David Hopps
David is the odd one out in the Red Dot team, being the only one based in England. A founding director of Red Dot with Charlie Austin, he runs the UK office, a role which primarily involves dreaming of lazy days on Sri Lankan beaches while wrestling with Red Dot finances. He visits Sri Lanka regularly, whereupon he invariably attempts to escape Charlie’s demanding meetings diary and re-explore a country that he first fell in love with 15 years ago on an England A cricket tour. He is also a senior cricket writer on The Guardian and has covered numerous overseas tours. He no longer has time to write cricket books, not that anyone seems to have noticed.

Charlie Austin
Charlie moved to Sri Lanka in pursuit of work experience with an environmental NGO after completing a Masters degree at Sussex University. However, upon arriving in Sri Lanka in September 1999, his career soon took a different direction as he was appointed Country Manager of Cricinfo.com, the world’s leading cricket website. Having fallen for Sri Lanka’s charms, he also set-up Red Dot with David Hopps in the same year. He heads our sales team in Colombo and also plays a lead role in the development of our new products and services. His special areas of expertise include boutique hotels, villa holidays and family itineraries. His passions are food and cricket. As well as being a director of Red Dot and Cricinfo, he runs a sports management business with his wife, Suthami, called Austin Management Limited (AML) that manages several Sri Lanka cricketers, including Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Lasith Malinga. He is also the co-owner of ADL alongside Mike Davis, an old school friend from Bryanston School in Dorset. The pair are opening their first boutique hotel in September 2008 called The Wallawwa, a luxurious 15-bedrom property near Colombo airport.

Kantha Senenayake
Another St Peter’s College old boy, Kantha had a number of computer based jobs before being snapped up by Red Dot. Kantha came to the company in 2003 and has the important job of keeping our website online and up to date. As well as a skilled web designer, Kantha is a talented sportsman. He is a keen rugby player and, at his most rotund, has often been mistaken for the former Sri Lanka captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, while on the cricket field. Christina’s jogging programme should reduce the chances of that. He also enjoys playing Sri Lankan folk music on the guitar.

Dirk de Silva
Has settled quickly to his role as sales consultant since joining us in early 2006 and is already a respected and valuable member of the team. Educated at St Thomas College, in Colombo, he has a keen interest in driving and occasionally racing – and is particularly drawn to driving on rough outdoor terrain. Jeremy Clarkson, though, he is not. He says of his role at Red Dot: ``My profession grants me the opportunity to reveal the invigorating beauty of the earth to those who seek to find that inner peace through nature’s humbling, picturesque beauty. This by far is the most fulfilling part of my life.’’ How can you turn down an offer like that?

Ayanthi Samarajewa
Ayanthi joined the Red Dot sales team in October 2006 after two years’ experience in the travel industry. She gained an honours degree in commerce in 2005 from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. Her interest include reading, travelling and mostly bird watching. She plans to get the ‘birdwatching bug’ in to Red Dot and have the privilege of having her hobby as part of her job.

Kishani Gunewardene
Kishani joined Red Dot’s Colombo office in May 2006 as a travel writer and tour development consultant. She is an ardent traveller frequently exploring interesting destinations overseas as well as within Sri Lanka and has a passion for history, architecture, interior design, photography, and the creative arts. The Red Dot experience enables her to combine all her interests for the purpose of promoting Sri Lanka. She is also a qualified special education director and family counsellor and runs a charity in Colombo for children and young adults with intellectual impairment.

Jagathsingh Jayasingh
Jagath joined Red Dot Tours as an Operations Executive in December 2006 after a successful four-year stint with Walkers Tours. He is well regarded in the Sri Lankan travel industry He is an old boy of St Thomas College with an aptitude for cricket and foot ball. He loves to go white water rafting. He still has a special affinity for his home town, Hatton, deep in the Sri Lankan highlands.

Nikki Watson
Joined Red Dot in July 2007. She spent a successful three years with Emirates Airlines, training in Dubai in reservations, ticketing and holidays. She worked initially in the reservations department and then with Emirates Holidays. She left Emirates when she got married, and worked for a time alongside her husband in events promotions. Red Dot has given her a chance to move back into travel. She was schooled at St Bridget's convent school in Colombo. Her interests are travelling, sports -- particularly badminton, athetics and swimming -- and wildlife.

Anthony Lance Felsinger
Joined Red Dot in 2007 as a travel assistant, and ranks as one the most artistic members of our team. He trains ands conducts school choirs and also is skilled in modern Kandyan dancing. "Music is a part of my life," he says, although he mostly has to manage without it during working hours. He also loves safaris and has a keen interest in wild animals. Lance is a great enthusiast who says he loves working for Red Dot because ``it’s a place which you can discover the world's most beautiful places.'' That's by far the nicest thing anyone has said about our new office.

Ishan Thrimanne
Ishan joined Red Dot Tours as a Senior Operations Co-ordinator in July 2007 after a successful eight-year stint with Aitken Spence Travels. He is well regarded in the Sri Lankan travel industry and known for his easy-going nature and sense of humour, both of which come in particularly handy on the most stressful days in the Colombo office. He is an old boy of St Peters College with an aptitude for cricket and rugby but his main passion in life has always been the wild. A love for nature and wildlife -- especially snakes -- led him to join the young zoologists' association of Sri Lanka at an early age. He also has an extensive knowledge on adventure sports and is says that he is ever willing "to try out the impossible.'' We will have to put that to the test.

Archie Fellowes
Having recently graduated with Ba honours in Human Geography from the University of Exeter in the summer of 2009, Archie started work for Red Dot as soon as he completed his finals. He has worked initially in travel writing, tour development, and in the marketing department, and assumes the role of Red Dot Cricket Coordinator leading up to the Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. Despite being fresh out of university in England, Archie is no stranger to working and writing overseas, having gained experience as a volunteer journalist within the Tibetan exile community in Northern India in 2008. Archie’s passions lie in travelling and cricket; "I don't like cricket – I love it", he says.

Thusitha De Silva
Thusitha studied and worked in Australia for more than five years at the turn of the century before returning to Sri Lanka to take up a post with Jetwing Travels. He joined Red Dot as a senior sales consultant in December 2007 and his efficiency, positive outlook and keen sense of humour has already enhanced our sales team. A former Head Prefect at St Thomas’ College, one of Colombo’s most prestigious, he gained a business degree at the University of Technology in Sydney, specialising in tourism and is now doing research in his spare time to complete his MBA. He is a licensed tourist guide lecturer with a sound knowledge of the country and is particularly passionate about archeology and wildlife.

Trevine Perera
Trevine has joined Red Dot as a specialist flights consultant. When not bringing an air of calm and efficiency to the Red Dot office, this former pupil of St Peter's College remains committed to his studies. As well as studying part time at the International Ticketing Academy in Colombo, he is also following a web designing course. He lives close to the office as well, so rest assured that he will have to suffer all the emergency shifts!

Rajiv Chopra
After graduating in science from Delhi University, Rajiv worked with a chemical manufacturing firm before realizing that it wasn’t for him. He took a post-graduate diploma in tourism and has never looked back. He has been in the travel industry since 1982 and has handled all types of travel-related events such as group and individual tours, charters, conventions, educational trips, wildlife tours and so on. His in-depth knowledge and tourism contacts make him an expert in planning and operating tours in India. Whenever he finds time, likes to swim, play volleyball and chess.

Yashwant Kumar
Yashwant also graduated from Delhi University, in arts and Indian history. He joined the travel industry in 1981 and has specialized in operations for more than a decade. His hobbies include playing cricket, watching movies and travelling, talking his way into attending as many trade fairs as he can.

Satpal Minotra
Another graduate of Delhi University, Minotra spent about three years in the hotel industry before moving into travel and he is another member of our India team with vast experience. He is a keen lover of wildlife and nature.