2011 Annual Report and Accounts - Investing In Africa

Re-afforestation Programmes at the Lodges
Serena Hotels have established tree and shrub nurseries at all
its properties. Naturally, we use the majority of our seedlings
to plant around our own properties, but we are also committed
to meeting the needs of the local community. At Lake Manyara
Serena Lodge, for instance our nursery supplies seedlings to
the neighboring communities and this has not only contributed
towards a greener environment, but has also received
resounding support from the local birdlife, whose variety of
species has already more than doubled. The group has worked
with thousands of members of the local community, guests,
children and visiting dignitaries to ‘Plant a Tree for Africa’ and
our activities are spread to the Nderit Forest in the Mau, Nairobi
City Park and at the Serena lodges in Kenya and Tanzania.
It is encouraging to note that over 10 million trees through
the Companies various re-afforestation programs have been
planted to date.
Conservation of Energy and Water
A significant milestone was achieved towards the end of 2011
where the Group installed a Solar Water Heating System at
Serena Beach Hotel & Spa (SBHS), Kigali Serena Hotel, Lake
Kivu Serena Hotel, Kampala Serena Hotel and Lake Elmenteita
Serena Camp. This will complement the energy saving efforts
that are in place at the Safari Lodges located within the National
Parks where the dependency of generators has significantly
been reduced over the years due to the inverter systems in
place which allows for optimum conservation of energy and
minimum fuel-use, noise and air-pollution.
Serena has an extensive range of water-saving measures in place
and the company continues in a phased manner to invest in biodigesters
which is a system when that treats effluent water to
allow it to be re-used for irrigation and animal consumption at
the water holes in an environmentally sensitive manner.
The company has adapted an “Information Technology going
green” strategy where the old HP Servers have been replaced
with state-of-the-art servers and a virtual server environment
created. The project involved the replacement of 12 physical
servers with 3 physical servers hosting 12 virtual machines.
This initiative will lead to future savings on maintenance,
power and disposal of hardware.
ENCOURAGING A GOOD WORK-LIFE BALANCE
The Serena Employee Wellness Programme continues to address
the holistic health needs of not only Serena Staff but also of
the communities that surrounds the Serena Lodges, Luxury
Camps, Resorts and Hotels. In essence, the programme is
devoted to reducing the incidence of accident and illness in the
workplace, promoting healthy lifestyles, maximizing potential
and promoting optimum quality of life. This sustainable Serena
Employee Wellness Programme received recognition as a
finalist in the Workplace Engagement category for the 2011
Global Business Coalition (GBC) on HIV/ AIDS. The successful
implementation of the Serena Employee Wellness Program that
begun in 2001 with the aim of addressing increasing numbers
of HIV/ AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis infections has seen a
notable reduction in the number of work place infections over
the years and consequent improved employee productivity and
motivation.
Kilaguni Serena Wellness Team on an excursion at Chyulu
hills.
TPS EASTERN AFRICA LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2011 31