Shinagawa Beach Resort

Shinagawa Beach Resort is a luxury beachfront resort in Balapitiya and one of Sri Lanka's most recognised beach hotels in the German-speaking leisure market.

Elevate Hospitality's Co-Founder, Yasas Nanayakkara, previously led the Sales & Marketing function of the resort during an earlier stage of its commercial journey. In December 2024, the owners approached Yasas after facing a series of commercial and operational challenges that were significantly affecting profitability.

Although the hotel maintained healthy occupancy throughout the year, the business was heavily dependent on a single Destination Management Company (DMC), had virtually no OTA or direct website bookings, suffered from low Average Room Rates (ARR), and was exposed to significant overbooking-related compensation costs.

In addition, several critical digital assets, including OTA extranets, the hotel website, and direct booking systems, were either inaccessible or not operating effectively, limiting the property's ability to generate direct and online revenue.

Elevate Hospitality was appointed in January 2025 to manage:

• Travel Agent Business Development
• OTA & Revenue Management
• Reservations Management
• Social Media Management

The objective was clear — stabilise operations, protect profitability, restore the hotel's commercial infrastructure, and rebuild long-term market confidence.

Elevate Hospitality immediately implemented a comprehensive commercial recovery strategy focused on reducing risk, rebuilding distribution channels, and strengthening the hotel's digital ecosystem.

Our scope included:

• Conducting a complete commercial review of pricing, distribution channels, and contracted business.
• Successfully negotiating with the hotel's primary DMC to reduce dependence on deeply discounted allocations while preserving the long-term business relationship.
• Coordinating the transfer of selected reservations to alternative hotels where commercially appropriate, significantly reducing overbooking-related financial exposure.
• Introducing structured reservation management procedures and operational controls during the transition period.
• Implementing Guest Consent Letters for relocated guests to minimise post-departure compensation claims.
• Recovering administrative access to the property's Online Travel Agency (OTA) extranets by working directly with OTA partner managers through Elevate Hospitality's industry relationships, restoring full owner control of the hotel's online distribution.
• Identifying that the existing hotel website was not hosted through a legitimate long-term hosting arrangement and coordinating the recovery of the original website through the property's original developer.
• Re-establishing the direct booking infrastructure by reconnecting the website with the STAAH Booking Engine, working closely with Negete, the authorised distributor of STAAH in Sri Lanka.
• Establishing a formal website maintenance and technical support arrangement with Antyra Solutions, ensuring long-term stability, security, and ongoing website support.
• Reopening and optimising Online Travel Agency (OTA) distribution channels.
• Re-establishing relationships with international tour operators whose allotments had lapsed or were no longer active.
• Reintroducing the property to Sri Lanka's travel trade and maintaining regular communication regarding service improvements and operational enhancements.
• Implementing dynamic pricing and revenue management strategies focused on improving Average Room Rate (ARR), profitability, and channel performance.
• Strengthening reservations management and improving response times across all booking channels.
• Managing the property's social media presence to rebuild market confidence and improve brand perception.