PA Ediriweera

P A Ediriweera
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Occupation	Travel agent, Journalist Enterprenaer
Known for	Founding Sri Lankas first travel agency, Contribution to establishing Sri Lanka as a filming location for American and European Films

Piyadasa Ariyasena Ediriweera was a Sri Lankan Travel Agent, Journalist and Enterpreneur

Journalism

Ediriweera was born in Ahangama Sri Lanka in October 1915. He left school to work as a 'cub' reporter in the 'Daily News' as provincial correspondent in Ahangama and later joined the Times of Ceylon Newspapers as a journalist in the Colombo office working his way up to being a war correspondent and making influential friends and contacts in the international press and in particular at The New York Times. His subsequent success is attributed to publicity stemmng from a cocktail party held to receive him by his American war correspondent friends at the Waldorf Astoria to which members of the American travel industry was invited. Ediriweera is reputed to have generated interest through his contacts at The New York Times writing articles on Sri Lanka targeting the American reader and an advertising campaign,.^[1][2]

Travel Industry

Ediriweera formed the company Ceylon Tours in July 1946 with Justin Kotalawala (brother of Sir John Kotelawala) as Chairman, Ediriweera as Managing Director, with Directors D.B Dhanepala, Rosaline Coch and D.P Abeywardena. His business interests diversified and in 1949, Ediriweera opened an office at the Queens Hotel in Kandy and operated vehicles in Colombo from the Colombo Swimming Club. In the latter part of that year, he leased a hotel in Anuradhapura called Grand Hotel and acquired the island resort at St. Michelle in Bolgoda which belonged to Sir John Kotelawala who leased it to Ceylon Tours. He later bought and operated the Mt Lavinia Hotel (where parts of Bridge on the River Kwai was filmed), Grand Oriental Hotel (Taprobane Hotel) and the Times of Ceylon where he became chairman of the Board.^[3]

Film Industry

Ediriweera visited Los Angeles in 1954 and met with executives of Universal Studios, United Artists and Horizon pictures who were persuaded to visit Ceylon to consider it a venue for film shoots. He also visited the United Kingdom with the movie 'Outcast of the Island' which is the first British film being shot on locations in Ceylon in 1951 followed by 'Outcast of the Islands' (1951) directed by Carol Reed, 'Planters Wife' by Ken Anakinin 1952, 'Purple Plain' in 1954 directed by Robert Parish and starring Gregory Peck, 'Elephant Walk' (1954) directed by William Dieterle, the Academy Award winning film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' filmed in Sri Lanka in 1957 starring William Holden and Sir Alec Guinness, 'Never So Few' (1959) directed by John Sturgers, and 'Kommissarx (1966) directed by Rudolf Zehetgmber.. Ediriweera is said to have accompanied the film's director David Lean to meet Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike to secure permission for the film to be shot in Sri Lanka.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Remembering late Mr. P.A. Ediriweera's contributions towards tourism development Tuesday October 25, 2011". print.dailymirror.lk. http://print.dailymirror.lk/business/127-local/15322.html. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 
2. ^ "Ceylon Tours". www.i-srilanka.com. http://www.i-srilanka.com/ceylon/company.html. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 
3. ^ "Legend in tourism: The story of P.A. Ediriweera and Ceylon Tours Sunday July 11, 2010". sundaytimes.lk. http://sundaytimes.lk/100711/BusinessTimes/bt22.html. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 
4. ^ "Legend in tourism - The story of P.A. Ediriweera and Ceylon Tours". www.ceylonrealestate.net. http://www.ceylonrealestate.net/newsletter/july10/legend-in-tourism.html. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 

Persondata
Name	Ediriweera P.A.
Alternative names	Ediri, Eddie
Short description
Date of birth	1915
Place of birth	Ahangama Sri Lanka
Date of death	1985
Place of death	Colombo Sri Lanka