200+ leaders. Six countries. One question: what must change for Sri Lankan hospitality to win by 2030?
The doors open at Cinnamon Grand Colombo today as the International Hospitality Leaders’ Conference 2026 (IHLC 2026) gets underway, bringing more than 200 hotel owners, General Managers, investors, developers and policymakers into one room for a single, focused day of decisions.
Organised by the Institute of Hospitality (IOH) Sri Lanka Chapter and backed by IOH UK’s global network and more than 80 years of international standing, IHLC 2026 is the only event of its kind in Sri Lanka. Its theme, Vision 2030: Shaping the Future Performance of Sri Lanka’s Hospitality Industry, sets the tone: this is a forum built to produce commitments, not just conversations.
Today’s international faculty brings perspectives from Seychelles, the UAE, the Maldives, Singapore, Belgium and Malta. Taking the stage are Sherin Francis, Principal Secretary for Tourism, Seychelles Department of Tourism; Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts; Giampaolo Ottazzi, Interim Managing Director and General Manager, Raffles Singapore; Herman Konings, Trend Analyst and Change Psychologist, Pocket Marketing/nXt, Belgium; Dr. Harsha Subasinghe, President and CEO, CodeGen Group of Companies and Founder, Vega Innovations; and revenue management expert Faisal Murtaza, among others.
The day opens with a hard look at how leadership itself is evolving, then moves to the culture, capability and talent behind high-performing hotels. Sessions on destination competitiveness, artificial intelligence, revenue strategy and consumer behaviour will unpack how hotels will be discovered, priced and experienced by 2030.
The moment to watch is The Great Reform Debate, where international experts and local industry voices go head-to-head on the reforms Sri Lankan hospitality needs to stay relevant, competitive and globally respected.
The day closes with the Vision 2030 Declaration, a collective statement of intent that will form the foundation of the Vision 2030 Whitepaper, the sector’s first industry-wide roadmap.
“As IHLC 2026 comes together, the response from our speaker community has reinforced what we set out to do, bring the right people into the same room to have the honest conversations our industry needs,” said Ramesh Dassanayake, Chairman, Institute of Hospitality – Sri Lanka Chapter. “I’m confident this conference will deliver more than dialogue; it will deliver direction for where Sri Lankan hospitality goes from here.”
Delegates begin with an executive networking breakfast, move through curated hospitality experiences including a Nestlé-branded coffee bar and a networking lunch across Cinnamon Grand Colombo’s signature restaurants, and wind down at the Fellowship Cocktail Evening with premium cocktails, live music and an early Oktoberfest-inspired celebration.
IHLC 2026 is powered by Nestlé Lanka, with Platinum Partners CodeGen International and APIIT Sri Lanka; Gold Partners Lion Brewery Ceylon and Rockland Distilleries; Silver Partners Ninewells Hospital, Hameedia and BYD Sri Lanka; and valued partners Lakarcade, Celsius, Laugfs, SriLankan Airlines, Classic Travels and Aitken Spence Travels. Cinnamon Grand Colombo is the Official Hospitality Partner and Maharaja Media Network the Official Media Partner.
