Windhoek, 1 July 2020 – Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) has been hard at work in addressing some limitations it identified within some of its resorts in the Etosha National Park. At the same time, NWR has been preparing its soon to be launched Hospitality Institute (Hi) for later this year.
With the absence of tourists at various resorts due to travel restrictions that were instituted by the Namibian Government aimed at safeguarding Namibian lives, NWR saw an opportunity to fast-track the work it had begun before the travel restrictions were introduced. So far, Okaukuejo has seen the renovation of the campsite ablution and field kitchen. At Halali, attention has been placed on improving the look and feel of the resort.
Mrs Sophia Burger, Hardap Resort Assistant Manager, was very grateful for the experience and the manner that her team came together to assist in contributing towards this national cause. She wanted to assure future Hardap resort guests that the resort has been disinfected and sanitised by the Ministry of Health and Social Services to ensure their safety. “No one should be afraid to come and pay us a visit after the lockdown has been removed”, said Mrs Burger.
Dr Matthias Ngwangwama, NWR Acting Managing Director, drove to the resort to inspect the disinfection process and ensure that the resort was indeed in a position to host future guests. He was very grateful towards the Government for entrusting NWR with such an essential role. “I would like to assure potential visitors to the Hardap resort that the place remains safe as all 40 isolated guests were released without any symptoms. I want to pay homage to our employees who, in my eyes, are heroes and heroines who were at the frontline, taking care of the quarantined guests during their 14-day stay at the resort,” said Dr Ngwangwama.
“These renovations aimed to ensure that we can give our guests the best possible experience when they visit us. With the opening of the National Parks, we would like to encourage families to visit us as we currently have a special where all our rooms excluding food and beverages are N$ 600 (except Khorixas single rooms, Hardap dormitories, Shark Island Lighthouse and Mile 108 Fisherman chalets). Our campers will be happy to know that they will only pay N$ 100 per person”, highlighted Dr Matthias Ngwangwama, NWR Acting Managing Director.
At the same time, NWR has been working in finalising its soon to be launched Hospitality Institute, which will focus on addressing the service levels within the organisation. The institute is a strategic intervention to increase customer service levels within the company. “One of the challenges raised within the tourism sector is the weak service levels. Therefore, as an organisation, we have made an intentional decision to remedy this by ensuring that our team members undergo periodic training in order to equip them with the right skill set. Thus far, we have already started building capacity amongst our leadership team. Therefore, the public must be on the lookout as we put everything in motion to launch our Hospitality Institute” says Dr Ngwangwama.