Chobe’s rebound

MBONGENI MGUNI

Established 40 years ago, Chobe Holdings Limited operates two famous safari brands, Desert & Delta Safaris and Ker & Downey Botswana, as well as providing safari services through its tour operator-The Booking Company and integrated air charter operator, Safari Air. The iconic lodges and camps spread throughout the tourism heartland in the northwest under the Chobe group include Chobe Game Lodge, Chobe Savanna Lodge, Savute Safari Lodge, Camp Moremi, as well as, Dinaka, Footsteps, Kanana, Shinde and others.

In 2019, Chobe purchased the Sedia Riverside Hotel in Maun and is currently renovating the hotel to achieve a three-star rating. The group is also involved in the diversification of northern Botswana’s rural economy through its shareholding in Chobe Farms and Chobe Bream.

Mmegi:

Your latest financials indicate that Chobe Holdings’ occupancies have improved beyond pre-COVID levels. What is your comment on the general state of the travel and tourism industry, relative to the impact of COVID-19?

Odumetse:

COVID–19 was possibly one of the most challenging events in modern world history and alongside absolutely everyone else, as a business, we had to weather the storm.

Travel and tourism group, Chobe Holdings’ share price has risen by about 88% this year, the best performance on the Botswana Stock Exchange. Profits and occupancies have also risen by double digits in the half year. Group MD, Lempheditse ‘MC’ Odumetse speaks to Staff Writer, on the factors behind the numbers

Our approach, at the onset of the COVID pandemic, when we realised how intensely it would affect our business, was to focus our strategies, tighten controls on our business practices and accelerate our marketing and messaging. This was done intentionally to re-align ourselves so that we exit the COVID era better off than we were when the pandemic hit us. These were not just words or thoughts, they became real practice and applied actions.

First and foremost, the intent to protect our employees at the onslaught of the pandemic became our priority. Chobe Holdings’ success as we see it today would never happen without our people and the efforts to retain our workforce at times when the industry at large, was letting people go.

With that, our commitment to maintain and grow the social and environmental initiatives we support, which ultimately lead to the empowerment and development of our citizens and the destination we rely on to operate our business, were focus areas and priorities for us at that time.

The results of those actions were twofold: it ensured we retained the expertise we had invested in our human capital before COVID, providing security and positivity amongst our employees during very tough times.

Secondly, it sent a very big message to the marketplace, our network of agents who promote Botswana, that Chobe Holdings and its subsidiary brands are solidly aligned with how and what we market to the world. This is the cornerstone of marketplace confidence. As a result, we have gained more customers, who previously would have supported other destinations or products. Post-COVID, the evidence is as clear as daylight that what Chobe Holdings and its subsidiary companies do, is backed by action, not just talk.

In terms of the bigger picture, globally the travel industry contributes impressively to the general well-being of most economies. It empowers people at all levels, is a formidable foreign income earning industry and is proven to be a core industry contributing to poverty upliftment amongst communities.

I think the recovery of the travel and tourism industry globally is in progress. COVID possibly inspired people to look beyond the perimeters of their daily lives and encouraged the desire to explore our amazing world.

Mmegi:

Your half-year results indicate an increase in pretax profit of just over 52%. To what do you chiefly attribute this strong performance?

Odumetse:

The backbone of Chobe Holdings is not within our infrastructure – it is solidly manifest within our people.

Our staff, across the board, have buy-in to what we want to achieve for all. Performance is a team effort and in our case, most definitely the efforts of our people to achieve our success. The financial performance of the company is the bringing together of the various departments and functions within the subsidiary brands and companies of Chobe Holdings.

Properly designed systems, effective financial controls, and dedicated marketplace relationships with the agents and people who support our business units, all have an impact on the overall performance of the group.

Mmegi: Your occupancies for the period have also increased to 67% compared to 55% in the prior corresponding period. What work underpinned this improvement? Odumetse: As a group, we are very privileged to have some long-standing and dedicated human capital within our ranks, who understand our business and the importance of the supply chain we rely on to maintain and grow business. In recent hard times, through our subsidiaries, we embraced and were understanding of the