hotel School, Guyana
– Principal
Forte Grand / Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Jamaica
– General Manager
The University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica
– Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management
The University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica
– Academic Director – MSc in Tourism
– (Post-Doc) Research Fellow – Tourism
Ryerson University, Canada –
Faculty Exchange Professor
Canadian School of Management, Canada – Vice President & Partner
IMCA Socrates Ltd, UK –
International Vice President
Niagara College, Canada –
Professor & Program Coordinator
George Brown College, Canada – Associate Dean – Centre for Hospitality & Culinary Arts
George Brown Chef School, Canada –
Academic Chair
Chandi J. Associates Inc Consulting, Canada
– President.
In addition to the above 31 full-time leadership positions I held, I have also gained varied experiences in many other part-time / concurrent or volunteer positions. The full list expands to 174 different roles / positions, and I intend telling stories related to all, in future columns. I am grateful to numerous individuals in these organizations – my former superiors, peers, team members, associates, customers, suppliers, students, organizational clients, etc. What I learned from each of them has enriched my experience and enjoyment of working in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector, the Postsecondary Education Sector, and Consulting Field.
First Overseas Trip
Often my friends and my children ask me: “Out of all these positions you have held, which was the most interesting?”. My response to that question, usually surprises them, because it was an unpaid part-time elected position. However, that position was very important to me because of the background story which spanned 25 years… In 1979, at age 25 I managed a small hotel operated by John Keells group of companies. It was Hotel Swanee, which was situated in Beruwala, very closed to the seaside weekend bungalow of then John Keels Chairman – Late Mark Bostock, an Englishman who called Sri Lanka home. Most Sunday mornings, he walked his dog on the beach, and dropped in at Hotel Swanee to check how I was managing. He was impressed in the manner in which I dealt with the village toughs and touts, who previously gave a hard time to my predecessors, while harassing hotel guests. With a combination of push and pull actions, I was able to solve that problem. One day we were chatting seated by the Hotel Swanee poolside, and Mr. Bostock asked me if I have been to the United Kingdom. I told him that I have never travelled overseas. Within a week, he arranged my first overseas trip on company account. I spent the whole summer of 1979 in London, discovering international five-star hotel standards. One of Mr. Bostock’s friends, Sir Charles Forte (later Baron Forte), who at that time owned the largest hotel chain in the world – Trust House Forte (THF, Later Forte PLC). Using that connection, Mr. Bostock arranged everything free for me in London. I stayed at THF’s as well as UK’s largest hotel (1,067 roomed), the Regent Palace in Piccadilly Circus, as a complimentary guest, and worked at the 900-roomed five-star Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch, as a Management Observer. With that exposure, I began dreaming of one day to become the General Manager of a large international five-star hotel. I looked around, and was disappointed that none of such General Managers, at that time, looked like me or came from developing countries. Most of those General Managers in London five-star hotels also had a British professional qualification – MHCIMA.
Inspiration from a Rejection
In late 1970’s the most recognized qualification in the Commonwealth Nations for a hospitality manager was to become a Member of the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (MHCIMA). It usually took four years of undergraduate degree level studies plus five years of post-qualification management experience to obtain the professional title of MHCIMA. One day, little nervously I visited the HCIMA head office in London to check my chances of becoming an MHCIMA. The HCIMA officer who interviewed me, totally rejected me, as she did not recognize my three-year diploma from Ceylon Hotel School. She insisted that I complete four years of studies with HCIMA, before being considered for MHCIMA qualification. To me a rejection is always a great motivator, which inspires me to do better! After that meeting, I decided that I will eventually earn this qualification, to lay a strong foundation to become the General Manager of a five-star international hotel.
After few years of further studies, finally I managed to become an MHCIMA in 1984, and a Fellow (FHCIMA) in 1992. The rest of the story will be a separate column, but the bottom line was, in 2004, after serving HCIMA Board as an elected International Zone Representative for three years, I was elected as the worldwide President of HCIMA (now the Institute of Hospitality, UK), and appointed Chairman of HCIMA Ltd, UK. In those two roles, I was fortunate to get a unique opportunity to lead the world’s largest professional body for hospitality managers, with 15,000 members in 104 countries and 25 international chapters. For 83 years since the inception of this organization in 1938, all Presidents were Europeans, except when a Sri Lankan was elected in 2004. The lesson here, for aspiring young hospitality managers, is that: “treat the sky as the limit. As long as you have a vision for the future combined with passion, you can make things happen”.
Elected as the President of the Hotel Catering International Management Association (HCIMA), UK
I look forward to sharing interesting fun stories with you from next week. Until then, AYUBOWAN! Please chandij@sympatico.ca if you like to send me your comments. Thank you.