10 years ago, I bid adieu to the banking and finance industry to heed the call of travel. Back then, little did I know that 9 years after I will be starting my own adventure and conceptualizing my own business.
Sensory Indulgences celebrates one year in operation after it’s inception in September 2019. Brindley and I cannot be any happier, even though we live in a time of a global pandemic outbreak.
Back in 2019 when I was toying with the idea, I received a lot of skepticism on starting a business, as we were right after the Easter Sunday attacks. I immensely need to thank my wife Dilsha, and Brindley here for keeping my spark alive.
One year down the line Sensory Indulgences has faced many challenges from post Easter Sunday attacks to a global pandemic. However, it always brings a smile on my face when I think about the company’s journey so far. I have come to see that what defines you is not the amount of hardships you face but what you do to overcome those and come out on top. Let me tell you a story of resilience and creativity, in the hopes that it will inspire you during an uncertain time like this.
When Sensory Indulgences started, we focused on developing experiences in Colombo, to the criticism of many, as Colombo was stereotypically a destination that many tourists would ignore or would be persuaded to ignore. Brindley and I both being Colombo boys, felt that we owe it to our city to drive in more tourism. You visit Spain, you will not miss Madrid, you visit France, you will not miss Paris, but why would anyone come to Sri Lanka and miss Colombo? Today we are proud to have 10 hosted experiences in the city of Colombo for our bespoke clients.
We then slowly ventured to developing experiences in other parts of Sri Lanka, focusing on areas which told a great story but were often missed. For example, the Knuckles and the South East. We were on a very good footing but unfortunately the global pandemic hit Sri Lanka very hard resulting in a countrywide lockdown from March 2020.
I am sure many would have thought that this would be the end for Sensory Indulgences. We thought otherwise. When faced with a challenge it is important to assess and identify what is within your control and what is beyond your control. We applied this principle to our business and immediately saw an opportunity to come up with something novel, utilizing the existing relationships we had. As a result, Sensory Indulgences launched the first Airbnb Online Experience from South Asia, together with Leopard Trails. With two live online experiences and counting we are the only tourism company in Sri Lanka to bring in foreign exchange from tourism without any physical tourists visiting the country.
We spearheaded creating our own set of Covid-19 guidelines applicable to experiences providers. We were also the first to request the Sri Lanka Tourist Board to consider opening a new category to register experiences companies.
We did not stop there. Next up we wanted to do something different in the domestic travel sector in Sri Lanka. As soon as the lockdown was lifted from 1st June 2020, we saw a massive boom in the local travel market with hotels having a rat race to put out special offers. In a very competitive market like this, we created a sub brand called Roti Island to handle the domestic travel sector. We then focused on designing a series of hosted experiential journeys through Roti Island. These journeys take a holistic approach, embedding hotel stays, curated meals, expert talks and experiences into these itineraries. The first journey which operated in September 2020 was a huge hit. We are looking at 5 more amazing journeys, introducing the traveler to a different dimension of travelling locally.
Today after one year, Brindley and I are truly thankful to all our families, friends, peers, colleagues, partners and mentors who have stood by us with confidence and faith. We would like to thank all our amazing clients for believing in our concept.
We are excited to be working on a few fantastic collaborations with some leading travel brands in Sri Lanka in the next few months. Please check this space for more info.
Sensory Indulgences is eagerly waiting for the world to open its doors for tourism again.
This is just the beginning of our story. I hope that it motivates you to discover yours.
