The City Lodge Hotel Group (CLHG) saw its total revenue for the 2022 financial year increase by 117% to R1.10bn (€64.7m) over the R508 million (€29.8m) it recorded in 2021.

Yesterday (Wednesday, September 21) the CLHG group announced its annual results for the year ended June 30 with CEO, Andrew Widegger, noting that the numbers pointed to a strong recovery and “a promising position for future all-round wellness”.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic still lingers, the burden on the hospitality, travel and tourism sector lightened significantly during the year under review. The year has been a tale of two halves. We started this financial year in Lockdown Level 4 and in the midst of devastating riots and insurrection in South Africa, which was a stark reminder of how the last few years of state capture and the fresh struggles of the pandemic have affected livelihoods and the economy.”

Widegger said the last two years of strategic innovation had enabled the group to capitalise on the changing travel trends and needs of the post-COVID traveller.

CLHG launched the new 'Eat-In' offer at all Town Lodges and Road Lodges during the year, which now offer a bespoke lunch and dinner menu in addition to its popular value-for-money breakfast. 

“The enhanced food and beverage offering at all hotels across all CLHG brands, has made us more appealing to travellers who prefer hotels with complete accommodation and meal offerings, for the safety and convenience provided under one roof,” he said. 

Widegger further noted that the complementary new Best Available Rates (BAR) methodology, which provides dynamic pricing, has made CLHG more competitive across all markets, and especially appealing to leisure travellers, who had benefited from weekend specials, resulting in improved occupancies over the weekends. 

“Shifts in leisure travel behaviour to include staycations, has also seen similar shifts in occupancies at our inland hotels. The new blend of business and leisure (bleisure) travellers, makes our hotels the perfect option, as we offer complimentary high-speed WiFi and good value-for-money accommodation for individuals and families. This evolution has resulted in a change in our customer base, with the leisure market now comprising a much larger proportion of our total guests,” he noted.

Occupancy levels rising 

Occupancy levels have tracked the easing of lockdown levels and seen a steady recovery to almost pre-COVID occupancies in the last quarter of the financial year as travel returns and the hospitality sector enjoys renewed activity from all sectors.

Dhanisha Nathoo, Chief Financial Officer at CLHG, noted: “The steady improvement in occupancies and demand for hospitality services over the last few months has led to average group occupancies, based on total rooms inventory, of 38% for the year ended June 30. This is over the 2021 figure of 19% average occupancies.”

She added that occupancies for the SA hotels averaged 40% (2021: 21%) and 42% (2021: 28%) for open hotels. The group started the financial year with 89% of its 63 hotels open and, by February 2022, had opened all its hotels except one in Nairobi.

According to Nathoo, occupancies and room rates continue to edge toward achieving 2019 pre-COVID levels. “The South African hotels recorded occupancies of 53% in July, 52% in August, and 56% up to September 18,” she said. 

Outlook

While there are still many challenges ahead – from the state of the economy, to load shedding, petrol price increases, global inflation trends, supply constraints, and geo-political tensions – Widegger expressed confidence that the financial and operational decisions taken over the past 27 months had helped the group grow and establish itself as a “sustainable, agile and innovative hospitality group”.