Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NMR) reduced its losses from N$174 million in the financial year 2020 to N$97 million last year, showing a strong difference of N$77 million or a 44% improvement.
Matthias Ngwangwama, the NWR Managing Director attributed the stellar performance to “selfless” cutting of board fees and salary cuts.
“The improved performance is attributed to, amongst others, the reduction in staff complement through voluntary separation exercise and having the senior management and board members to take a 25% cut on their salaries and board fees respectively,” he said.
Ngwangwama, who was speaking at the recently concluded Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Windhoek, further indicated that NWR has devised a strategy that will allow the company to return to profitability.
“The launch of our NWR camera at the waterhole has created a huge interest in our resorts. We hope with the new innovative ideas and customer experience initiatives that we aim to implement, such as enhanced digital and online presence, group packages for families and runners’ clubs, and other planned activities at our resorts, will enable us to increase our occupancies and enable us to make greater revenue than currently,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Vice Chairperson of the NWR Board, Janet Wilson- Moore, said the company continued to implement various cost cutting measures in 2021, including reduction in employee costs through voluntary separation.
“I am in no doubt that the company is now in a position of generating a larger profit than that recorded in 2019,” she adds.
Speaking at the same occasion, Deputy Minister of Finance Maureen Hinda-Mbuende expressed her appreciation to the NWR board for setting an example by being selfless in cutting their board fees and for seeing through their two three-year terms which end in June 2022.
Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) is a legal entity established through an Act of Parliament, the Namibia Wildlife Resorts Company Act, (Act 3 of 1998) as a commercial State-Owned Enterprise that provides tourism and hospitality management services in national parks, Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) is the single largest provider of accommodation facilities in the country.
