malvernmugadzikwa
Oliver Kazunga
Leading hospitality firm, Rainbow Tourism Group, has invested over US$23 million in product refurbishment in the last 10 years as it remained focused on delivering world-class service into the market.
The appetite to spruce up its facilities dotted across the country has not been pushed back due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that the global community has been battling with for the past two years.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a respiratory infection that was first detected in China in December 2019 before spreading to the rest of the world and Zimbabwe recorded its first outbreak of the viral disease in March 2020.
As part of measures to contain the pandemic, countries around the globe in line with the World Health Organisation guidelines, embarked on national lockdowns and travel restrictions.
In the process, national economies world over were negatively affected with the tourism sector being the largest-hit forcing some companies within the travel and tourism sector to streamline their operations and retrenching the workforce.
Speaking during the group’s 23rd Annual General Meeting in Harare on Wednesday, RTG chief executive officer, Tendai Madziwanyika, said despite the adverse effects posed by the pandemic, the hospitality group remained engrossed in refurbishing its product.
“We have remained focused on delivering world-class service to our guests. The setback of the Covid-19 pandemic has not deterred us from our goals. In the last 10 years, we have invested over US$23 million in product refurbishment.
“We are proud to have managed to invest in the refurbishment of our city hotels to varying levels during the pandemic. This would not have been possible without the support of the board of directors and our devoted, resilient employees” he said.
On the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe, RTG completed the refurbishment of 183 guest rooms of its five-star Rainbow Towers Hotel and amp; conference centre in a record three months at an investment of US$4,6 million.
“This was the hotel’s first full rooms rebuild and refurbishment since its construction in 1985.
“The scope of works included the complete stripping of all the rooms, plumbing, electrical, ceiling works, new bathrooms, installation of two brand new guest and service elevators, and new in-room furniture and fittings at a total project cost of an equivalent of US$4,6 million. The hotel now offers world-leading rooms that can compete with other comparable five-star facilities.”
Madziwanyika said Rainbow Towers hotel was conferred with the prestigious Marketers Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ) hospitality sector Superbrand for 2021.
“We are humbled by this recognition and endorsement by the market. We believe that this is a testament to the quality of product we now have, in our flagship” he said.
The RTG boss said his company has also invested in the plumbing and bathrooms overhaul of the Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel as well as the installation of two brand new elevators.
More recently the guest elevators of the New Ambassador Hotel were replaced for the first time since the hotel was built.
Presently, works are underway at Kadoma Hotel and Conference Centre to replace the roofing and ceilings of three blocks with a total of 55 rooms.
“We understand that there is a correlation between product and service delivery. As such we must have systems and processes in place to ensure we deliver on the brand promise at all times. They are key to ensuring standardisation and consistency,” said Madziwanyika.
RTG is the only hotel group that is ISO certified by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe to the ISO ZW 9001:2015 risk-based thinking approach standard.
“We believe that it is our certification and experience in systems development that assisted in the design and implementation of comprehensive protocols and their rigorous enforcement and adherence which helped us to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic risks.
“At the height of the pandemic in 2020, not a single staff member tested positive for the virus.
“This, despite that we were the first hotel group to accept quarantine guests at a time when the science was still unclear.
“We thank God, our systems, and diligent employees that we did not lose any employees to the virus.”
Meanwhile, in the financial year ended December 31, 2021 the group’s posted revenues amounting to $2,8 billion against $2,4 billion in 2020 which is a 17 percent growth compared to the prior year.
This revenue performance was achieved despite the group losing an equivalence of five trading months during level 4 lockdowns.
The 17 percent revenue growth was positive when read together with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) 2021 report that global and Africa tourism increased by 4 percent and 12 percent respectively over prior year.
RTG closed the year under review with profit before tax of $249 million compared to $546 million posted in 2020. The hotels business recorded a 29 percent growth in occupancies to 31 percent from 24 percent recorded in 2020. The group’s major source of business was the domestic market driven by city hotels.
In the period under review, RTG closed the year with a gross margin of 72 percent, which was a percentage point improvement from 71 percent achieved in 2020.
Bongani Ndlovu