Tsogo Sun CEO Marcel von Aulock has a spring in his step. Interprovincial travel is back and South Africa’s borders are scheduled to reopen on 1 October for limited inbound and outbound travel. That means a gradual return to business and a not-to-be-missed opportunity to recoup losses. Von Aulock reflects on that Marriott debacle, weathering the Covid-19 storm and criticism that South Africans are priced out of their own tourism market.
Months into South Africa’s national state of disaster, another blow came by way of an announcement that three well-known hotels were shutting their doors.
The news could not have come at a worse time. The world was reeling from the fallout from Covid-19. Death and despair, mixed in with a sharp economic decline, heralded a season of discontent.
It was with a sense of disbelief that many heard the news about the Mount Grace hotel in Magaliesburg, The Edward in Durban and the Protea Hotel Hazyview in Mpumalanga. The Marriott group broke the news in mid-June that the three hotels would be taken off its system.
Tsogo Sun CEO Marcel von Aulock remembers the moment well. He and his team had to do some serious damage control to allay…
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