CRST is the brainchild of Dileep Mudadeniya - a key personality in the tourism industry in Sri Lanka; with extensive exposure in positioning Sri Lanka as a globally recognized destination and setting the foundations for streamlining the tourism industry and its value chain.
Mr.Dileep Mudadeniya - Founder
Dileep Mudadeniya, has served the Public Sector of Sri Lanka working extensively in the areas of travel and tourism and communication.
Appointed Director Marketing, to the then, Tourist Board in the year 1999, at the age of 27, in 2003, Mudadeniya was assigned Director France and southern Europe. Marketing, destination Sri Lanka, during challenging times, Dileep, has many successful campaigns to his credit including gold award for best consumer brochure from PATA in 2010.
On his return Dileep was appointed Additional Director General of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board and in October 2007, with the Tourism Act coming in to operation, was appointed Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. Under his stewardship Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau initiated several key events including international campaigns , Hikkaduwa Beach Festival, the International Indian Film Awards and the Arugam Bay Surfing Festival to name a few.
An alumnus of the University of Colombo, an Attorney-at-Law, chartered Marketer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Dileep, holds a MBA in Marketing. He is also the Winner of the Ten Outstanding Young Person award (TOYP) 2010 for the public sector.
Dr. Don Hawkins - Advisor
He was appointed as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Tourism Policy in 1994. In 2003, he received the first United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Ulysses Prize in 2004 for individual accomplishments in the creation and dissemination of knowledge in the area of tourism policy and strategic management. He received the Themis Foundation Science Fellows Award, Andorra, 2005
He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Solimar International, Sustainable Travel International and the SAVE Travel Alliance, and is on the Board of Directors for VEGA and Tourism Cares, serving as Chairman of the Tourism Cares Global Outreach Program, including cooperative with the Clinton Foundation in Haiti.
In 2012, he was elected as Vice Chairman of the UNWT0 Affiliates Council and appointed as Special Advisor to the UNWTO Secretary General for the Knowledge Network.
He is credited with 15 books, 22 refereed Journal articles and 77 book chapters, reports and other publications.
He has recently been engaged in sustainable tourism consulting activities, in the Dominican Republic, Montenegro, Serbia, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Republic of Georgia, Portugal, Spain, Tanzania, Mozambique, China, Canada and the United States.
Mr. H. M. S. Samaranayake - Advisor
H. M. S. Samaranayake is a graduate from the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya Campus) with a BA special Degree in Economics with specialisation in econometrics and economic statistics. In addition, he also has a BSc Econ Degree from the University of London and a Post Graduate Diploma in statistics from the Vidyodaya University of Sri Lanka.
After graduation from the University of Ceylon in 1959, he has had a six year stint in the Department of Census & Statistics as a statistical officer and joined the Ceylon Tourist Board in October 1966, He was later promoted to the grade of deputy director-general and eventually to the top position of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board as it’s
Director-General of tourism.
He took an early retirement from the Board in January 1998 to join the World Tourism Organization (WTO) Secretariat in Madrid as Chief of Asia and the Pacific Section. After his return to Sri Lanka, he was appointed as the new chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board in September 1994.
Mr. Nizam Lantra - Advisor/CEO
Nizam Lantra counts 44 years of service in various spheres of tourism in the public and private sector. A tourism researcher and marketer by profession, he started his career in the field of planning and development at the Ceylon Tourist Board.
Following this short stint in planning and development, he moved over to the Research, Statistics and International Affairs Division where a greater part of his career was spent. In the nineties he entered the field of tourism marketing. After serving as the Director Marketing at the head office, he was posted in Germany as the Director for Europe to promote the destination in 15 countries.
As a freelance tourism consultant he has successfully completed 26 assignments in Sri Lanka and overseas; including for international bodies such as United Nations World Tourism Organization, UN/ESCAP, International Labour Organization and the Asian Development Bank.
He is a Member of the Institute of Statisticians (UK), Member of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, Senior Vice President of the Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation, Senior Consultant for the Open University of Sri Lanka. He holds a postgraduate qualification in Tourism Marketing and a Degree in Business Management Studies.
Prof. Uditha Liyanage
Professor of Management of the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Adjunct Professor of Management of University of Canberra, Australia. He counts over 15 years experience in industry, having held senior marketing management positions in three leading companies in Sri Lanka. He, thereafter, joined the academia and read for the doctoral program at the PIM, of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, where he has been the senior faculty member for Marketing over the past 18 years. He is now the Director of PIM and the Chairman of the Institute’s Board of Management. He has published many articles on Branding and Strategic Marketing in leading journals, both here and abroad, and addressed numerous local and international conferences. He also holds an MBA and is a Chartered Marketer, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), and the first Sri Lankan Honorary Fellow of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM). He is also the first Sri Lankan Honorary Fellow of the Asia Marketing Federation (AMF).
Prof. Liyanage, is a Marketing Consultant to a number of leading local companies and international agencies and a developer of senior managers. He is on the boards of directors of a number of leading companies in Sri Lanka, and a member of the Boards of Study of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing and a member of the Governing Council of the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM). He is a member of the Standing Committees on Staff Development, Management Studies, and Postgraduate Studies and Research of the University Grants Commission (UGC). He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Governing Council of the Academy of Financial Studies, Ministry of Finance and Planning. He is the Editor of PIM’s Sri Lankan Journal of Management, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, the journal of the Centre for Banking Studies, Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
He was the Chairman of the CIM Sri Lanka region, and a member of the international Board of CIM (U.K.). Prof. Uditha Liyanage, over the past five years in particular has been the Chairman of the panels of judges of a number of key events and competitions conducted by the country’s chambers of commerce and leading professional institutes.
Srilal Miththapala – Advisor
Holds a BSc (Electrical Power Engineering) from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
Over 30 years of management experience in the mercantile sector in Sri Lanka at several senior management positions and directorships.
Up to June 2009 was the CEO/Director of Serendib Leisure Management Ltd, one of Sri Lanka’s leading Resort Hotel management companies.
Now attached to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as Project Director/Consultant for the EU funded project Greening Sri Lanka Hotels.
Chartered Electrical Engineer, (C Eng) and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, London (FIEE) and a Member of Chartered Institute of Management, UK. ( MIM) and also a Fellow of Institute of Hospitality. ( MIH)
Immediate past President of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) and was a Member of the Board of Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (SLITHM).
Member of the Sri Lanka Hotel Classification Committee
Published a book titled ‘Tranquil Footsteps’ which tells a story about a herd of elephants in the Uda Walawe National Park
Frank Haas – Advisor
Frank Haas earned a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism, both from Northwestern University. He is currently Dean of Hospitality, Business and Legal Education programs at Kapi‘olani Community College-University of Hawai. In addition to his educational duties, he has undertaken planning projects for tourism, government, and non-profit organizations in the U.S., Asia/Pacific and most recently for the Kingdom of Morocco and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. Prior to joining the university, Frank served as Vice President and Director of Marketing for the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, where he managed the state’s marketing programs for leisure, business travel, conventions, and sports. His marketing career in Hawai‘i includes marketing positions in tourism, fast food, and high tech. During 1999-2000, he was national chair American Marketing Association and he has been a speaker at national and international marketing conferences. His work has been recognized with national and local awards and he serves on a variety of community organizations. He and his wife, Susan, live in Kailua.