MARKET NEWS

City Lodge Hotels partners with SATSA and Sigma to support SMEs

City Lodge Hotels is entering its second year of championing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through its enterprise and supplier development (ESD) and transformation initiatives, and all parties are benefitting.

Our active participation in an ESD program, initiated in partnership with Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA), demonstrates our commitment to transformation. This collaboration has been invaluable in steering our procurement process towards more effective and sustainable ESD practices,” explained Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, chief operating officer of City Lodge Hotels.

As a member of SATSA, City Lodge Hotels enjoys support from Sigma International, a key partner contracted to aid SATSA members with their ESD programs. This collaboration sees City Lodge Hotels dedicate resources towards nurturing the growth of small Black-owned businesses, underlining its commitment to fostering economic empowerment.

This year, there are nine businesses that benefit from being part of City Lodge Hotels’ incubatee program:

• Ashok Narsai Interiors

• Forest Fairies

• King’s Manufacturers

• Morake Décor

• Organic Matters

• Point Squared Shuttles

• Roska Artisan Ice Cream

• Spirits and Bubbles SA

• Wazisa Green Solutions

“We were delighted with the successful conclusion of the 2023 incubator program, where we graduated a group of eight small, Black-owned businesses into our procurement chain supply. Just one success story is our relationship with Asmara Coffee, which began in our incubatee program, and now we stock this coffee across our hotels,” Ms Sangweni-Siddo explained.

“With our 2024 incubator program well underway, we are actively assisting this new group of enterprises into becoming successful in growing and scaling their businesses to become significant suppliers, not only for our Group, but other hospitality players too. This is an initiative that is close to our heart at City Lodge Hotels. Let’s make the circle bigger!”