Interview: Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, General Manager of Soweto Hotel on Freedom Square
23. Nov, 2009
0 Comments
Can you introduce yourself to the readers?
My name is Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, the General Manager of the Soweto Hotel on Freedom Square. My company Zatic Management provides the operational management services for the hotel. We were responsible for the development of the hotel and initially opened the hotel as the Holiday Inn Soweto – Freedom Square on 27th October 2007.
What are the reasons behind the rebranding exercise from Holiday Inn Soweto to Soweto Hotel?
We soon realised that “Soweto” stands as a brand on its own and is iconic the world over with great historical milestones from being home to liberation struggle icons to the June 16 uprisings. On the 1st of April, we repositioned our brand to The Soweto Hotel on Freedom Square. This has been welcomed broadly by local and international guests who say they can relate better to this brand being located in Soweto.
Why is www.sowetohotel.co.za still under construction for so long?
We are a small company with limited resources and therefore had to manage our expenses in difficult economic times. We are nearly there though and are very excited about the website we shall be unveiling this month (November 2009).
Before your current position, what were you doing?
I have been running Zatic Management from 2005. Before that, I was General Manager of the Southern Sun’s flagship hotel, the InterContinental Sandton Tower Hotel from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that, I worked briefly as Chief Director in the tourism branch of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and also worked in various positions for the Hyatt Hotels group between 1993 to 1999.
Has Soweto Hotel already confirmed bookings for soccer world cup?
The Soweto Hotel is an official accommodation partner for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and to this end we have contracted some of our rooms to Match Hospitality.
Does your hotel have any relationship with small owner-managed B&B’s in Soweto?
We do. It is very important to be prepared for high occupancy periods that we shall enjoy in better economic times, as the first consideration would be to refer overflow business to the graded B&B’s in Soweto. Likewise, we hope that over time, when the B&B’s are faced with overflow business, they will pass on business to us. We have had referrals from some of the owners of B&B’s since we opened.
What are your short and long term goals for Soweto Hotel?
Our short term goals are to grow our occupancy levels particularly as we prepare for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We would like to grow our domestic business, leisure market, government and NGO market segments. The corporate markets are still reticent, we have a lot of ground to cover in convincing them of the value-add we can bring if they held their business meetings and team building sessions in Soweto. Naturally they can use The Soweto Hotel as a place where they can sleep, eat, meet and play.
Our long term goals are to grow our groups and conventions business as the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, offers a great venue for meetings, events, conferences for up to 3000 delegates. It would be a natural consequence that with the growth of conferences and meetings, there would be demand for additional rooms in Soweto, so who knows – this could lead to our expansion in rooms.
What industry blogs do you read to stay abreast of tourism trends?
I read Travel News Weekly and Travelwires.com as these give a bird’s eye view of what is going on in the South African Tourism industry. I read hospitality magazines such as Hotel and Restaurant, Restaurant and Business. At any given opportunity, I visit new hotels and restaurants whenever I can, so as to keep abreast with tourism trends.
How do you use social media in your daily operations?
I am aware of the impact that social media has and we are currently trying to incorporate this into our marketing plans for 2010.
Which local and international booking engines is your hotel listed with?
We are part of the Chakela marketing platform and therefore we are interfaces with Super National who give us access to all the Global Distribution Systems e.g. Apollo and other dot com’s like Expedia.
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
No comments yet... Be the first to leave a reply!