Page 36 - Gondwana Collection Namibia Value Creation Report 2021

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A MESSAGE FROM GYS JOUBERT Dear friends I am proud of our vaccination drive with the government. Our ○ Product diversification: While we did not expand our
drive-through sites ensured that vaccination was available to the
product offerings, we did change how we categorise and
We continued to face the headwinds of global unpredictability
caused by the pandemic and weak local economic conditions. most vulnerable. Over 13 000 vaccines have been administered market our offering. We consolidated our online travel agency
It is impossible to forecast the end of the pandemic and when at our various sites. We encouraged our employees to get The Cardboard Box Travel Shop with our specialised tour
The two years’ operating under pandemic normalcy will begin. Namibia’s Covid-19 third wave hit in July vaccinated, but did not force anyone on this sensitive and operator Safari2Go. This is now called Gondwana Travel
and August, traditionally our high season, resulting in high polarising issue. When the third wave hit, we also played a small Centre. We believe the market is moving towards adventure-
conditions have been the most difficult in cancellations and reducing the previous months' gains. Our role in providing oxygen to Gondwana employees, their families orientated products. We see this with the success of both
the Desert Whisper and our camping offerings, especially the
and even shareholders. This was critical when hospitals and
revenue was up 7% on 2020, but still 63% down on 2019. individuals struggled to find life-saving oxygen. Camping2Go products. These speak to the soul in terms of
our existence. We are still here, even though While the number of international travellers dwindled, solitude, being in nature and a sense of adventure. This will be
Namibians supported us, and the Gondwana Card came into We continued to protect the livelihoods of our employees, a focus of our product diversification efforts.
there are a million reasons why we shouldn’t its own. While we now compete with several players who even on reduced benefits and salaries. Our loyal employees ○ Value chain integration and synergies: We see a shortening
previously catered for international travellers, our Gondwana accepted these pay cuts without a word of complaint. Keeping of the value chain in the tourism sector. Travellers want to deal
be. We still have spirit and creativity. It’s Card has been established for more than 15 years. Namibians people’s morale high was top of mind as employees began to with fewer middle-men and have a closer relationship with
struggle under persistent pandemic conditions. We focused on
appreciate that we have a permanent commitment to serving self-management as a key human resources (HR) theme. We tourism providers, including accommodation. We will lean
amazing what you can accomplish with local travellers. This will not change post-Covid. continued with our training and development plans, especially into this trend by building our brand, enhancing our online
If I reflect on the past two years, we have taken a contrarian our Go4Gold programme, which is a cornerstone of our presence and improving our relationships with customers.
the right people and no budget. approach in some ways. We did not retrench, and we kept succession planning. Importantly, our employee share incentive We still see value in our relationships with travel agencies
training our employees. We opened a lodge and increased scheme was approved at our annual general meeting (AGM) in and DMCs and will continue to build relationships within the
our car rental fleet. We embraced creative solutions while June 2021. This will provide a platform for every employee to tourism ecosystem.
others mothballed their operations. Already, these contrarian become a shareholder, subject to performance. Sadly, we lost ○ Brand strategy: We continued to promote our brand and
investments are paying off. about 12.5% of our employees through attrition since the start brand Namibia locally and internationally. We aim to increase
of the pandemic. We feel the loss of these employees, many our ability to market in Europe and opened a German bank
Covid-19 has tested our resilience and risk management account with the approval of the Bank of Namibia to make
abilities. We focus on what we can control to ensure financial of whom were top performers. With the addition of Etosha it as convenient as possible for our customers to pay their
sustainability and cash flows. Like 2020, we cut costs and relied King Nehale and employee attrition, our vacancy rate currently deposits in their own currency into this account. We see
on conservative financial management. Notably, the instruction stands at more than 25%. interest from eastern Europe and Russia. This speaks to the
to save was not top-down, but was instead a collective Strategy creativity and attitude of our Sales Team in opening up new
effort. This speaks to our culture, creativity and the financial markets and lessens our dependence on the German-speaking
intelligence throughout the company. We recorded a positive Gondwana will remain focused on staying ahead of trends. In market. Our Marketing Team ran some creative campaigns,
cash-flow movement during the month of October, the first time 2021, while we operated on survival mode, we still had a growth including a video made to Queen’s I want to break free. The
since the start of the pandemic with a mere 27% occupancy, mindset. Our strategy is built on a set of pillars that drive us lyrics and visuals tap into the global need to break out and
because of our extreme cost-cutting efforts. This comes with forward. what Namibia offers in open spaces and freedom. This can be
a caveat that operating under these extreme cost savings is found on Gondwana’s YouTube channel.
undesirable and ultimately not sustainable. It does, however, ○ Growth: While our revenue was up from 2020, we did not
show the strength of the Gondwana business model. have the traveller volumes required to cover fixed costs. This ○ Digital strategy: We have focused on our digital strategy
also limited our investment into expansion and other growth for several years. This includes e-commerce products,
The truest test of character is how you behave when the going initiatives. The development of our car rental business was a online research, booking engines, dynamic pricing, artificial
gets tough. Despite a lack of funds, we still positively impact the highlight, both in terms of our fleet numbers and customer intelligence, integrated customer management and promotion
community. Many employees donate blood every two months demand. We invested when other car rental firms were selling systems, and payment portals, among other solutions. We
and work on community projects. We continued to pay fees to assets, which was to our benefit. Our newest lodge, Etosha will continue investing in technology for marketing and
the communities in the conservancies where we operate. We King Nehale, situated on the Andoni plains, enjoyed relatively product diversification purposes. Going forward, we will start
also contributed to the drought relief programme in north-west high occupancy levels. The success of this lodge speaks to consolidating and optimising our technology.
Namibia. The Gondwana Care Trust continued its excellent the appeal of authentic and modern cultural tourism. We are We remain conservative and realistic about our reality. We
work with society’s most vulnerable, thanks to donations from also exploring non-traditional management agreements with dug a big hole to survive these two years and we believe the
corporates and individuals. The support that the Trust receives accommodation providers. Here, we will handle the marketing recovery will be a marathon and not a sprint. I am super excited
speaks to the strength of the brand and the unbelievable and operations for other providers without owning the asset. about what lies ahead for Gondwana. I believe we have the
goodwill that we enjoy. We are humbled by the support from These partnerships will see us share the risks and potential opportunity to take our brand beyond Namibia and beyond
corporate Namibia on this front. upsides. We expect to sign a partnership agreement with tourism. While tourism will remain our backbone, we want to
the owner of Am Weinberg Boutique Hotel in Windhoek in venture into other areas of the economy while staying true to
early 2022. We have dusted off our plans for Victoria Falls. our DNA. I believe that with our strong core and identity and
The operations teams are exploring options to roll out our entrepreneurial spirit, we can become a sector-breaking brand.
Camping2Go product on the piece of land we own.

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