In its financials for the six months ended August 31, 2017, the group indicated that tourism activity in Southern Africa is at high levels, noting that its forward occupancy for the rest of the year is encouraging. The group’s chief executive officer, Keith Vincent stated that it is their strategic intent to invest in African tourism, adding that they have tailored their business model to have the most impact in this environment.
However, he said this model is vulnerable to events that impact on travellers. “The political and economic uncertainty in Kenya and Zimbabwe and the volatile currencies are a concern,” Vincent said. Meanwhile, he said the impact of the exchange rate on the revenue line was negligible, adding, however, that on the bottom line it was far more significant as the stronger pula and rand pushed real selling rates down, impacting negatively on performance in South Africa and Botswana in particular. According to Vincent, the South African rand (ZAR) gained 11% against the United States dollar (USD), while the Botswana pula (BWP) appreciated by five percent. He said in the volatile election environment in Kenya the downturn in performance of the group was expected and with the continued electoral uncertainty there could be further impact.
