Amba Yaalu Kandalama marks one year of redefining women-led hospitality

AMBA Yaalu Kandalama, Sri Lanka's first women-led hotel, proudly marks its first anniversary, celebrating a year of empowerment, inclusion, and purposeful hospitality.

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Chairman Chandra Wickramasinghe

Amba Yaalu Kandalama was conceived in response to a pressing gap within Sri Lanka's tourism and hospitality sector. Despite women representing 52.8% of the national population and achieving high literacy levels, female participation in the formal hospitality workforce remains critically low at approximately 10%. Limited opportunities to showcase talent, restricted access to education and professional training, workplace discrimination, and concerns around safety have long prevented women from fully participating and progressing within the industry.

Recognising both the challenge and the responsibility to act, Thema Collection, a pioneering, thematic, and eco-conscious hospitality brand introduced Amba Yaalu Kandalama as a bold intervention.

Under the leadership of its Chairman Chandra Wickramasinghe, renowned for conceptualising 16 distinctive properties that have reshaped Sri Lanka's tourism landscape, Amba Yaalu was envisioned as more than a hotel. It was designed as a platform where women are trusted to lead, supported to grow, and empowered to redefine hospitality on their own terms.