65,000 SADC citizens have taken up Gondwana’s discount card in ten years
A mere seven months in his new job, the Gondwana Collection Chief Executive, Gys Joubert is already implementing new systems to bring this major group fully into the digital age for their holiday bookings and ancillary benefits.
Joubert, a lawyer by profession and long-standing director on the Gondwana Board, succeeded pioneering Managing Director, Manferd Goldbeck, in January this year.
This week, Gondwana announced it will introduce soon a new online booking system linked to their very popular discount card for Namibians and citizens of other countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
This new, exciting platform offers guests a shopping cart to book at any of the sixteen Gondwana lodges and at their boutique hotel, the Delight Swakopmund. The new digital booking system will enable prospective visitors to work out their whole itenary in advance, knowing exactly at which lodge they will be at specific dates. What’s more, guests only need to deal with one company to plan, book and pay their entire holiday.
The popular Gondwana Card which gives substantial discounts to Namibians and SADC visitors will be integrated into the new online booking facility. The Gondwana Collection said this week that there will be no changes to the current benefits and that discounts will remain significant.
When the group launched the Gondwana Card ten years ago, it was a novelty for local travellers. At that point many Namibians and SADC citizens complained that an affordable holiday was no longer possible for the citizens of the region, in one of their own countries.
Realising the potential of intra-regional travel, Gondwana launched a discount card giving Namibians 50% off and 40% for other SADC citizens. This proved to be an immediate hit and the uptake of the card was phenomenal.
Ten years later, some 65,000 cards have been issued, 40,000 of them to Namibians and 25,000 to other SADC citizens.
With sixteen lodges and one hotel, the Gondwana Collections covers all regions in Namibia.
Namibians receive 50% discount on bed and breakfast at all Gondwana accommodation establishments (SADC citizens 40%). Dinner and activities are discounted by 25%.
