📈 Amba Yaalu Kandalama Marks One Year of Women-Led Hospitality

Amba Yaalu Kandalama, Sri Lanka’s first all-women-run hotel, celebrates its first anniversary, marking a significant milestone in diversifying the hospitality sector. Launched by Thema Collection, the initiative addresses a major labor gap where women comprise only 10% of the formal tourism workforce despite being 52.8% of the population. • Workforce & Empowerment • Team Composition: 100% women-led and operated across all departments. • Local Impact: 20% of the staff recruited directly from surrounding villages. • Leadership: Headed by Resort Manager Jeewanthi Adhikari, providing long-term career paths for local women in a male-dominated field. • Economic Inclusion & Supply Chain • Sector Support: Actively sources from women-led suppliers for flowers, mushrooms, and spices. • Diversification: Focuses on inclusive growth by integrating rural communities into the tourism value chain. • Sustainability & Infrastructure • Energy: Powered by a 140.40kW rooftop solar farm (157 panels) covering 12,000 sq. ft. • Natural Assets: Located on a 33-room property featuring an organic mango plantation with over 450 trees. The resort enters its second year positioned as a catalyst for changing the national narrative on female participation in hospitality, bridging the gap between high female literacy and low industry involvement.