Sedie Hotel makes strong post-pandemic recovery

Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday November 6, 2023 06:00

 

New beginnings: Sedie Hotel has been spruced up and is enjoying higher occupancies

Sedie, which is under Desert and Delta Safaris, a subsidiary of Chobe Holdings, has seen increasingly higher numbers of both local and international visitors, even exceeding pre-pandemic occupancies, Desert and Delta Safaris marketing coordinator, Blessing Lechane, said.

Part of the allure driving the numbers if the refurbishment.

“The hotel conducted no renovations while the nation was placed under complete lockdown,” Lechane said. “We began to reassess the property just as we were getting back to our regular lives in 2020, and we decided that the location needed a total makeover at that point.”

As part of the revamp and expansion, Sedie was increased from 24 standard rooms to 40, while work was also done on the six two-bedroom cottages.

Lechane described the pandemic as a total nightmare for the travel and hospitality sector. He said while business began to gradually get back to normal in 2021, both domestic and foreign tourists lacked the confidence to travel.

"People weren't sure they would travel again or if the country was even open for business again,” he said. “So there weren't any foreign tourists visiting Botswana," he continued.

Lechane expressed gratitude to Chobe Holdings for reassuring visitors through a broad immunisation campaign. He explained that through the initiative, which was started through the business's Safari Air division, nurses were sent by air to each of group’s camps to conduct vaccinations.

"After the immunisation drive, we saw that most visitors were confident enough to visit,” Lechane said.

Sedie Hotel has 69 workers, with more than half being women. The marketing coordinator said boosting the empowerment of Batswana and women would ultimately improve the country’s tourism sector.

“All of the guides at Chobe Game Lodge are women, and this is also the case at the Sedie Hotel. “We have also empowered staff over the years, for example, by sending several of the pastry chefs to a culinary school for a fully compensated course,” Lechane said.

Sedie Hotel, he said, acts as training ground for staff before they are deployed into the camps in the Okavango Delta.