Chobe’s rebound exceeds pre-COVID levels

Established 40 years ago, Chobe Holdings Limited operates two famous safari brands, Desert & Delta Safaris and Ker & Downey Botswana, as well as providing safari services through its tour operator The Booking Company and integrated air charter operator Safari Air. The iconic lodges and camps spread throughout the tourism heartland in the northwest under the Chobe group include Chobe Game Lodge, Chobe Savanna Lodge, Savute Safari Lodge, Camp Moremi as well as Dinaka, Footsteps, Kanana, Shinde and others.

In 2019 Chobe purchased the Sedia Riverside Hotel in Maun and is currently renovating the hotel to achieve a three star-grading. The group is also involved in the diversification of northern Botswana’s rural economy through its shareholding in Chobe Farms and Chobe Bream.

Mmegi: Your latest financials indicate that Chobe Holdings' occupancies have improved to beyond pre-COVID levels. What is your comment on the general state of the travel and tourism industry, relative to the impact of COVID-19?

Odumetse: COVID – 19 was possibly one of the most challenging events in modern world history and alongside absolutely everyone else, as a business, we had to weather the storm.

Our approach, at the onset of the COVID pandemic, when we realised how intensely it would affect our business, was to focus our strategies, tighten controls on our business practices and accelerate our marketing and messaging. This was done intentionally to re-align ourselves so that we exit the COVID era better off than what we were when the pandemic hit us. These were not just words or thoughts, they became real practice and applied actions.

First and foremost, the intent to protect our employees at the onslaught of the pandemic became our priority. Chobe Holdings’ success as we see it today would never happen without our people and the efforts to retain our workforce at times when the industry at large, were letting people go.

With that, our commitment to maintain and grow the social and environmental initiatives we support, which ultimately lead to the empowerment and development of our citizens and the destination we rely on to operate our business, were focus areas and priorities for us at that time.

The results of those actions were twofold: it ensured we retained the expertise we had invested in our human capital before COVID, providing security and positivity amongst our employees during very tough times.

Secondly, it sent a very big message to the market place, our network of agents who promote Botswana, that Chobe Holdings and its subsidiary brands, are solidly aligned with how and what we market to world. This is the cornerstone of market place confidence. As a result, we have gained more customers, who previously would have supported other destinations or products. Post COVID, the evidence is as clear as daylight that what Chobe Holdings, and it subsidiary companies do, is backed by action, not just talk.

In terms of the bigger picture, globally the travel industry contributes impressively to the general well-being of most economies. It empowers people at all levels, is a formidable foreign income earning industry and is proven to be a core industry contributing to poverty upliftment amongst communities.

I think the recovery of the travel and tourism industry globally is in progress. COVID possibly inspired people to look beyond the perimeters of their daily lives and encouraged the desire to explore our amazing world.

Mmegi: Your half year results indicate an increase in pretax profit of just over 52%. To what do you chiefly attribute this strong performance?

Odumetse: The backbone of Chobe Holdings is not within our infrastructure – it is solidly manifest within our people.

Our staff, across the board, have buy in to what we want to achieve for all. Performance is a team effort and in our case, most definitely the efforts of our people to achieve our success. The financial performance of the company is the brining together of the various departments and functions within the subsidiary brands and companies of Chobe Holdings.

Properly designed systems, effective financial controls, dedicated market place relationships with the agents and people who support our business units, all have impact on the overall performance for the group.

Mmegi: Your occupancies for the period have also increased to 67% compared to 55% in the prior corresponding period. What work underpinned this improvement?

Odumetse: As a group, we are very privileged to have some long standing and dedicated human capital within our ranks, who understand our business and the importance of the supply chain we rely on to maintain and grow business.

In recent hard times, through our subsidiaries, we embraced and were understanding to the key supply chain relationships. Unfortunately, this was not common practice for many of our competitors.

At the return of International travel, many of these supply chain partners, who we had embraced and protected during the tough times, dedicated their loyalty to our brands. This has substantially aided our occupancies post COVID, and we believe that the trust and support relationships within our supply chain will strengthen even further in years to come.

Mmegi Looking forward, what investments, if any, does Chobe Holdings have lined up in terms of revamping existing assets or expanding the portfolio?

Odumetse: A key contributor to the Chobe Holdings business practice has always been our constant investment in the upkeep of our properties and equipment and the strategic addition of new products and services to grow our overall business performance.

We are extremely proud of the tourism services we have to offer our market and know that the quality of our offering ranks amongst some of the top on a global level.

Our investment in ensuring the upkeep, refurbishment, rebuilding and new acquisitions of product are ongoing. In recent years we have effectively and entirely rebuilt, Camp Okavango, Camp Moremi, Dinaka, Shinde, Shinde Footsteps.

We have had major refurbishments at Chobe Game Lodge, Leroo La Tau, Kanana, Camp Xakanaxa and Okuti. Currently we are invested in a full rebuild of Savute Safari Lodge, which will reopen as brand new in June 2024 and have some substantial refurbishments happening at Nxamaseri. Investment in equipment, vehicles, and aircraft has also been substantial.

Mmegi: Please shed more light on the efforts Chobe is making to 'green' its activities and assets?

Odumetse: As an organization, we have full understanding that the protection of our natural environment is crucial to the survival of our business and the natural environment access for future generations. We do not own what makes our destination attractive to those who visit; we have been given the privilege to build and operate our products within it. If we do not make every effort to do so in an ethical and sustainable manner, we contribute hugely to our future demise.

Chobe Holdings strives to remain the leader in environmentally sustainable tourism in the region, if not on a global level. All camps and lodges owned and operated by Chobe Holdings subsidiaries have valid Environmental Authorisations, and the company has a demonstrable record of adhering to authorisation conditions.

As a group, Chobe Holdings is a trailblazer, not only within Botswana, the region, but more so on a global tourism level in terms of initiatives and practices which have substantially decreased the effects of its operations on the environment. “Greening” appears to be a new hot topic, but for Chobe Holdings, this has been part of daily practice for years.

The implementation of electric vehicles and boats for guest activities at Chobe Game Lodge has been in effect for over ten years. The investment in full solar systems at the majority of the remote camps have already been completed and plans to convert all of Chobe Holdings properties to sustainable power are in planning.

Compliance with water rights is monitored daily through daily water readings and implementation of water saving measures. Most of camps have Sewage Treatment Plants which ensure that the water that is released into the environment meets the required standards. In addition, all treated effluent is tested every six months to verify effectiveness of the treatment process. Routine post-authorisation environmental audits are also being undertaken to ensure independent evaluation of the sustainability of camp operations. All initiatives include subscribing to ecotourism standards by the Botswana Tourism Organisation and staying ahead of any prescribed Government compliance standards.

Chobe Holdings has a dedicated environmental team of well-qualified individuals. Training on various courses of environmental relevance is carried out on a yearly basis. The most recent being Health and Safety training for camp management and maintenance personnel. Environmental awareness talks across camps are held regularly to ensure that all employees are on board towards sustainability targets and that this does not just relate to their daily work lives, but ensures that awareness and initiatives are taken home to family and communities as well.

Understanding the larger impact of tourism activities on global environment, many key and unique initiatives are part of Chobe Holdings daily functioning. In terms of waste generation, in addition to daily weighing, which allows the company to monitor and control waste, composting of all organic waste is undertaken. All inorganic waste is recycled through licensed waste carriers, thus, eliminating the dumping of waste at landfill. Although these initiative may appear small and insignificant to most, the efforts have already proven hugely valuable in staying abreast of, and innovating what the industry standards should be.

Education plays a vital role in all sustainable efforts and to ensure that we invest in this, from grass roots level, with the long term goal focused on the next generations to come, Chobe Holdings commitment and investment in numerous schools, and child based charities allows for the company to initiate and implement a sustainable mentality in the future. Grassroots participation in environmental conservation as well as community beneficiation towards social uplifting is a priority for the organisation.