As much as 2022 was a good year for Rwanda as a destination for tourism and events, Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre would probably tell a better story on how it was a perfect year for them in particular. From holding the major high profile events such as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre foresee a better year, 2023. Last year also ended on a good note, where the Radisson Blu staff and management shared lunch with SOS Children’s Village Kayonza at the hotel on Boxing Day. It was a continuation of the ‘responsible business’ policy, which started with a donation of Rwf 3.5 million to GAERG, the Alumni of Genocide Survivors’ Students Association, for their project named ‘Nyunganira’ that supports Genocide widows around the country. Rob Kucera, District Director East Africa, Complex General Manager – Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre, Kigali, had an interview with The New Times’ Glory Iribagiza and shared more on how 2022 went for them and plans for 2023. How would you describe 2022 for Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre? 2022 has been a phenomenal year. I would call it ‘aggressive recovery’, particularly because we had all the big events, and as you know, CHOGM, ITU, BAL, are some of the major events that we hosted. They were all successful, and I think all in all, we made Rwanda and the country very proud. From a revenue point of view, we finished between about 40 percent up on 2019, which is very good recovery compared to 2019, because keeping in mind, 2020 and 2021 we had Covid-19. You could only really measure on 2019. All in all, it was an extremely successful year for us, because we also won 12 awards within the year. I am proud of the management team, the staff, and our partners. Which one of the 12 awards would you say is the most prestigious or valuable? I think they are all valuable. Some of them concentrate on the MICE, others concentrate on the convention side of it, others on the hotel and service side. Most of the awards get voted by the public and guests staying with us, corporate and clients of users. So, it shows us that the service and the quality that we produce is five-star and we improve it all the time. What event gave you the best business in 2022? I would say it was definitely ITU and CHOGM. It was two big ones, back to back. ITU lasted for 10 days, where we had around 1,700 here, and then CHOGM was obviously a lot more; 4,000 people plus all the higher calibre delegations. If I had to compare, CHOGM would be number one, and then ITU would be second. But they were back to back so to us it was like one event. How does 2023 look for Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre? When we look at the first quarter of 2023, it is very promising and we are already ahead of budget, and I foresee this being another very good year for our industry, if nothing unfortunate happens (God forbid). In March, we have the big FIFA 73 Congress, and there are around 3,000 people coming for the FIFA annual general meeting and election, this year being held in Kigali. In May, we have BAL, which is the third year, and I believe Rwanda is trying to sign for another three years. In July, we have the Women Deliver Conference, where 6,000 people are coming. With those big three events, there are other events that we have gotten lined up that we are still negotiating or we are still confirming, but it is going to be another very good year. I am very optimistic about 2023. What about the local market, clients who just want to enjoy their stay at the hotel? We obviously have, from a local point of view, the normal valentine’s, mothers’ day, fathers’ day. We have a lot of specials, starting this Saturday, which is for the kids, to come and bake your own pizza at 11:00 AM in Filini. You bring your kids along and with our chef, they will make their own pizza and they will be judged and there will be prizes. From that point of view, we have discounts for different food and beverages will all the different events happening. We are also marketing destinations that we can give more business, such as conferences, leisure marketing, sport events. We have aligned our sales and marketing strategy with RDB and RCB, and with all that, we are also focusing on our staff to maintain service, train and improve service and calibre that we are, in the art. Awards the Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre scooped in 2022: WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS 2022 - Africa's Leading Conference Hotel 2022 - Rwanda's Leading Business Hotel 2022 - Rwanda's Leading Conference Hotel 2022 - Rwanda's Leading Hotel 2022 - Rwanda's Leading Hotel Suite 2022 WORLD MICE AWARDS 2022 -Rwanda's Best Convention Centre -Rwanda's Best MICE Hotel HAUTE GRANDEUR GLOBAL AWARDS 2022 - Best Convention Hotel in Africa - Best Business Hotel in Rwanda - Best Conference Venue Hotel in Rwanda - Best Mice Hotel in Rwanda THE PNE AFRICA 2022 - The event venue of the year 2022
