City Lodge wants room for Chinese
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Consumer Industries Editor
CAPE TOWN City Lodge Hotels has established valuable ties with tour operators to build a greater presence in the Chinese market, taking advantage of the trend where growing numbers of Chinese visitors are coming to SA, chairman Hans Enderle and CE Clifford Ross said in the group`s latest annual report.
City Lodge said travel trade events such as the World Travel Market in London and the Indaba travel trade event in SA have proved their worth in marketing the group`s hotels and SA to a range of tour operators.
SA`s hosting of the 2010 World Soccer Cup was also `something to look forward to` as there would be valuable spin-offs for the hospitality industry in the lead-up to the global event, while it was being staged and once the excitement was over, said the report.
In the year to June the group returned to television as a medium to market its hotels after a long absence. The directors said the advertisements had been enthusiastically received and as all the production costs had been accounted for, the company said they would be a valuable investment for maintaining and building the group`s image and market share in the future.
An important event for the industry was the announcement that a transformation committee had been formed to formulate a black economic empowerment charter and scorecard for the hospitality industry, the report said.
The directors said the group was fully committed to black economic empowerment and it had established a subcommittee of its board to consider questions surrounding empowerment .
The directors said that they expected to make announcements in the current year about new sites to expand the group`s portfolio of hotels.
The company said it expected earnings to grow if trading conditions remained favourable.
City Lodge grew headline earnings 15% and dividends 38% in the year to June.
The chain`s shares have risen 143% from R12,20 in mid-2002 to an eight-year peak of R29,60 in August . The leisure and hotels index rose 92% in the same period.
Oct 14 2004 07:30:10:000AM Charlotte Mathews Business Day 1st Edition
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