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| Hotels & Resorts |
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Innovative, world class services
& solutions |
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| Build and leverage the Sun International brand |
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| CUSTOMER PROFILE |
The international customer base of Sun International's
hotels and resorts comprises foreign inclusive travellers
(FITs), MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and
exhibitions) and leisure group travellers. We have focused
particularly on the significant emerging tourism markets
of Brazil, India, China and Russia, with all these markets
yielding good growth year on year. Partnerships with
the direct sales channels remain key in ensuring that our hotels and resorts continue to enjoy a healthy market
share of inbound tourist arrivals.
Locally, Sun International customers consist of corporate
business and group travellers, leisure and gaming guests.
Group bookings are generated via our direct corporate
sales force complemented by travel agents and professional
conference/event organisers. |
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| LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL
MARKET STATISTICS |
| International and national market statistics for the group's
resorts and hotels for the last two years are reflected in
the table below: |
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| Resorts and hotels occupancies and rates |
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2007 |
2006 |
| Resorts room nights available (000’s) |
1 080 |
1 102 |
| Resorts room nights sold (000’s) |
818 |
794 |
| Occupancies achieved (%) |
75,7 |
72,0 |
| Local room nights sold (000’s) |
577 |
553 |
| Occupancies achieved (%) |
53,4 |
50,2 |
International room nights
sold (000’s) |
241 |
241 |
| Occupancies achieved (%) |
22,3 |
21,8 |
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Occupancies at the group's hotels and resorts improved to
76%, four percentage points ahead of last year. Sun City,
the Table Bay Hotel and The Falls Resort in Zambia were
the major contributors to this growth.
The average room rate achieved of R880 increased by
9% over last year. International and local rates increased
on average by 11% and 8% respectively. The overall
rate increase achieved was substantially higher than the
previous year's 4% due to: |
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Higher yielding international room night sales in the
Royal Livingstone and Zambezi Sun increased by 17%
and 25% respectively. |
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Despite a slight decline in the international volumes
at the Table Bay, the property was able to yield a far
superior international room rate, which saw an increase
of 11%. A similar strategy was adopted at Sun City
which also saw an overall increase in the international
rate of 11%. |
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National Sales had an extremely successful year,
generating volume growths in excess of 20% mainly
as a result of the buoyant local economy. This growth
was also facilitated by the alignment of the sales force
to focus on key accounts as opposed to business
segments and sources. Sports and promotions have
adopted a strategic focus on core entertainment and
sporting events such as golf tournaments, beauty
pageants and festival events. |
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The increase in demand together with the strategy
to yield higher rates resulted in a decline in volume
in the lower yielding Escape and Sunscapes/Winter
Warmer market segments. |
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The impact of the main hotel refurbishment at Sun City,
which commenced in February 2007, resulted in a decline
in available inventory of 21 500 room nights. This translated
into a decline of 12 300 room nights sold. Through our
rooms merchandising process, the resort recorded 360 000
room nights sold, only 200 less than those sold in the prior
year. Due to the decline in available room nights, resort
occupancy increased by four percentage points to 79%
against the prior year.
The Royal Livingstone and Zambezi Sun at the Victoria
Falls had another very successful year, achieving a six
percentage point increase in occupancy to 74%. Growth
was evident in all the major segments but significant
within the international segment, which saw an increase
in volume of 20%.
Table Bay Hotel's occupancy rate increased by two
percentage points to 72%, a reflection of the continued
demand for Cape Town, particularly during the traditionally
low season
winter months. |
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| DEVELOPMENTS AND REFURBISHMENTS |
| Sun City |
The Cabanas rooms softs refurbishment was completed in
February 2007 at a final cost of
R24 million.
The extensive refurbishment to the Main Hotel commenced
in February 2007, with the first phase (170 rooms) projected
to be complete by November 2007. The second phase of the
refurbishment will be completed between February and
November 2008. The total cost of the entire refurbishment
is estimated at R260 million, including the replacement of
major infrastructure and back-of-house refurbishment.
The final phase of the Superbowl refurbishment was
completed in the year at a cost of
R7 million. This included
seating and flooring. |
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| The Table Bay |
| During the year, the corridor carpets, the lounge softs
and carpets and the convention centre carpets were all
replaced at a cost of R3 million. |
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| Egypt |
The Sun International Port Ghalib project has gained
momentum and opening is estimated to be at the end of
2007. Sun International has a long-term management
contract for three hotels – the deluxe The Palace at Port
Ghalib and the four star Sahara Sun Sands and Sahara Sun
Oasis hotels – totalling 948 rooms, as well as a 1 000 seat
International Convention Centre. The greater Port Ghalib
project includes a 1 000 berth international marina, several
residential developments, a 1,2 km corniche with food and
beverage and retail outlets and a traditional Egyptian souk,
and the Marsa Alam International Airport five minutes
away from
the resort. |
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| Marketing Strategy |
Our hotels and resorts marketing and public relations philosophy has had a strong emphasis on building and leveraging the Sun International brand. This has been an exciting challenge as we continually need to address competitive advantages to reinforce our position as a formidable competitor within the industry. This is achieved by fully understanding the needs of all our stakeholders both locally and internationally. We remain proactive in delivering innovative, world class services and leisure experiences through state-of-the-art technology, creative internal and external communication, relevant pricing and irresistible product offerings.
Our marketing strategy has been a strong blend of new direct sales efforts, brand building initiatives, creative and significant public relations initiatives and a meaningful move forward in the e-commerce marketing arena. |
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| International marketing offices |
The international marketing offices expanded in Italy and Spain, moving from representation to dedicated Sun International offices. Expanding on the drive for MICE business, a dedicated MICE manager was recruited in the UK office to ensure complete representation of
all properties. |
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| Route of the African Sun |
| The high yielding Route of the African Sun package will be further enhanced by the launch and incorporation of the Egyptian properties in March 2008. This popular package will now include The Table Bay in Cape Town, The Palace of the Lost City at Sun City, the Royal Livingstone in Zambia and the Palace at Port Ghalib in Egypt. |
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| Dreams |
| Dreams was initially set up as a local tour operator dedicated to selling Sun International’s Zambian resort at Victoria Falls for both FIT and group bookings. These properties contributed 85% of the business with the other group properties contributing the remaining 15%. Dreams generates market demand through tailored marketing campaigns and constant contact with the retail travel trade. As a licensed tour operator, Dreams has been able to provide the convenience of a full travel package offering to the market, inclusive of flights and added value activities at competitive prices. Consequently, Dreams has played an important role in ensuring the tremendous growth and success of the Zambian resort. Volumes increased by 37% over the prior year. |
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| Our marketing strategy has been a strong blend of new direct sales efforts, brand building initiatives, creative and significant public relations initiatives and a meaningful move forward in the e-commerce marketing arena. |
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| Internet |
The integrated digital strategy was further enhanced with campaigns targeting specific segments with a call to action linking to the Sun International website. The effectiveness of the virtual campaigns was further expanded with a rollout into Africa, allowing for greater brand and property exposure in line with an interactive sales brochure.
The strategy behind the website is to create continued brand awareness to increase acquisition and retain a growing online customer database. A more user-friendly consumer focused website is scheduled for launch in November 2007. |
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| Major events |
The Nedbank Golf Challenge (NGC) remains the most popular tournament on the South African golfing calendar and it consistently attracts the world’s best golfers. The NGC secures massive television exposure for Sun City with an estimated 1,4 billion viewers. SuperSport has the local exclusive broadcast rights and the ever growing international exposure is considerable. Setanta Sports (UK, Ireland), Fox Australia, Golf Channel (USA & Canada), Sony India, Jupiter Golf (Japan) and many other major sports channels cover the four-day event resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in publicity. It is estimated that last year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge generated the equivalent of approximately R80 million in local print and broadcast exposure. This is a significant return on investment.
The Women’s World Cup of Golf was held in January 2007 at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City. The success of the event has been reflected in growing global television audiences and interest.
These figures are attributed to local and international television viewers, print, radio and website hits. These are impressive, given that the event is only three years old. The tournament has been staged at Sun City for the past two years, and is set to return once again from 14-20 January 2008 with support coming from local telecommunications giant Telkom and the North West Province.
The Superbowl glittered in its platinum setting at the combined 2006 Miss South Africa and Miss SA Teen pageants held in December 2006 at Sun City. The Superbowl is the ideal platform to introduce South Africa to the finalists of both pageants, together with the symphony of entertainment laid on by Kabelo, Unathi, The Bala Brothers, Hi 5 and Brandon October. This year’s production eclipsed previous events in a celebration of style.
At this year’s POSI+IVE 2007 event, Sun International proved its ability to deliver the best entertainment in Africa, rivalling even the most glamorous events in Europe. The charity fundraiser sponsored by Vodacom and Mercedes Benz, in aid of the Tapologo AIDS Hospice near Sun City, Noah in KwaZulu-Natal, St Michaels Hospice in Cape Town and Missionvale Care Centre in Port Elizabeth, was held on Friday 15 June in the Sun City Superbowl. Fashionistas, South Africa’s A list, Jozi’s elite and international and local media were presented with a visual feast of fashion, food and art while being rocked to the headline cameo performances of John Legend, Ismael Lo, Freshlyground, the Mahotella Queens and Wonderboom, among others. |
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