Company History
Our Story in Brief
The unfolding pages trace our growth, from strength to strength,
to our current position as an established and admired name in the corporate arena.
Modest beginnings as a Rent-a-Car company operating from home, with 4 cars. “Ncar” was chosen to indicate the nature of business, as well as to rhyme with “Nanayakkara” the family name.
Entered into airline ticketing in a new office at Bristol Street, Colombo Fort, covering a very small floor area of 250 sq.ft. Appointed as a Sub-Agent to established players.
Recorded a moderate profit of Rs 12,000/-, after repaying losses incurred during previous years.
Began to gain recognition from a few Airlines. Ventured into inbound tours serving free individual travelers. Tied up with the first foreign tour operator from Germany towards the end of the year. The company began its growth phase virtually doubling or tripling in sales volume with each passing year.
Won the 1st Airline Award Gulf Air ‘Golden Falcon’ for No. 1 seller in Sri Lanka.
Fully fledged Travel Company, recognized by all Airlines operating in Sri Lanka. Gained, several foreign Accounts in the area of Tour Operating and links with countries such as Germany, UK, Holland, Spain and Russia. The beginning of a winning streak, collecting many awards in outbound travel. Shifted to three different offices during this decade due to fast expansion.
Established a transport fleet to cater to our own requirements. A workshop was established to service and maintain the fleet. NKAR became a member of International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Year 1993.
Won cross section of awards from many Airlines. Began the process of restructuring the company into a professional unit with regular training and assessment of staff. Transformed into a company that was fully geared to win and carry out business in a planned, effective and efficient manner.
Bought over a property for its own office premises in the upper end of the business area in the Capital City of Colombo. Entered the field of outbound holidays offering Sri Lankan travellers a choice of destinations. Registered 500 overseas tour bookings in the very first year, setting the stage for a steady growth in the following years.
Appointed as the PSA for Star Cruises beating stiff competition from major players with hands on experience and created a new milestone in the journey.
Logo was changed from ‘NCAR’ to ‘NKAR’. This was intended to reflect our stature in the industry and also to put an end to the continuing misconception of our company as a rent-a-car operation. This change was also the culmination of our quarter century of existence as a successful travel company.
It was during the period 2005 to 2010 that the organization ventured into online sales.
Between 2005 to 2010 were the most challenging years with the political and internal conflict in Sri Lanka getting into a heated position due to which Travels & Tourism was the most affected. Inspite of this, the Organization takes pride in not having retrenched a single staff member. It was also in 2009 MSC Cruises offered their Preferred Sales Agency to NKAR.
In a downward trend in Tourism NKAR yet managed to establish its MICE deviation.
2005 to 2010 were the most challenging years with political and internal conflict in Sri Lanka reaching a heated position due to which Travels & Tourism was the most affected. In spite of this, the Organization takes pride in not having retrenched a single staff member. It was also in 2009 MSC Cruises offered their Preferred Sales Agency to NKAR.
In a downward trend in Tourism NKAR yet managed to establish its MICE deviation. In the same year, NKAR acquired exclusive representation of the globally recognized travel solution network “FCM” to offer our corporate clients a comprehensive travel Solution.
In this year the Company established another strong partnership with the globally recognized Norwegian Cruise Lines as their Preferred Sales Agent. With the ending of the internal conflict that reached almost a level of war and with the growth in economy, NKAR managed to give a fast come back.
The company made large scale investments on promotions and reached out to a cross section of the countries across the world and established partnerships with well over 22 countries
NKAR won the award for Major Inbound Tour Operator (Medium Category) at the Sri Lanka Tourism Awards 2018 held on the 6th of December at Shangri-La Colombo.
The 6th edition of the Sri Lanka Tourism Awards which was conducted after 6 years was organized by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority to recognize and reward excellence in the Travel and Tourism industry to promote and enhance the delivery of service standards.
From 2019 to 2022, a period marked by the Easter Sunday attack, followed by two years of the Covid-19 pandemic and an economic crisis, posed immense challenges for Sri Lanka and the global tourism industry. NKAR, amidst these difficulties, managed to overcome the obstacles through strategic management decisions and remained committed to the welfare of its employees and service providers while awaiting signs of recovery.
After a challenging three-year period in the tourism industry, the Managing Director of NKAR, with 42 years (Back then ) of experience, aimed to foster recovery. This resulted in the launch of “Save the Sri Lankan Smile,” the first-ever global tourism promotion campaign by a private company in Sri Lanka.
The campaign sought to unite the industry, promote individual brands, and combat negative social media publicity. This short-term, four-month tactical campaign included successful mini-campaigns reaching over 3 million people on various digital platforms.
NKAR wins “Consistent Customer Satisfaction Award”
During the celebration of the 50th anniversary of our principal operator in the UK, Exodus Adventure Travels, NKAR Travels & Tours (Pvt) Ltd, was honored with the “Consistent Customer Satisfaction Award” with a score of 4.92 out of 5. (Read more…)