Having been awarded the management contract last year to operate four Karos Hotels previously trading under the Mövenpick/Karos brand (including Kruger Gate Lodge in Mpumalanga, The Edward in Durban, The Wilderness Hotel in the Garden Route and The Arthur’s Seat Hotel in Cape Town), Protea are currently in the process of performing a thorough and detailed operational, human resources and administrative audit in order to develop a long term strategy which will ensure the optimisation of these notable hotels.

The Protea Hotel Kruger Gate re-opened on schedule on the 31st of July this year, after suffering extensive damage during the recent heavy rains in Mpumalanga. A complete refurbishment of exterior buildings, the redesign of all interiors and new landscaping will cost no less than 15 Million Rand.

Since Protea Hotels took over the management of all 15 state-owned Aventura Resorts in August last year, these resorts have seen a dramatic turn-around - for the better. Some of the resorts have been refurbished and occupancy is at 60%. “Not only are the resorts looking healthier financially, but our GUESTS have noted vast improvements in service and standards over the last few months. This is of course very encouraging for us”, says Allan Duke, Group Marketing Services Director for Protea Hotels. “This positive outlook has resulted in the launch of the Aventura Holiday Club, which has been developed in order to address all market segments,” continues Duke.

The Aventura Holiday Club subscribes to the timeshare philosophy, whereby members will purchase holidays for a period of 10 years. Protea Hotels have recognised, however, that people are often resistant to time-share and, for this reason, care has been taken to address the most common concerns. One of the most important issues is that of ever-increasing and often uncontrollable levies, which are usually a “hidden-cost” that many time-share owners are unable to keep up with. In order to assure affordability, these costs are addressed up-front, with increases linked to the Consumer Price Index.

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