Management services

Vision

To be the Premier Hospitality Management Company of choice, operating unique luxury accommodation establishments in Southern Africa

Mission Statement

By means of African Hotels & Adventures quality BRANDING and the provision of professional experienced Management and Marketing services to a choice selection of elegant and exclusive South African accommodation establishments, we strive to maximise benefits to our stakeholders; guests, owners, staff and the community, in a responsible manner.

The services provided by African Hotels & Adventures include; operational management of the hotel, sales & marketing services aimed at improving the occupancy and revenue to the hotel and central reservations services. In addition the Company provides consultancy services on new developments, which may lead to a management relationship with the developer and owners.

The key benefits of being part of the African Hotels & Adventures brand are;

• Specialist hospitality management expertise with a strong focus on the quality standards of small to medium luxury boutique hotels.
• Efficient central reservation infrastructure, with strong market penetration derived from no less than 10 on-line channels that will deliver increased revenue from reservations and improve the yield on rooms.
• Focused sales & marketing infrastructure aimed at the key sectors of the supply chain in both the domestic and international business & leisure sectors.
• Benefit from the strong partnership with Tourvest Inbound Operations and Tourvest Travel Services network which are both linked on-line to the Central Reservations Infrastructure.

African Hotels & Adventures management philosophy is founded on the 10 Golden Guidelines:

1. THE GUEST IS SUPREME
   Always create a positive impression
2. MAKE THE GUEST FEEL IMPORTANT
   Acknowledge guest and greet guests by name whenever possible.
3. SMILE – “WE ARE ON STAGE”
   Use proper vocabulary and telephone etiquette – use words like “Good morning, Certainly, I’ll be happy to and My Pleasure”
4. ANTICIPATE AND RESPOND TO GUESTS’ NEEDS
   Volunteer information and assistance.
5. TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
   React immediately to any requests
6. GIVE THE GUEST YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION
   Listen carefully. Be attentive. Accompany guests rather than pointing out other areas of the hotel.
7. BE AN AMBASSADOR OF YOUR HOTEL – IN AND OUT OF THE WORKPLACE
   Always talk positively about your Hotel and your Company
8. PRACTICE TEAMWORK AND RESPECT ALL INDIVIDUALS
   Including self-respect – take pride in your personal appearance.
9. AN EMPLOYEE WHO RECEIVES GUEST COMPLAINT “OWNS” THE COMPLAINT
   Deal with problems non-defensively; react quickly to correct the problem yourself.
10. KNOW YOUR JOB AND YOUR HOTEL
    The Hotel’s success depends on YOU

Anyone interested in obtaining more information on African Hotels & Adventures, with the view of joining the Group can contact us on:

Tel: +27 (0)21 465 3530or tolfree 0800 600 889(SA only)

Fax: +27(0)21 465 3377

Email: info@ahagroup.co.za

RESTRUCTURED HOTEL AND LODGE PORTFOLIO POSITIONS TOURVEST FOR GROWTH

The recent consolidation of Tourvest’s portfolio of owned and managed hotels and lodges has positioned the tourism group to take full advantage of growth opportunities presented by an improved economic outlook and spin offs from the World Cup.

Tourvest successfully handled the travel arrangements, accommodation and transfers of more than
70 000 visitors over the duration of the World Cup and brings about 110 000 tourists to South Africa every year.

In terms of the restructuring exercise, all properties owned and/or managed by Tourvest were consolidated under African Hotels and Adventures (AHA), which had been responsible for the sales, marketing and central reservations office for the group’s game lodges.   The expanded AHA now incorporates Relais Hotels and continues to manage and market the group’s existing portfolio while also looking at opportunities to expand the properties under management into areas of the country where Tourvest Destination Management and Tourvest Travel Services already conduct business.

From a sales perspective the hotels and lodges under AHA management have been divided into three sub-categories, each with its own specialised sales team, to cater for niche tourism markets. These consist of city hotels, lifestyle retreats and lodges.  Each Tourvest property is graded in the four or five star category by the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa. The only exception to this is Lesedi Cultural Village, which is graded three stars and the lodges located within Zimbabwe which are ungraded but fall within the parameters set by the grading council.

In addition to Lesedi, the hotels and lodges currently under Tourvest management consist of the iconic Casa do Sol in Mpumalanga, Imbabala Lodge on the Zambezi and the newly opened Elephant Camp in Victoria Falls, Makalali Private Game Lodge in Limpopo and Shakama Private Game Lodge and Spa in Limpopo, the Adderley Hotel, L’Ermitage Franschhoek Chateau & Villas, Simon’s Town Quayside Hotel, Leisure Bay Luxury Suites and Harbour Bridge Hotel & Suites all located in the Western Cape.

Gary Elmes, CEO of Tourvest Accommodation and Activities, the property and leisure activity division of the Tourvest group, said the consolidation exercise was part of the group’s strategy of increasing the number of hotels and lodges under its management in anticipation of a global recovery as well as an anticipated double-digit growth in tourist arrivals for a few years following the World Cup.

“We believe we offer independent hotel owners a number of benefits including integrated support functions, access to the e-Res reservation tool which plugs into as many as 14 online channels including leading global travel distribution systems such as Galileo, Amadeus, Expedia.com, Booking.com as well as the properties’ own online web booking engine and the large volumes of tourists sourced by the group’s travel agency and tour operator businesses.  In addition, AHA follows a soft branding approach where the AHA brand will discreetly support the brands of the individual hotels and lodges.

“Our focus is not limited to South Africa but extends throughout Africa and especially to those areas where the Tourvest group already has a presence. Tourvest is involved to varying degrees in a number of African countries and we see this as an opportunity to grow the AHA brand into these countries,” said Elmes.