Dambuza: Hotelier with many interests
Pauline Dikuelo | Tuesday July 26, 2022 06:00
When Sylvia Matimbah Dambuza opened her first hotel, Honeymoon, in Serowe 20 years ago she was just a traveller who saw a gap in the market and took advantage of it.
To date, she operates a 30-bedroomed Honeymoon Hotel and two lodges in Serowe namely; the 11-bedroomed My Destiny Agro Resort and the 18-bedroomed We Care Lodge.
“I was just an entrepreneur who loved travelling and during my visits I developed an interest in this industry. I accessed the market and saw potential because by then there was only one hotel in Serowe despite the growing number of tourists,” she said.
Dambuza then invested her money to construct 20 rooms at her first hotel, Honeymoon. As the demand grew, she then approached the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency for assistance which then financed the additional double storey that houses 10 bedrooms, a conference centre, and restaurants.
Later in 2016, she developed an interest in agro-tourism and added another lodge under her belt, My Destiny.
“When government was busy encouraging locals to tap into agro-tourism, I had developed an interest and designed my additional lodge based on that model. The lodge has a restaurant and wedding gardens, and we offer ploughing lessons to various schools. For now, we have different birds like peacocks and fantails,' she said.
Five years later, she then opened We Care Lodge as her business flourished.
Her biggest clients are those who come for their wedding services, parties, retreats, and walk-in families who come for relaxation.
She said the reception has been overwhelming and has bigger plans for expanding her empire but is limited by land.
“One of my biggest challenges is the shortage of land. I want to set up something similar to Sun City and I want to have a place that will house wild animals. The market is there and needs to be tapped into,” she said.
Dambuza further noted that the industry has potential, highlighting the need for a hospitality school that offers short courses on etiquette.
“Most of our staff in this industry needs to be trained, especially if we want to provide world-class service. I hope there were available retreats and workshops about this, it would go a long way in improving our industry,” she said.