Country Club has a good year
The state-owned tourism enterprise performed well in the last financial year despite the global downturn.
The Windhoek Country Club Resort and Casino handed over a dividend of N$6 million for the 2017/18 financial year to environment minister Pohamba Shifeta.
Also present at the handover was public enterprises minister Leon Jooste.
Shifeta said the Country Club had over the years proven itself as a reputable company.
“The vision for tourism is for a growing, vigorous and dynamic economic sector that brings social and economic benefits to all Namibians, notably via the generation of jobs and income.”
Shifeta said tourism is the only sector that continues to grow worldwide despite the economic downturn.
“The N$6 million in dividends we are receiving today will go a long way in contributing to the fiscus and development of our country. This is a clear testimony that the board and the management are running the company with integrity and in a prudent manner.”
According to him the board also managed to grow the company's asset base from N$174 million in 2009 to over N$329 million in 2107.
“With further reduction in the purchasing power of consumers in the source markets, clients have become extremely price conscious and value driven. The challenge facing the hospitality industry is that poor customer care and increased occurrences of crime against tourists,” Shifeta said.
He said Namibia should focus on creating a culture of excellence in both the public and private sectors.
The board chairperson of the Country Club, Sven Thieme, expressed satisfaction with the company's achievement in the past financial year.
“As we all know, the economy has been facing tough times for the past two years and this also has an impact on certain aspects of our business. Tourism, however, remains robust and in 2017 we were able to maintain the high performance and good results attained in the previous year.”
Thieme added that he was delighted with the results achieved at the Windhoek Country Club.
“Once again, the team at the Windhoek Country Club can stand proud and I, for one, am excited about the achievements.”
He said highlights of the past year included the completion of the hotel refurbishment and the output of the solar energy plant, which not only saves money but also electricity.
Other highlights he mentioned included the satisfied and happy guests and conference attendees who frequented the hotel.
“It is worth mentioning that the refurbishments were fully paid out of the Windhoek Country Club's own cash reserves and that, by itself, is a great accomplishment. We are grateful and excited to be able to pay dividends to the government, thereby proving once again that the Country Club is a success story.”
The general manager of the Country Club, Tony Boucher, said the 2017/18 financial year proved to be challenging and the core focus areas were to maintain cost-containment measures and to implement new, innovative ways of generating additional income streams.
“The hotel successfully improved occupancy, average rate, turnover and profitability despite the inclement economic conditions. Casino operations remain a focal point for the foreseeable future as a result of the ever-increasing pressure on the consumer's disposable income levels.”
ELLANIE SMIT
Also present at the handover was public enterprises minister Leon Jooste.
Shifeta said the Country Club had over the years proven itself as a reputable company.
“The vision for tourism is for a growing, vigorous and dynamic economic sector that brings social and economic benefits to all Namibians, notably via the generation of jobs and income.”
Shifeta said tourism is the only sector that continues to grow worldwide despite the economic downturn.
“The N$6 million in dividends we are receiving today will go a long way in contributing to the fiscus and development of our country. This is a clear testimony that the board and the management are running the company with integrity and in a prudent manner.”
According to him the board also managed to grow the company's asset base from N$174 million in 2009 to over N$329 million in 2107.
“With further reduction in the purchasing power of consumers in the source markets, clients have become extremely price conscious and value driven. The challenge facing the hospitality industry is that poor customer care and increased occurrences of crime against tourists,” Shifeta said.
He said Namibia should focus on creating a culture of excellence in both the public and private sectors.
The board chairperson of the Country Club, Sven Thieme, expressed satisfaction with the company's achievement in the past financial year.
“As we all know, the economy has been facing tough times for the past two years and this also has an impact on certain aspects of our business. Tourism, however, remains robust and in 2017 we were able to maintain the high performance and good results attained in the previous year.”
Thieme added that he was delighted with the results achieved at the Windhoek Country Club.
“Once again, the team at the Windhoek Country Club can stand proud and I, for one, am excited about the achievements.”
He said highlights of the past year included the completion of the hotel refurbishment and the output of the solar energy plant, which not only saves money but also electricity.
Other highlights he mentioned included the satisfied and happy guests and conference attendees who frequented the hotel.
“It is worth mentioning that the refurbishments were fully paid out of the Windhoek Country Club's own cash reserves and that, by itself, is a great accomplishment. We are grateful and excited to be able to pay dividends to the government, thereby proving once again that the Country Club is a success story.”
The general manager of the Country Club, Tony Boucher, said the 2017/18 financial year proved to be challenging and the core focus areas were to maintain cost-containment measures and to implement new, innovative ways of generating additional income streams.
“The hotel successfully improved occupancy, average rate, turnover and profitability despite the inclement economic conditions. Casino operations remain a focal point for the foreseeable future as a result of the ever-increasing pressure on the consumer's disposable income levels.”
ELLANIE SMIT
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article