Just weeks after they were awarded a 5-Star status by the Botswana Tourism Board, the Peermont

REWARDED: CHRISTENSEN (R) RECEIVING THE AWARD

Walmont hotel at the Grand Palm has received yet another accolade – title of Botswana’s Leading Hotel at the World Travel Awards held on 7 July 2010 in Johannesburg. This week Charne Christensen, the man steering the resort’s promotions and marketing talks to INNOCENT TSHUKUDU about the success story.

Q. Please tell us about your association with the Grand Palm Hotel Casino Convention Resort.
Peermont Global Botswana manages and operates the magnificent Grand Palm Hotel Casino Convention Resort, the afro-chic Mondior hotel; the affordably comfortable Metcourt hotels in Gaborone and Francistown; the Las-Vegas style Sedibeng Casino in Francistown and the Syringa Casino in the mining setting of Selebi Phikwe.
Currently I am the promotions and marketing manager of The Grand Palm Resort. I am passionate about what I do and believe that I have to enjoy what I do, to enable the public to experience the same excitement when they are guests to the resort.
In the past however I have fulfilled many exciting roles and challenges within the resort, including creating or producing radio advertisements surrounding our many exciting casino and complex promotions. I got to be known as “the voice” of The Grand Palm.

Q. How long have you been with the hotel and what achievements have you made?
I have been in the hospitality industry for 18 years. Some of the highlights of my career with the resort include the opening of the Gaborone International Convention Centre in 2003, a state-of-the-art centre which can accommodate 1800 delegates, the opening of the 3–star Metcourt Inn in 2004; the refurbishment of the Grand Palm Casino in 2009; the rebranding of the four Peermont Hotels in Botswana (including the 5-star Walmont hotel); and the opening of the new Mokolwane Bistro at The Grand Palm Resort.
The Grand Palm Resort has been recipient of the World Travel Awards in 2006, 2007 and 2009 for Botswana’s Leading Resort, a great honour. Hailed as the “Oscars” of the travel and tourism industry, it was my privilege to receive the trophy award on behalf of The Grand Palm Resort from Miss South Africa and Graham E. Cooke, the Founder of World Travel Awards at Indaba in 2009.
Personal achievements include the Diamond Service Award for Service Reliability, which I was awarded in 2009 by Service Bridges Consulting, a Botswana consulting company who nominate and award individuals in the corporate industry who excel in service excellence. In 2010, I was awarded the Certificate of Recognition by Mr Bruce Page-Wood, the Regional Chief Operations Officer for Peermont Global Botswana and Africa for my contributions towards community upliftment in the recent Police Porta Cabin project.

Q. Who owns the hotel in terms of shareholding?
BDC holds a 40% stake in Peermont Global Botswana. Peermont also owns and manages The Grand Palm Hotel Casino Convention Resort and the Mondior Hotel in Gaborone; the Metcourt Hotel as well as the Sedibeng Casino in Francistown and Syringa Casino in Selebi Phikwe.

What does your role entail as Marketing Manager and what makes a good marketing manager?
I have one of the most rewarding and challenging jobs in the hospitality industry. I oversee all marketing, advertising and promotional activities at The Grand Palm Resort including a range of exciting products such as conferencing, accommodation, entertainment and gourmet dining.
The one thing I have learnt in the many years that I have been in this industry is that you are only as good as the people you surround with. You have to have an entrepreneurial nature. You have to think big, deliver results and marketing activity within agreed budgets. You have to be hands-on, think out of the box to come up with creative and innovative concepts, which makes the role challenging and fun. The hospitality industry demands excellence, dedication, hard work, sometimes crazy hours and a lot of passion. Plans often change before the ink dries so you have to be flexible, work under pressure and adapt to changing conditions.
One way of being an effective and successful marketing manager is to listen to people inside and outside of the company, to better understand the marketplace. I recently heard this expression and believe in it whole heartedly: ‘The best university is the university of Life!’.
What has been the company’s success story since it opened its doors in Botswana?

We can pay tribute to the favorable business environment in the country whose cornerstone is a prudently managed economy by Botswana and its leaders.  Botswana economy continues to show real GDP growth, which gives us the opportunity to be where we are today. The group is running successfully and I think that the economy has grown from strength to strength. Our status as a key economic player is a clear reflection of continuous growth in the economy.
The Grand Palm, which houses the prestigious Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC), has received several accolades for outstanding achievements over the years. They include Diamond Arrow Award 2008 for best conference centre in Botswana, Golden Arrow Awards 2008 for best entertainment centre in Botswana, best executive hotel in Botswana, best executive restaurant in Botswana – The Beef Baron Grill & Room. Others are World Travel Awards – Botswana’s Leading Resort 2006 and 2007 and the latest Botswana’s Leading hotel 2010.
What’s your policy on corporate social responsibility?

Peermont Global Botswana has a healthy corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy that has positively impacted on our local communities, particularly disadvantaged children in homes countrywide. Some of Peermont’s CSR work has resulted in a child getting a vital kidney transplant. Peermont has made steps from big and small within their community including donating clothes to various charity organisations, just one move that has big changes for the lives of the community members.
Peermont recently handed over P26, 000 Police Porta Cabins to help fight crime in Gaborone’s Block 5 & 6 community. The Porta Cabin project in collaboration with the Botswana Government, Tribal Elders and Community, has been one and a half years in the making and will be operating as satellite police stations.
In 2009, I found out about Happy Home Botswana who have exposed children from Naledi to music, art, sport and literature over numerous years. This prompted me to volunteer and take more than 300 children to the circus sponsored by Peermont Global Botswana. None of the kids had ever been to a circus and this gave us an opportunity to do something really special for them. Nothing warms the heart more than seeing the joy on these children’s faces as they experience one of life’s greatest childhood memories, ‘Going to the circus’. We are a socially responsible company actively supporting several social initiatives as a way of giving back to society.

PERSONAL PROFILE 

FULL NAMES: Charne  Brent Christensen
PLACE OF BIRTH: Cape Town, 
MARITAL STATUS: Single
FAVOURITE FOOD: Indian cuisine. I absolutely love cooking and experimenting with dishes.
CAR DRIVING: I modestly drive a Hyundai Getz but absolutely love BMWs.
FAVOURITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION:  New Zealand. I travelled there in 2009 and have fallen in love with its scenic beauty and crisp clean countryside.
MUSIC: I love all genres of music. I was one of the four Deejays at the successful 70s/80s Party held in the GICC at the Grand Palm Resort in 2009 and last month.
THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT ME:  I love reading and painting. I produced the hit single ‘Helele” for local artist OUZA (ft Helen) in 2005 which spent 2 weeks on top of the Coca Cola charts and several weeks on the charts at RB 2 and Yarona Fm and did several remixes for his album. I have also produced several mega mixes, which have played on Gabz FM and Yarona FM.