António Simão

What is your strategy to attract tourists and host company events in a post-COVID-19 world?

Our strategy to attract tourists and host events is to provide competitive prices, focus on digital marketing so that the hotel brand becomes more well-known, continue with staff training, creating attractive content, and increasing food safety and hygiene measures, especially those related to the prevention and fight against COVID-19 in order to guarantee the security of our guests and increase customers’ confidence.

There are ongoing talks about the consolidation of KAZA UniVisa program in Angola. How would this impact the tourism sector in Luanda and Diamante Hotel?

The KAZA Univisa program would have a positive impact on the tourism sector in Luanda, given the increased ease of movement of tourists in the region. This program would encourage and motivate potential tourists to satisfy their curiosities regarding the fauna, flora, and culture of each KAZA Univisa member country. In this context, Luanda, as a historic city, would see higher numbers of tourists, and certainly Hotel Diamante would offer its qualitative hospitality.

Hotel Diamante in Luanda provided rooms to medical staff for institutional quarantines during the pandemic. What other lines of action did the hotel carry out to help the city of Luanda?

Our main lines of action were as follows: we recommended that all hotel staff comply scrupulously with the hygiene and biosafety measures, as well as all the guidelines of the multi-sectoral commission, to combat COVID-19. We purchased the recommended hygiene and biosafety equipment from the local market, as well as hired a decontamination company. Finally, the hotel management provided administrative and operational staff means of transport for collection and distribution, avoiding contact with others in taxis or public transport in order to reduce the risk of contagion and ensure the continued operations of the hotel.

What do you see in the future for the hotel?

Today, Hotel Diamante is run by a majority public capital, and it has the capacity to continue offering a proper service to its clients. The management indicators tell us that the hotel is on the right track. We fulfill our tax obligations, we have no debts with our suppliers, and the wages of our staff are paid punctually. With regard to the plans to privatize the hotel, in my personal opinion, it does not seem right to me. If the goal is to contribute revenues to the state, currently Hotel Diamante has met these obligations.