After leaving school, Jeewanthi Adikari was determined to pursue her studies in accounting. But her life took a different path when she began a three-month training programme in hospitality.
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She has since worked in different hotels throughout a career spanning over two decades. Now 42, she is in charge of Sri Lanka’s first resort fully operated and managed by women. It’s an attempt to address gender disparities in a male-dominated tourism sector crucial for the country’s economic recovery after a major crisis.
“This is a place where women can realise their potential. They will not be inside the shell. Instead, they will come out and try to perform better,” said Adikari, who oversees the daily operations of Amba Yaalu, a resort located in Dambulla city that serves as a gateway to most of Sri Lanka’s tourist attractions.
Most Sri Lankan women do not get a chance to work in the tourism industry, earn money and own a career. In a country where 52 per cent of the 22 million people are women, they account for only about 10 per cent of the 200,000-strong workforce in the hospitality sector.
Some 160 kilometres (100 miles) northeast of Colombo, Amba Yaalu is nestled in a mango plantation and all work is managed by 75 women staff who garden, work in the kitchens, clean the facility, address the guests and provide security in the form of seven ex-military members. The resort’s facilities also include training programmes for women to develop their skills in different areas of hospitality.
The resort opened in January and has been seen as a move toward unlocking women’s potential and driving the tourism economy in the debt-stricken nation.