Download TPS, East Africa 2008 Annual Report - Serena Hotels

withholding tax, where applicable. The dividend will be
payable on or about 6 July 2009. It is worth noting that the
recommended level of final dividend is the same as the one
declared and paid in 2007.
During the period under review, Serena Hotels was declared
the winner of the SKAL eco-tourism award. SKAL is one of
the leading, recognised associations of travel and tourism
professionals internationally.
During the same period, several of the Group's properties
also were given top positions in the year's World Best Awards
survey carried out by Travel & Leisure magazine, a leading
tourism magazine. The World's Best Survey bases its findings
on responses for readers who rate hotels in terms of quality
of rooms and facilities, location, service, restaurants and
food, and value offered.
And finally, Serena Hotels has, once again, emerged top in
the Travel News magazine Quest for the Best Awards. The
awards scheme acknowledges, through client surveys,
excellence in various fields of the tourism sector in East Africa.
Despite the earlier-mentioned constraints, minor overhauls
and refurbishments did take place at most of the Group's
properties to ensure efficient operations and that the quality
of the physical product was not in any way compromised.
Serena's commitment to implementation of the ICT strategy
that complements the other business strategies and plans
was ongoing in 2008. I wish to highlight that, even though
the year was tough, Management went ahead with the
implementation of key plans whose delay would have
jeopardized the long term competitiveness of the Company.
In this regard, your Company now offers wireless internet
services for guests at all its properties; a data link is in the final
phase of implementation between the two head offices in
Guest tent at Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp
Kenya and Tanzania which will enable seamless access to
reservations and to financial systems resulting in greater
efficiency, better management and controls. And, finally, a
significant milestone has been achieved in the area of
Chairman’s Statement (cont’d)
View of Lake Duluti at Mountain Village, Arusha
electronic marketing and commerce as Serena Hotels went
''live'' in August 2008 with an online booking system that is
available on our website for all Group city hotels and beach
resorts resulting already in an impressive growth of direct
bookings.
The Group continues to believe that its employees are the
most critical assets in the business armoury when the going
gets tough. Despite the challenging business environment,
the provision of rewarding careers, of quality training and of
capacity building remained a strategic priority. During 2008
the Group appointed a Training and Development Manager
who is currently driving a Productivity Improvement Strategy.
As you may be aware, today's travellers are now more than
ever committed to ensuring that the properties that they stay
in contribute towards sustainable development through,
among other things, ensuring protection of the delicate ecosystem
and by taking the lead in responsible tourism
development.
The Group continues to carry out its Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) activities and integrates these CSR
activities into its business strategies. To this end, the Group's
CSR activities continue to focus on eco-tourism;
environmental conservation; education; public health and
community development. In June 2008, TPSEA issued its
second CSR Newsletter, Serena Outreach to Society (SOS),
which highlights the Group's CSR activities. For further
details, on the Group's CSR activities, please refer to pages 20
and 21 of this Annual Report.
The Group remains a significant contributor to the revenues
of the Governments of Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar: the
Group paid, in aggregate, the equivalent of KShs. 648 million
in direct and indirect taxes and of KShs. 121 million to local
authorities in royalty/rent in the various jurisdictions during
2008.
The Board and Management anticipate an even more
TPS EASTERN AFRICA LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2008 9