By Mustapha Sesay
The General Manager (GM) of Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel, Nuno Neves, said Wednesday the hotel has been chosen among other hotels in Africa to be honored for the hospitality provided to international guests during the Ebola crisis in the country.
The GM disclosed that despite the out of the Ebola Virus Disease in the country, which succeeded to crippled many businesses, they were able to record success in their hotel business. He added that the hotel has been able to project the country’s image internationally by providing quality services to international guests.
“Next week I will be in Cape Town South Africa to receive the African Excellent Award that we were awarded. It is the first time it is happening in Africa. It is a conglomerate of many sectors and they have elected the best hotel in Africa; they will elect the best Bank of Africa, they will elect the best Minister of Africa. It is like Oscar awards that recognize best actors. I am proud to be among those that would be honored” Mr Neves said at a press conference.
“Sierra Leone has been exposed to the world through the good works of Radisson Blu. It is like exporting the good image of the country in time of crisis,” he added.
Neves said that although the tourism industry was still staggering, they had succeeded to capture good number of guests. “Because of our good facilities and high standard, we have the office of CDC [Centre for Disease Control] and other few UN staff.”
He said they were in full compliance with the local content policy because most of the managers working for the hotel were Sierra Leoneans. He explained that they were involved in the cleaning of the beach and other areas within the Aberdeen community.
The GM also highlighted few challenges they have faced. He cited a guest who they were in court with for not honoring his hotel bills for over two months. He also pointed at a press release which indicted the hotel for not complying with environmental regulations. He referred to the press release as a miscommunication because he said they were willing to engage the Environmental Protection Agency on the issue.
In view of security, the General Manager noted that they were more security conscious, in line with what had happened to their sister hotel in Mali. But he also pointed out that terrorists were not targeting only hotels. He cited the Ivory Cost and Brussels terror attacks as cases in point.
(C) Politico 14/04/16
