Newly refurbished Amagi Aria unveiled in Negombo

By Harshana Sellahewa
Amagi Hotels unveiled its newly refurbished hotel in Negombo, Amagi Aria, at a glittering inauguration ceremony held at the hotel’s expansive lagoon-front lawn recently.

Founded in 2012, Amagi Hotels has been offering unique and unforgettable hotel experiences in some of the most sought-after destinations in Sri Lanka. 

Amagi Hotels is headed by founder and Chairman Somanathan Ganeshanathan, a chef by profession, who carries a wealth of experience from the industry brought from high-end hotels and resorts in the Maldives.

“It’s been a great year for Amagi Hotels. We have opened a brand-new seven-storey wing consisting 43 deluxe rooms and of four amazing suites at Amagi Aria, located along the pristine Negombo lagoon. 

We also launched a fine dining seafood restaurant aptly named Moya, which translates from the Sinhalese word for the place where the lagoon meets the sea, so as to reflect on the rich seafood heritage of Negombo. 

In addition, we upgraded our other dining options and offerings at Amagi Aria, prompting an overall refreshing look and feel to our brand,” 
stated Ganeshanathan.

The event was graced by the presence of Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga, who was the chief guest at the event.

“Let me congratulate Somanathan Ganeshanathan for this wonderful development. I warmly welcome his initiatives. As the Tourism Minister, it is my hope and prayer that there be many more hotels that will come up in order to meet the demand of tourists coming into Sri Lanka. 

By the end of last year, we ended up with over two million tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka, which was despite all the obstacles that we have had, which is the closure of the airport, the climatic conditions that we had - floods and cyclones and finally, the dengue epidemic. All that is gone now and with all that we achieved this amount of tourist arrivals,” stated Amaratunga.

“Now we are in 2018. Our target is around 2.5 million or more. God bless that there will be no more epidemics or obstacles that will come to Sri Lanka during this period. Now in this context, you will see that last year we earned US $ 3.9 billion, which is just an approximate amount that we have received. So this year, we will see that that the government will have an income of nearly US $ 4 billion. Now that is what this government is expecting from tourism,” 
Amaratunga added.

Within its portfolio, Amagi Hotels houses two distinctive properties – Amagi Aria in Negombo and Amagi Beach in Marawila. Amagi Hotels debuts on a new venture with the rebranding of its Negombo property with the ‘Aria’ brand that significantly caters along the positioning of a value-based hotel in the four-star market 
in Negombo.