“The hospitality sector is always the first to take the hit and the last to recover,” said Elton Hurtis – the General Manager of Courtyard by Marriott Colombo – as he commented on the impact of macroenvironmental forces from wars to natural disasters on the sector on a recent edition of LMDtv.

Nevertheless, he is optimistic about the growth potential of the region: “We’ve seen Asia bounce back the fastest – in particular, South Asia. The Maldives is running a fabulous show and India is currently producing numbers that are far superior to pre-pandemic times.”

He emphasised that the local tourism industry will rebound: “Sri Lanka is blessed and will bounce back; it’s only a matter of time. We have everything – we’ve got all the ingredients, the right people and the right attitude. We’re blessed with such a beautiful island; there is no reason why we will not be able to perform in the coming years.”

Hurtis sees a great deal of positivity on the horizon and stressed the need for the country to gear up for new travel trends that are shaping the sector in the global context.

He noted: “We should be preparing our people and teams for the future – for jobs that don’t even exist today. And we should be preparing the sector for a chapter that has not even been written or probably thought of.”

The future lies with gen Z, according to Hurtis. And so he calls for the sector to understand them, and their perspectives, thought processes and behaviour.

Furthermore, the General Manager of Courtyard by Marriott Colombo stressed that technology should be streamlined to fulfil the needs of new age customers.

He elaborated: “How do you get a customer to not need to interact with anyone? There are customers who are so busy, they will check out from the airport, get a mobile key card on their phone, wheel their own bags in and go straight to the room.”

With other trends such as wellness retreats and sleep tourism emerging, and Sri Lanka having massive opportunities in areas like high-end weddings, he calls for the sector to “keep pushing, keep focussed and stay positive.”

“Before the Easter Sunday attacks, we were slotted as a [top] destination to travel. We have to get ourselves back on the map as the [top] destination to travel – there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t do that,” he said.

Hurtis highlighted how blessed the country is in terms of nature, natural resources and a sector that is solid – which includes top local and global hotels – and pointed out that what needs to be done is putting the appropriate processes in place and driving innovation.

“Innovation involves creativity,” he averred while noting that “folks who are extremely creative are not very process driven.” And he asserted that if “you can bring in innovation, creativity, discipline and processes, that is the recipe for success.”

Hurtis shed light on the need for companies to shift from good to great and recommended proper long-term planning. Elaborating on this, he stated: “Prepare a 15 to 20-year plan. You cannot plan for tomorrow every single day; the more you keep rushing into what’s urgent, the more you’ll delay your process.”

Adding to this, he suggested a three-pronged approach to drive Sri Lanka’s hospitality sector forward – i.e. refresh, reset and reload.

“Once you refresh your system, you then reset it to go back to basics,” Hurtis said, explaining: “Go back to ensuring that water is served to customers as soon as they sit in your restaurant; go back to basics in making sure that you roast your lamb the traditional way; and go back to basics and make that perfect Negroni for your customers.”

“And finally, reload back to happy times,” he added.

Concluding the interview, Hurtis urged young hoteliers and hospitality professionals to find a purpose in life: “Figure out why you do what you do – and when you do something. The moment you have a purpose in life, [along] with you, the country and sector will succeed.”