NEW APPOINTMENT

Phenyo Marumo joins Minor Hotels Africa

For four decades, international hospitality group Minor Hotels has been pursuing perfection. A large part of the group’s success can be attributed to the diverse range of experience brought to the table by its team.

With the addition of Phenyo Marumo, as regional marketing and communications manager of Minor Hotels Africa, to the Johannesburg, South Africa office, the brand is set to shake up the status quo of the tourism industry once again.

He is tasked with driving revenue by positioning the Anantara and AVANI brands as the go-to choice for business and leisure travellers in the region. Mr Marumo will be leading all marketing and PR activities for the Minor Hotel’s Africa portfolio. His mandate is to serve both marketing and communications across the business. He will work closely with media and clients, as well as build relationships with the hotel general managers, hotel marketing staff, and the corporate office teams.

A forward-thinking powerhouse

“What’s important is how brands fully leverage their USPs, setting themselves apart as the leader in a specific offering,” Mr Marumo said.

Starting off his career in tourism as the marketing manager of The Big Hole Visitor’s Centre in Kimberley, Mr Marumo left a mark by achieving several accolades including the Diamond Arrow for most interesting heritage site from the PMR Awards and a Silver Award for Excellence from the Cape Outdoor Adventure Show.

He then worked as the integrated marketing campaigns manager for the ABSA Group. During his time at ABSA, he worked on various strategies, which he developed and executed. His string of achievements in the financial industry includes being a key member of the successful Northern Cape government account bid, planning the first ABSA Art Exhibition in Kimberley, initiating and chairing the first Marketing Consultants Forum, and winning the Manager’s Award for building and strengthening relations with strategic partners.

Mr Marumo’s return to the tourism industry was applauded when he joined SANParks in 2018 as the senior marketing manager. Leading his team of marketers, he played a pivotal role in establishing and strengthening relationships with the provincial tourism authorities and marketing bodies. Equally successful were a series of promotional campaigns launched during Covid-19, with the objective to maintain positive relationships and collaborations with partners in South Africa’s tourism industry. This included more affordable travel for the non-traditional market called ‘SANParks Stokvels and Travel Clubs’.

Digitally transforming the tourism status quo

“I believe current-day marketing would involve stepping away from the norm or traditional ways of conducting marketing efforts,” Mr Marumo said.

Acknowledging the scars left on the industry by Covid-19, Mr Marumo thinks that brands with a high level of flexibility in their communication and marketing mix are primed to bounce back faster. The adoption of technology across various industries over the last few years has also created new opportunities for the tourism sector.

“Marketing in the current day requires leveraging technology, adopting new and innovative ways of communicating, and adapting to change swiftly and adequately,” said Mr Marumo.

“Marketing is no longer restricted to a simple ‘push’ or ‘pull’, but a 360-degree, multichannel engagement is a must to create an immersive experience that will streamline travellers’ decision-making. This requires maximising, not only digital tools and platforms, but also leveraging both internal and external relationships with key stakeholders. One of the ways that Mr Marumo intends to do this is through collaborating with noncompeting brands in the public and private sectors.

Exploring multi-channel positioning to reach their target marketing quickly and effectively is top-of-mind for Mr Marumo and Minor Hotels Africa. “In the travel industry particularly, brands need to mean something to everyone e.g. a getaway or place of rest to some, a sabbatical for others, conduct a business or celebratory, tick off a bucket list item, not forgetting a place to capture the next best image for contentcreating influencers.”

Successfully conveying this in their marketing efforts, Mr Marumo believes, is the key to creating and maintaining momentum.