Jetwing takes off and then July 1983 hits

(Excerpted from The Jetwing Story on the Life of Herbert Cooray by Shiromal Cooray)

Though conscientious about records, accounts and compliance with regulations, Herbert Cooray was never a number- cruncher. His decision-making did not involve the detailed scrutiny of feasibility studies, balance sheets and financial analyses. Like most entrepreneurs of his generation, he navigated by intuition. He would consider a proposition, talk the matter over with those who could inform or advise him, and then make his decision. He never rushed into things – nor, on the other hand, did he waste time when it was of the essence. His instincts rarely let him down.

If he had a special talent, it was for property. He had an eye for location, and over the years acquired land in some of the most picturesque .yet accessible parts of an island famed around the world for its breathtaking beauty. When the opportunity arose, he would develop these locations in ways that enhanced rather than detracted from their natural beauty. His passion, reflected to this day in the mission statement of the company he founded, which was to make a visitor’s experience unique and legendary – in direct contrast to the uniformity of mass-market hospitality and tourism.

He never lost his belief in the power of the personal touch. Sri Lanka is a country of famously hospitable people, so a Sri Lankan company in the hospitality business simply had to be exceptional. In the early years, he spent long hours at the Blue Oceanic Hotel, ensuring that every detail was just right and constantly seeking improvements. He impressed this attitude on his employees, meeting frequently with them to discuss ways and means of adding value to the service they provided.

He was equally keen to see that his staff were well treated; the investment, he knew from long experience, would be repaid many times over in staff-customer relations. This is the legacy Herbert has left at Jetwing, the constant drive to ensure all visitors to Jetwing are touched by the company’s’ unique offering of the famed Sri Lankan hospitality at its best!

In 1987, Herbert’s son Hiran graduated in Marketing and returned home from America to join the family business, Ruan Samarasinghe, meanwhile, had developed into an accomplished hotelier. These two young men would become Herbert’s indispensable lieutenants.

His portfolio of hotels continued to grow. Over the next few years, he acquired St. Andrew’s Hotel, Nuwara Eliya, from Milhuissen and the Yala Safari Game Lodge, badly damaged in the ethnic riots of 1983, from his friend V. Balasubramaniam. He was also a member of the consortium that built Eastern Village, a property fronting the spectacular beach at Nilaveli on the East Coast. It would have been a great success, but the tragic events of 1983 ensured that it was never opened. Other investments included the building of Royal Oceanic Beach Hotel, another Geoffrey Bawa hotel, in Negombo, and a stake (as well as a management interest) in the Sigiriya Village Hotel.

With so many hotels to fill with guests and run, it made sense to set up his own hotel management and marketing company. With Hayleys, a blue-chip Sri Lankan conglomerate, as his investment partner, he launched Jetwing Hotels in 1995. Hayleys, which had decided to invest in what was now being called the ‘leisure sector’ had cause to congratulate itself on its choice of partner. When the group liquidated its investment in the sector in 2010, the value of its stake had risen many times over, in spite of operating during the dark days of Sri Lanka’s tourism.

A Sri Lankan magazine, Business Today, featured the Jetwing story in their February 1998 issue. It quotes Herbert Cooray: “The tourism industry was at a pioneering stage at the time, and we had to rely on ourselves for all the resources we needed. I had several good friends, among them George Ondaatjie and Lucien Perera who supported and encouraged me over the years.

Although not a marketing genius, Herbert knew that word of mouth was a potent tool to use to market his hotels. Hence, he insisted that a legendary service, a service which others will talk about, was provided. He would meet clients and chat with them to gather important market information.

In August 1997, Hayleys, then Sri Lanka’s top business group, featured heavily in a country report by SocGen-Crosby, a leading international investment bank. The report was full of praise for Hayleys’ partner in the leisure sector: ‘Industry experts, including some competitors,’ it said, `have high regard for Jetwing’s management style, using phrases such as professional, aggressive and marketing savvy to describe it:

This was a great endorsement to a man’s passion to build a company with a dream to be the best in the industry at driving value for the clients and all other stakeholders. To Herbert, his company had to be committed to the highest of standards, that features great people who will provide a great service – which will in turn attract loyal customers.

Herbert believed from his early construction days that trust and mutual respect among employees, customers and suppliers are the foundation for success. To quote Herbert again from the 1998 issue of Business Today, “our ideal is not to be number one in the industry but to give the best service, and to be above everyone else in service.”

July 1983 saw the commencement of the darkest era in Sri Lanka’s modern history. Ethnic riots and the escalation of a hitherto low-intensity separatist insurgency caused widespread insecurity and instability, creating an atmosphere of anxiety and tension. The decade saw numerous attacks by the LTTE, the so-called ‘Tamil Tigers, on public landmarks and infrastructure, including the destruction of several aircrafts belonging to the national airline, Air Lanka. Tourism all but collapsed. Sri Lanka’s magnificent east coast was rendered nearly inaccessible as Tigers and a short-lived Indian ‘Peace Keeping Force’ jockeyed for the upper hand.

As if this was not bad enough, in the late 80’s, the south of the country was soon terrorized by a second insurgency, mounted by a nationalist/ communist group, the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna). There were more assassinations, reprisals, local, regional or even national knockdowns, and forced closures of private businesses. Implacably opposed to all things foreign JVP militants visited hotels and demanded their closure, or simply robbed the management and guests of their money and belongings at gunpoint. Finally, the chairman of the Tourist Board took an unusual step and requested foreign tour operators to repatriate their clients from Sri Lanka, effectively bringing the industry to a standstill.

In the vacuum that followed this decision, the industry was forced into severe retrenchment. With almost no tourists arriving from overseas, the competition for a few wealthy local customers and resident expatriates became fierce. Revenues plummeted as hotels and travel agencies began undercutting one another. War stories in the international media and citizen travel advisories by European countries kept the tourists away- airlines and air charter operators pulled out of the country, while trained and experienced Sri Lankan hotel and travel professionals were snapped up by overseas employers. Replacing them was almost impossible: educated young people no longer saw any future in a career in the tourism sector.

By the mid- 1990s, however, a recovery seemed to be underway. The trickle of visitors was growing and investment in tourism began to pick up again. Hostilities continued in the north and east, but the rest of the country seemed to be safe for travelers. In 2002, the government and the Tigers negotiated a ceasefire and began negotiating terms of peace. To the tourism industry, this was a much needed present – hopes soared.

They were only too soon dashed. First came 9/11, with its chilling effect on air travel and tourism worldwide. Then, at home, the peace negotiations ended in acrimony. Soon the country was back at war. The final blow came on December 26, 2004, when the Asian tsunami devastated almost the entire littoral of the island. It also all but killed the slowly reviving tourism industry. The country was in mourning and shock.

Jetwing was among the operators most severely affected by the Boxing Day tsunami; its south coast property, Yala Safari Beach Hotel, was utterly destroyed. Thirty-three people died, including the senior management of the hotel. Among the survivors were 40 other employees, who continued to be retained on the company payroll despite the total loss of their jobs, along with their workplace.

Herbert Cooray never let his people down. The families of those who perished were also taken care of, in spite of the severe financial loss to the company. It is not by accident that the senior managers of the hotel lingered to ensure that other colleagues and the clients were sent off, then costing them their lives, they lived the philosophy of customer care which is so sacred to Jetwing.

July 1983 saw the commencement of the darkest era in Sri Lanka’s modern history. Ethnic riots and the escalation of a hitherto low-intensity separatist insurgency caused widespread insecurity and instability, creating an atmosphere of anxiety and tension. The decade saw numerous attacks by the LTTE, the so-called ‘Tamil Tigers, on public landmarks and infrastructure, including the destruction of several aircrafts belonging to the national airline, Air Lanka. Tourism all but collapsed. Sri Lanka’s magnificent east coast was rendered nearly inaccessible as Tigers and a short-lived Indian ‘Peace Keeping Force’ jockeyed for the upper hand.

As if this was not bad enough, in the late 80’s, the south of the country was soon terrorized by a second insurgency, mounted by a nationalist/ communist group, the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna). There were more assassinations, reprisals, local, regional or even national knockdowns, and forced closures of private businesses.

Implacably opposed to all things foreign JVP militants visited hotels and demanded their closure, or simply robbed the management and guests of their money and belongings at gunpoint. Finally, the chairman of the Tourist Board took an unusual step and requested foreign tour operators to repatriate their clients from Sri Lanka, effectively bringing the industry to a standstill.

In the vacuum that followed this decision, the industry was forced into severe retrenchment. With almost no tourists arriving from overseas, the competition for a few wealthy local customers and resident expatriates became fierce. Revenues plummeted as hotels and travel agencies began undercutting one another. War stories in the international media and citizen travel advisories by European countries kept the tourists away- airlines and air charter operators pulled out of the country, while trained and experienced Sri Lankan hotel and travel professionals were snapped up by overseas employers. Replacing them was almost impossible: educated young people no longer saw any future in a career in the tourism sector.

By the mid- 1990s, however, a recovery seemed to be underway. The trickle of visitors was growing and investment in tourism began to pick up again. Hostilities continued in the north and east, but the rest of the country seemed to be safe for travelers. In 2002, the government and the Tigers negotiated a ceasefire and began negotiating terms of peace. To the tourism industry, this was a much needed present – hopes soared.

They were only too soon dashed. First came 9/11, with its chilling effect on air travel and tourism worldwide. Then, at home, the peace negotiations ended in acrimony. Soon the country was back at war. The final blow came on December 26, 2004, when the Asian tsunami devastated almost the entire littoral of the island. It also all but killed the slowly reviving tourism industry. The country was in mourning and shock.

Jetwing was among the operators most severely affected by the Boxing Day tsunami; its south coast property, Yala Safari Beach Hotel, was utterly destroyed. Thirty-three people died, including the senior management of the hotel. Among the survivors were 40 other employees, who continued to be retained on the company payroll despite the total loss of their jobs, along with their workplace.

Herbert Cooray never let his people down. The families of those who perished were also taken care of, in spite of the severe financial loss to the company. It is not by accident that the senior managers of the hotel lingered to ensure that other colleagues and the clients were sent off, then costing them their lives, they lived the philosophy of customer care which is so sacred to Jetwing.