Luxury Brands ushers in new era of hospitality standards with DIAGEO’s ‘World Class’ Competition in Sri Lanka

 Luxury Brands (Private) Limited continues to raise the bar for Sri Lanka’s hospitality sector, introducing World Class by DIAGEO, the world’s most prestigious bartending competition, to the island for the very first time. Celebrated in more than 180 countries as the benchmark in hospitality excellence and cocktail culture, the landmark debut by Luxury Brands elevated the company’s leadership in bringing global standards and experiences to local audiences.

World Class by DIAGEO is a multi-stage global bartending challenge designed to strengthen practices in cocktail culture through education, mentorship, and competitive benchmarking. It builds an ecosystem to help talent thrive and gain global recognition, with focus areas in craft, flavour mastery, creativity, hospitality, and storytelling, inspiring consumers to appreciate cocktails as an art form.

As DIAGEO's partner in Sri Lanka, Luxury Brands launched the international competition as an opportunity to uplift service guidelines in line with Sri Lanka's Tourism and Service Destination agenda. The initiative supports augmented and stronger destination competitiveness through skills development, training, and responsible service promotion, directly enhancing the customer offering throughout the hospitality sector. Significantly, DIAGEO's management team attended the Sri Lanka event, adding an international prestige, elevating the brand's commitment to bartending excellence.

The World Class Sri Lanka programme blends mentorship, education and competitive bartending. Sri Lankan bartenders received the opportunity to train, compete nationally, and potentially represent the island at the global finals, a first for Sri Lankan talent on the world cocktail stage. Over 100 bartenders representing leading bars and lounges around the country took part in the Master Class competition, from which the Top 10 advanced to the national finals.

Akash Rajapaksha of Colombar, Cinnamon Lakeside, was adjudged the national winner and has now earned a spot to compete in the regional finals in India, against champions from India and Nepal. Success at this stage secures a coveted place on the global stage, where he will represent Sri Lanka among the world’s best at the prestigious World Class Global Finals. 

He stated, “It is an incredible honour to be named the national winner at the very first DIAGEO World Class Sri Lanka competition. To me, the journey has been more than mixology but about creativity, hospitality, and storytelling. Representing Sri Lanka on the regional stage is a dream come true, and I am proud to showcase the skills, talent and passion of our bartending community to the world.”

The other finalists included Tharindu Dinashan – Cinnamon Citadel Lounge Bar, Chamindu Abeygunawardana – Amari Colombo: The Prego, Muthukumarsingam Thushan – ITC Ratnadeepa, Jude Fernando – Capital Tavern, Jayden Jayawardena – Kane Ella, Yasith Chathuranga – Capital Tavern, Hashan Nuwan – Honey Beach Club, Nilakshi Wijesinghe – Tiki Bar, and Thavisha Wijesinghe – Bommu Bar & Lounge, Kandy. 

All participants demonstrated outstanding creativity and skill. They competed through live challenges assessed on flavour understanding, technique, speed, storytelling, and guest experience, cultivating expertise and celebrating the art of bartending.

The Sri Lanka finals were evaluated by a respected panel of regional judges and past winners of the global competition, which comprised of Gagan Sharma - Founder, Indulge India, Vijeta Singh, Co-Founder, Cobbler & Crew, and Vikram KU, Lead, World Class India & HNI Advocacy, showcasing expertise and international perspective to the competition. Their ability to blend regional insight with world-class criteria amplified the competition’s credibility and impact.

In bringing World Class to Sri Lanka, Luxury Brands showcases a broader vision of creating platforms which deliver value beyond its core business. The initiative invests in talent, raises service standards, and position the island competitively on the global tourism stage, an approach that defines growth through innovation, sustainability, and international collaboration.