Thema Collection | Direct Booking Case Study

The Decision

One partner, sixteen distinct hotels

Thema Collection didn't build a hotel chain. It built sixteen distinct, theme-led properties, each with its own culture and its own atmosphere, so a stay never feels like a repeat of the last.

That model made choosing a technology partner harder, not easier. A generic, one-size-fits-all system would have quietly eroded exactly what made the group work. Thema Collection needed a partner built for independent, differentiated properties, not a single branded chain.

They chose one connected platform. A group booking engine designed to work the way Thema Collection actually operates: one partner, sixteen distinct identities.

Featured in this story · 3 of 16 properties

Aliya Maalu Maalu Pasikuda Amba Yaalu Kandalama +13 more across Sri Lanka

The Challenge

Three problems a theme-led portfolio couldn't hide from

Sixteen distinctly themed properties is a strength with guests. Commercially, it created the opposite problem: no shared system, no single view, and no way to sell what actually made each hotel worth choosing.

Over-reliance on OTAs

Distribution leaned heavily on OTA channels, at the expense of the direct, fast, personal communication the brand's guests were actually looking for.

No unified view across properties

With a fragmented commercial setup, the group couldn't easily see how each of its differently-themed hotels was actually performing.

Stays sold as rooms, not experiences

The booking engine had no way to reflect the group's ethos, selling a package, an add-on, or an experience, not just a night's stay.

"Before Profitroom, the commercial setup was disconnected, was fragmented. We weren't able to have a unified view of how all of our properties were performing. It was honestly a commercial loss for us back then."

Chirath Fernando · Manager, E-Commerce, Thema Collection

The Solution

One group booking engine. Sixteen distinct identities.

Thema Collection deployed Profitroom's group booking engine along with its packages, loyalty, and CRM and marketing automation tools, giving sixteen differently themed properties a shared commercial backbone without flattening what makes each one distinct.

01 · Booking

Group Booking Engine

Built for independent hotel groups. Keeps each property's own atmosphere and identity intact, while giving the group one cohesive system underneath.

02 · Packages

Extras

The ability to sell packages, add-ons, and even complimentary experiences, turning a room booking into the "true experience" the brand is built on.

03 · Loyalty

Loyalty Programme

First-party guest data and direct communication, letting Thema Collection reach guests it already knows, without paying OTA commission.

04 · CRM & Marketing

CRM & Marketing Automation

Built-in campaign tools the group didn't have to fund or build separately, one of several capabilities the team pointed to as Profitroom continuously absorbing into the platform.

One system,
many identities

A group booking engine only works for Thema Collection if it lets every one of its sixteen properties keep its own theme and voice, while the commercial and guest data underneath run as one connected system.

"We were looking for a booking engine that could actually have a little bit of our ethos, so to sell a bit more than a stay, to sell packages, to sell different things. Profitroom has really helped us do that."

Maxime Wickramasinghe · Director of Marketing & Business Development, Thema Collection

The Results

Six metrics. All moving in the right direction.

Growth since joining Profitroom, both overall and in the off-season period Thema Collection has been working hardest to build.

+25%Direct Website Bookings

Growth in direct website bookings since joining Profitroom.

+35%Direct via Promotion Campaigns

Growth in direct bookings driven specifically by Thema Collection's promotional campaigns.

+35%International Presence Growth

Overall growth in foreign presence, reaching markets the group wasn't previously performing in.

16%→22%Off-Season Guest Mix

The share of off-season guests coming from abroad, not the total number, has risen six points, a shift in who's booking, not just how many.

+33%Off-Season Foreign Volume

Separately, the actual volume of off-season bookings from international guests is up 33% year over year.

30–40%US & Australia Market Growth

Growth in two markets that weren't performing well for the group before.

"What I'm most proud of is that direct website bookings have grown by 25% since joining Profitroom. Our foreign presence has grown by 35%. We're able to reach a new market we didn't think possible back then."

Chirath Fernando · Manager, E-Commerce, Thema Collection

The Concept, In Practice

No two properties should have the same identity

That's the idea Thema Collection was built on. Every property carries its own theme, drawn from the culture and nature around it, so a stay at one hotel never feels like a repeat of the last. Out of the sixteen properties in the group, we visited three, here's how that plays out on the ground, and what changed for each of them since joining Profitroom.

"Tourists aren't just looking to change hotel room to hotel room. They want to change from one experience to another, so they don't feel that they're going to the same chain of hotels."

Chandra Wickramasinghe · Founder & Chairman, Thema Collection

The Elephant

Aliya Resort & Spa

Sigiriya

Guests are welcomed by views of Pidurangala and Sigiriya from the lobby. Eighteen resident naturalists run the group's safaris, night trails, and cultural visits from here, and it's the property with the strongest Loyalty programme adoption in the group.

+76%Direct Bookings YoY

+108%Direct Revenue YoY

27.1%Direct Bookings via Loyalty

The Fishing Community

Maalu Maalu Resort & Spa

Pasikuda

Built around the livelihoods and traditions of the local fishing community, woven into the guest experience rather than kept at arm's length. It's also the property with the highest repeat guest rate in the group, with 19.2% of its direct bookings now coming through Profitroom's Loyalty programme.

+72%Direct Bookings YoY

+47%Direct Revenue YoY

3.9%Repeat Guest Rate, Highest of the Three

Run Entirely by Women

Amba Yaalu Kandalama

Kandalama

A 100% renewable-powered property, and the first in the group run entirely by women. Over half the team have joined through the transition, now about a year and four months in, alongside the fastest booking growth of any property in the portfolio, powered through Profitroom's Group Booking Engine.

+86%Direct Bookings YoY

+59%Direct Revenue YoY

13.4%Direct Bookings via Loyalty

Beyond these three properties, Thema Collection's community and conservation work continues at a group level: a Biodiversity Education & Research Initiative funds university-led research across the portfolio, and a paper recycling centre turns waste from properties group-wide into baggage tags and souvenir elephants.

Marisa Nolan with the Thema Collection team

The Partnership

An early adopter of experiential travel, paired with a platform built to sell it

"When I first met Thema Collection, what really stood out was the brand. They had such a strong brand focused on sustainability, luxury boutique accommodations, and experiential travel, and that for me at Profitroom was super exciting, because that's our ideal customer in terms of being able to support them through the booking engine and the platform, and allowing them to really market that experiential side of things."

Marisa Nolan · Regional Director, APAC, Profitroom

"The relationship with Profitroom has been really important. The support has been very good. The system and the solution in itself is really top-notch, teams quite like working with the booking engine."

Maxime Wickramasinghe · Director of Marketing & Business Development, Thema Collection

Marisa Nolan, Regional Director APAC, led the partnership from the outset and continues to work closely with Thema Collection across its portfolio in Sri Lanka.

What's Next

Kalpitiya, Yala, and Tangalle: new stories, not more rooms

With a connected commercial platform now underpinning the group, Thema Collection's next phase is about geography, not scale.

Over the next five years, the plan is to open in destinations that are still largely undiscovered, including Kalpitiya, the other side of Yala, and Tangalle, while holding the group at its current footprint of around 352 rooms.

"We're not going to extend the number of rooms or number of properties. We're trying to extend the number of experiences."

Chandra Wickramasinghe · Founder & Chairman, Thema Collection

Next Five Years

Kalpitiya

Northwest Coast

Tangalle

South Coast

Yala National Park

The Other Side

Still-Undiscovered Sri Lanka ~352 rooms, held steady

About Thema Collection

Sri Lanka · 16 Properties

Thema Collection is a Sri Lankan hotel group built around distinct, theme-led properties, each reflecting the culture, nature, and community of its location. The group works closely with local communities on conservation and sustainability, including a dedicated biodiversity research initiative and a group-wide paper recycling programme.

About Profitroom

Integrated technology for hotels worldwide

Profitroom provides integrated technology solutions for hotels worldwide. Trusted by over 4,500+ hotels across 50+ markets, our platform combines website, booking engine, packages, CRM, loyalty, and distribution into one seamless ecosystem, giving hotels the tools to own their guest relationships and grow direct revenue.

How Thema Collection turned unique experiences into direct bookings

The transformation, in their own words