03 Apr 2020

Maun Lodge Operations manager Mr Kevin Riley says the losses incurred by the lodge following cancellation of bookings forced them to close until further notice.

In an interview recently, Mr Kevin said the Lodge which closed on March 31 had lost millions of Pula, noting that the hotel had been fully booked up to July 2020 and all the bookings were cancelled due to movement restrictions.

“We had no choice but to close the facility because it was costly to run a big hotel without making profits,” he added.

The lodge, he said enjoyed tremendous support from international tourists, government departments, corporate institutions, community, individuals and other stakeholders.

Despite the closure Mr Riley stated the management took a tough decision to retain all staff adding that they considered several factors one of them being the fact their staff had families to take care of hence the company agreed to pay them 50 per cent salary during the extreme social distancing period.

The 140-roomed establishment has 140 employees who man three restaurants, three big conferences with a seating capacity of up to 500 people.

Currently, they have a skeletal staff to assist clients as their sister facility Mokoro lodge is operational. Mokoro Lodge, on the other hand has retained all staff and they will be paid full salaries.

Mr Riley further appreciated the staff for their understanding over the situation COVID-19 brought upon businesses.

He said the employees were happy that even though they were on half salary their jobs were secured.

In addition, he said they engaged Department of Labour for guidance before decision was taken.

The operations manager was optimistic that things would normalise and the hotel would bounce back adding that the extreme social distancing period would assist government step up efforts to curb COVID 19.

He also appreciated relief measures put in place by government aimed to cushion the nation and affected sectors of the economy.

The government recently indicated that a wage subsidy would be introduced to assist companies to retain employees during the state of emergency.

Mr Riley urged all to adhere to preventative measures in place including staying home as well as washing hands with soap and water. ENDS