admin
In the full year to September 30, 2012, the group recorded US$54,4 million in turnover. Chief executive Dr Shingi Munyeza told an annual general meeting last Friday that operating costs for the four months were down 4 percent, pushing EBIDTA to 12 percent, compared with 7 percent in the previous comparable period.
Revenue per average room surged 8 percent, driven by a 19 percent growth in ADR, while rooms sold were down 8 percent, partly due to ongoing refurbishments.
Dr Munyeza said the local market remained depressed due to prevailing liquidity constraints.
But international arrivals during the period rose 8,7 percent led by North America, which was up 36,6 percent. Asian occupancy grew by 34 percent, European by 9,4 percent while Australian was up 1,6 percent.
Arrivals from Africa were, however, down 9,6 percent, primarily due to lower air access from South Africa.
“We have a very tight liquidity market affecting a lot of our business partners and our customers, but you will notice that on the high side, North America is really coming up and we see this trend being sustained. We also see a comeback on Europe (traditionally the biggest market) and Asia, particularly Japan,” said Dr Munyeza.
He said African Sun would engage South African Airways as well as British Airways (operated by Comair) to try and find a way of increasing flight frequency in Victoria Falls.
“We have a pending proposal with the airlines in South Africa to see what can be done to increase capacity . . . particularly in the Victoria Falls area,” said Dr Munyeza.
The refurbishment exercise is ongoing with Crown Plaza expected to be complete by June this year while Holiday Inn Bulawayo would be completed earlier. Phase two has already begun and involves refurbishment of Victoria Falls hotels. Dr Munyeza said the group was restructuring short-term debt into long-term paper.
“Stage number two is to reduce that debt and also target a reduction of 19 percent cost of the debt to 14 percent,” he said.
“We have advanced very well and we are hoping to make an announcement in the foreseeable future.”
On elections, Dr Munyeza said the group would experience good business prior to the polls, but expressed concern over the post–election environment which may cause “disturbances” that would cause “discomfort” to the source markets. He said forward bookings for the period between July and September were “looking good”.
City hotels continue to do well, although they are still under refurbishment. Dr Munyeza said the United Nations World Tourism Organisation indaba was not expected to impact on business but would provide “a unique opportunity to market our destination”.
Online Reporter