Flexibility is key in beating competition in the hospitality industry

By Jumia Travel Tanzania

The hospitality industry in Tanzania has experienced some changes as compared to the last two years according to hotel owners and managers in Dar es Salaam. Some of the reasons for these changes are such as the decrease in some of the services like hiring conference facilities.

Currently, Jumia Travel is running the Destinations Campaign whereby it visits various destinations and conduct interviews with hotel managers around Dar es Salaam city. They get to talk about their properties, business and the hospitality industry in general.

Here is how this week’s interview with Hotel Slipway’s General Manager, Ms. Lusinda went down.

JT: How can you describe your hotel?

Lusinda: Our hotel is a luxury property with 72 rooms located at the Msasani Peninsula and facing the Indian Ocean. We are also located within the Slipway shopping complex, providing guests an opportunity to purchase various arts and cultural products.

JT: What type of guests mostly visit your hotel? What activities do they prefer?   

Lusinda: Mostly foreigners as compared to locals. Unlike in other destinations, Dar es Salaam city does not have many tourist attractions that guests would love to visit. Frommy experience, most of the guests ask for trips to Zanzibar and areas where they can purchase arts and cultural products.

JT: What is your opinion regarding the growth of domestic and Dar es Salaam as a destination?     

Lusinda: I think the growth is slow in comparison to the influx of tourists in the country. Still more initiatives should be taken in promoting domestic tourism, facilitating affordability of practices as well as changing Tanzanian mindsets. Dar es Salaam as a destination, does not have leisure activities apart from being the business hub. Most of the guests come for business purposes while some of them stop for a while before departing to other tourist destinations such as Zanzibar Island, Arusha, Serengeti or Kilimanjaro.

JT: Would you say that business is better as compared to previous years?

Lusinda: It’s great for us as we have seen an opportunity for our hotel to be in Dar es Salaam, the busiest city throughout the year. For me, business has no season since the city and Hotel Slipway are busy all seasons.. For instance, we receive a lot of bookings from mid January to mid December. It is true that there are some complains from some of the hotel owners and managers about their properties not performing well especially the hiring of conference facilities as previously. Of course, things have changed due to the coming of new regime but that should not be the reason to slow down business operations. What I observe here is for some hotels being focused on some services and neglect others. If that is the case then they have every reason to complain. My suggestion is to invest and establish their hotels well in areas like room services, restaurants, bars and so forth.

JT: What are your general views on the role of online platforms in tourism and hospitality industry in Tanzania?  

Lusinda: Yes, they play a significant role in helping boost hotel occupancies. Due to development in new technologies, we cannot depend only on guests who come to us directly. A good example is that our hotel receives a lot of guests through online platforms from US, UK and Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.  

JT: In addition to that, what do you feel about the partnership between Jumia Travel and your hotel?

Lusinda: The partnership is doing well as it helps to increase visibility of our hotels in other platforms. It just requires to go some extra-miles so as to tap the untouched markets. For example, currently Tanzania is experiencing a rapid growth of the middle class who are willing to spend. Therefore, they should advertise more, design and introduce more affordable packages to catch their attention.

JT: Any comments about this fast paced competitive market as a lot of new properties continue opening up?

Lusinda: There is enough business for everyone. I believe every hotel has its own target market and ways of reaching them depending on it’s amenities. Hence, the continuous opening of new properties across the country should be encouraged instead of viewed as a threat in the industry.