Sustainable tourism in Africa : the committed approach of tourism promotion services - TPS Serena Hotels

In the middle of Kenya’s Amboseli National Park lies Njora village with its 44 manyattas, with their long lines of thatched roofs. There are fences made of acacia thorns around each of these traditional homes of the Maasai people, which protect families and their herds against wild animals.

The TPS Serena Group has also adopted a very proactive environmental approach. In 2020, plastic mineral water bottles will be replaced with recyclable glass bottles at all the 23 properties. Transitioning to a large-format of guest bathroom amenities that replaces the traditional single-use small bottles of shampoo, shower gel and lotion has resulted in approximately 230,000 bottles being eliminated from the landfill. 
Alongside Serena Hotels’ extensive water saving measures in place, all waste water generated at the camps and lodges is collected and channelled to a Waste Water Treatment Plant within the compound and the treated effluent water is utilized for irrigation.At the Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge, all the wastewater generated is transferred to a lagoon, the water passes throughout each of the six chambers and undergoes a natural cleaning process, before discharged into the swamp/used for irrigation. The lagoon has been certified by environmental authorities and is sampled on a quarterly basis to guarantee that the processed effluent is safe. 

In addition, the installation of 5 solar power plants and 4 solar water heating systems , at different sites of the Group has significantly reduced the use of generators over the years. “PROPARCO has long promoted the development of renewable energies”, says Jean-Benoît du Chalard, PROPARCO’s Regional Director for East Africa. “We have been supporting this major issue in the region for many years. What TPS Serena does is fully in line with our mandate and we need to do more together”. 

In 2017, the hotel group transformed Kilaguni Serena to be the first Kenyan safari lodge supplied entirely by solar power in Tsavo West National Park, followed by Amboseli Serena in 2018 and in December 2019, Mara Serena was transformed to a fully solar powered safari lodge. This demonstrates TPS Serena Hotels commitment to ‘Full Scale Solar Pioneers’ in the East African hospitality sector. 

“Our decision to opt for cleaner energy is not only a financial issue but also informed by the need to look after the environment. We have been improving on not only the equipment but also the technology available to reduce our carbon footprint and our company’s commitment to environmental protection has been key to our existence,” says Abdulkadir Rahim, Group Engineer at TPS Serena Hotels.

“Reforestation is also an excellent sustainable development action. Since 1991, the Group has been implementing an initiative to create tree nurseries on all its properties to encourage its guests, staff and the local communities to plant trees within the property or in protected areas,” says Denge Sora, a Naturalist at TPS Serena Hotels. “Over the past 18 years, 6.7 million trees have been planted that has resulted in approximately 2.6 million tons of carbon dioxide removed from the environment, adds Shenin Virji, Group Business Analysis Manager at TPS Serena Hotels. At the same time, for over 20 years, TPS Serena Hotels has a species conservation program, where 61,530 endangered species of sea turtle hatchlings have been released into the Indian ocean, 398,995 butterflies have been released into the environment and 60 endangered Colobus Monkeys were moved to a new habitat. More generally, during the process it has sensitized local communities to wildlife protections. 

“The wildlife is very important. It attracts tourists and makes it easier to find a job. No one poaches here any more and everyone takes care of the wildlife. There are more and more rangers from local villages and we definitely benefit from the wildlife,” says Mbake Sitonik.

Mbake Sitonik has been working there for 15 years. His day generally starts at 4 am and his first job is to feed his livestock (cattle, sheep and goats). The father of three (two boys and one girl) attaches a great deal of importance to education. “The schools were quite far away, to Oloitoktok 35 km or Nairobi 210 km away. At our old village schools children used to sit on stones under the trees to study... But we now have a proper school nearby thanks to tourism. The tourists at Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge help sponsor the children,” says Mbake Sitonik. Over the past ten years, TPS Serena Hotels has worked with 28 local schools and 12,700 students in East Africa under the ‘adopt a school program’ to ensure the children have a conducive environment for learning. This is through eco-clubs that involves tree planting, education on renewable energy and waste water recycling; health outreach programs; infrastructure maintenance and enhancement; and through learning aids. “I’m very proud to be part of this hotel group, which is experiencing very strong growth in the countries where it operates”, says Mbake Sitonik with a smile. 

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced TPS Serena to temporarily close all its facilities. Governmental directives and protocols regarding the management of the pandemic seems to be helping in the countries that the TPS Serena Group operates in. Whilst the situation is still fluid and very uncertain, the TPS Serena Group Management will be mindful of the local Governmental directives/protocols for re-opening the economy. There could be a gradual reopening during the summer, depending on developments of the health situation. “Our team is leveraging on this downtime to continuously review, reassess and reinvent our business and operating models, to personalize and enrich changing ways of meeting customer post COVID-19 needs and requirements; and thereby to continue to surpass the expectations of our guests in the ‘next new normal’,” says Mahmud Jan Mohamed, Group Managing Director of TPS Serena Hotels. 

The TPS Serena Group Management have had various deliberations on identifying the cleaning and sanitization equipment for staff, guests and product that will need to be put in place. These will complement efforts on the current review of standards from an operation, service, environmental, health, safety and comfort perspective in line with World Health Organization (WHO) and the national and local medical authorities’ protocols. 

TPS Serena Hotels, renowned for pioneering exceptional business and holiday experiences in some of Africa’s most exotic destinations, understands that the health and safety of the traveller is of utmost importance at this time of the Covid-19 pandemic. The world has changed, but we are bonded in our humanity; and, that Nature awaits. When the time is right, TPS Serena Hotels will be ready to welcome you for a memorable experience.

TPS Serena Hotels is the tourism arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and is majority-owned by Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), a longstanding partner of AFD Group. It has contributed to creating a range of high-quality hotel facilities, while basing its development on strong social responsibility. The Group is supported by PROPARCO, which has committed USD 64m to it since 2008, as well as a EUR 42,000 technical assistance project. The technical assistance project was to develop a formalized and standardized system allowing for systematic measurement of the local footprint and contribution to local development and economic activity generated by Serena Hotels in East Africa. 

TPS Serena Hotels activity ranges from site selection, capital expenditure on new products and existing products, local procurement of food, beverage, utilities; wages; staff training; taxes; concession fees; park and conservancy fees. Through the value chain this results to various rounds of re-spending in the local economies by the guests, staff and local suppliers as each previous impact generates successive waves of revenues, salaries, taxes and jobs for the local economies. Ultimately this translates into the tourism expenditure multiplier and TPS Serena Hotels Gross Domestic Contribution (GDP) to the East African national economies is USD 291.4 million per annum. 

“When TPS Serena Group was created, the objective wasn’t only to set up a profitable organization. We wanted to set some examples, whether it was the architecture of our properties, the location, training of our local human resources to ensure our projects have a huge impact on the development and economies of the countries where we operate within”, says Mahmud Jan Mohamed, Group Managing Director of TPS Serena Hotels. The Group directly employs over 4,000 East Africans and through its value chain creates over 18,000 indirect/induced jobs per annum.“We spend considerable time and resources to ensure that our employees are well-trained and that they can benefit from the experience and training programs in East African countries other than those from where they come from, indeed a ‘living’ reflection of East African unity”, adds Shenin Virji, Group Business Analysis Manager at TPS Serena Hotels. 

Furthermore, TPS Serena Group’s procurement strategy thrives on local sourcing. All its hotels give priority to the communities living around their area of operation for the supply of fresh food products, the sale of arts and crafts and the organization of cultural guest activities. 

Through the 21 Serena Clinics that are available to guests, staff and the local community, 21,805 community members are provided with free medical and wellness consultation each year. Approximately 23,000 community and 30,000 livestock benefit through the safe drinking water around the Serena properties.

TPS Serena Hotels Group operates in East Africa with 23 properties (hotels, resorts, safari lodges and camps), The Group is committed to an ambitious environmental and social approach. This responsible player has been receiving longstanding support from Proparco. Report in Kenya.