KAPENTA BAY:
It took a well earned vacation at the end of 1993 for Johnny to INNOVATE something truly special in South African Real Estate. It was during this time at Port Shepstone (a coastal town situated around 200km from Durban on the Kwa-Zulu South Coast) that Johnny conceptualized the Sectional Title Hotel Scheme which is popular today. It was borne out of the theory that a vacation property was a good thing to have, but in essence it is not the best “asset” to have when one considered that for only 2 weeks of the year it was actually utilized and the rest of the year was a subsidy. The trick was always figure out how to make the vacation home pay for itself.
From this thought, Johnny perceived that it would take something more than just being a “holiday home” to make it work and the property would have to take on a more commercial nature to make it work. If the property was part of a “hotel” environment then this could work. But the question was “what would make people come to the hotel year round?” The answer to Johnny was to have a hotel with a state of the art conference facility that would be a feature of the hotel, and if the hotel was located in a location that would require overnight stays, then this would work perfectly.
This is where Port Shepstone came into play as it was far enough away from Durban to make it a good overnight venue and also close enough to other attractions, like the Wild Coast Sun (30 minute drive away) to make it viable. And thus the concept of the Sectional Title Hotel was born, and the first of its kind – as well as being the first hotel to be built in South Africa in a decade – was to be built in Port Shepstone.
Partnering with a Murray and Roberts subsidiary, Kapenta Bay was officially launched in the Property Section of the Sunday Tribune on 22nd May 1994, and comprised of a hotel with 50 suites and a state of the art Conference Centre. Each suite was made up of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and living room and went on sale at the now bargain price of R349 000.
What also made this concept unique was the fact that each purchaser would sign a Rental Pool Agreement in addition to the Purchase and Sale Agreement. Here the purchaser would let the management company utilize the unit for purposes of placing it in the available units in the hotel for the period when the owner did not use the apartment. The nett proceeds after management and running expenses were deducted would then be distributed back to the owners, who would use this subsidy to offset their monthly bond payments.
Another innovation in this property scheme was the fact that SARS would recognize the units as being a “Commercial Rental Establishment” which, depending on the vehicle in which the asset was purchased, would allow for the VAT input claim on the full purchase price.
To close out the concept property was to tie in a good hotel operator, and this is where Johnny partnered up with Three Cities to do the hotel management.
From here 2 more of the developments were done with the same partners in 1995/1996, Alpine Heath in the Northern Drakensberg, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Greenway Woods in White River, Mpumulanga.
ALPINE HEATH:
Alpine Heath was modeled on a Swiss Alpine Village where the “Business Areas” would be nestled in a Swiss Village which would include a Chapel! 50 Chalets would then be spread over the surrounding country side. The location for this resort was perfect as it almost bisected the drive from Johannesburg to Durban, making it an accessible conference and getaway venue for both customers from Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Durban.
GREENWAY WOODS:
White River was the 3rd installment in the Trilogy which would complement the beach and mountain theme with a “game park and golf” feel. Located in White River near the Kruger National Park and near an 18 hole golf course, Greenway Woods comprised of 50 sectional title units as well.
During 1996 with these 3 developments under his belt, Johnny was keeping more of a closer eye on the Tourism market in general as his shift in focus to Sectional Title Hotel developments meant that he was involved not only in Real Estate but Hospitality & Tourism as well. And in the New South Africa as was the phrase back in the 90’s, all signs were pointing to Cape Town as the place to be as far as Hospitality and Tourism were concerned.
PENINSULA BAY HOTEL:
Venturing out on his own, Johnny teamed up with a local Capetonian Real Estate developer, and in the latter part of 1996 launched the Peninsula Bay Hotel in the Strand 45km outside of Cape Town. The Peninsula Bay Hotel was a marked upgrade from the previous properties which were all in the 3 – 4 star range. The Peninsula Bay Hotel was comprised of 98 suites (studios, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom) and 2 Penthouses. The obligatory state of the art Conference Centre was a highlight of the Hotel. Completed at the end of 1997 and opening officially in 1998, the 4 star Peninsula Bay Hotel was a flagship of the Strand Beachfront, which today boasts an array of Multi Million Rand beachfront developments.
As the Internet started to become more and more a part of the Travel and Tourism industry, so Johnny started to shift his focus more and more towards Travel and this aspect of it. From 1999 Johnny started to develop an Internet based approach to Reservations and Accounting, which would be applied to the Travel and Hospitality Industry to make this aspect of it more efficient and easier to use than what currently was the case in the industry in general.
In this regards he set up 3 different companies:
A. An online travel business, called 0861 Travel, using the Internet and modern Software technology to deliver travel products to customers in a more streamlined and efficient process.
B. An IT software development company, called Multireservations, which would develop Web based solutions for the travel and hospitality.
C. A call centre based company, called ITS, which would manage and distribute products, services and payments for the travel industry as well as providing marketing and sales support.
0861 TRAVEL:
0861Travel is a wholesale online tour operator offering tourism related products and services direct to the consumer via the Internet. Utilising the MultiRes system as its reservations and accounting backend, 0861 Travel is able to facilitate online enquiries and turn them into sales with a smooth and efficient service from quotation, to reservations, to invoicing and payment.
The entire 0861 Travel online family consists of a travel portal of over 120 different websites, each with a unique worldwide destination. Combining good and efficient design, the websites are all easily navigable by the end user. All online enquires are sent to a central box, from where they are distributed to the relevant processing department for that particular enquiry. The processing office uses tools like MultiRes to help them facilitate the enquiry from quote to final deal and beyond to payment and voucher processing.
The Websites also generate a stream of advertising and marketing revenue via suppliers who wish to actively list their products online using the 0861 Travel web portals.
0861 Travel also offers business / corporate users a manageable online user interface called Business Traveller, which is a web site dedicated to corporate customers managing their travel related business. Business Traveller offers them the ability to generate reports based on products and services purchased, payment particulars and authorization status of each transaction. Being Web Based, this username and password driven site is accessible on a real time basis anywhere in the world the consumer has a web browser and Internet connection. The entire Business Traveller website runs off the MultiRes system.
MULTIRES
Johnny and his team developed an Internet application, programmed in ASP and housed in a SQL database, called MultiRes as its core product. The vision for the programme was to create a business management tool, for example, a business like a travel agency or a service provider like a guest house whereby it would provide sales and reservations front end services whilst also providing back end support in the way of invoicing and reporting. To this end MultiRes was developed with a number of front end tools for the user for the purposes of both Quoting and making Reservations.
It also conveniently housed contacts as well as having a newsletter marketing tool built in it. Additionally it was programmed to be able to produce invoices and vouchers at the point of sales; as well as providing a number of detailed reports on demand to monitor things like payments and sales.
Being Web based, the programme is accessible from any PC with an Internet connection. MultiRes also went a step further with having inbuilt security levels to prevent user fraud and manipulation. It even developed a Front Desk / Check In module which could be used by Guest Houses, Lodges and Small Hotels.
Johnny has current plans to develop MultiRes further as Web 2.0 becomes more and more of a daily experience and therefore plans are to develop MultiRes along these lines.
ITS
ITS was designed to act as the central reservations for suppliers, hotel groups, B&B and lodges utilizing the MultiRes reservations and accounting programme as its main functional tool. All the enquiries and booking confirmations were to be handled by the call centre agents.
In today’s web-based economy, customers want immediate contact and satisfaction. Utilising the services of a call centre makes that possible by giving them choices: conventional telephone, web call back requests or immediate e-mail response. The customer service level increases dramatically with the use of a call centre handling customer reservations in real-time. The results for companies are more satisfied customers and consequently repeat business. Having a good call centre to assist with central reservations can help companies extend their business through customer satisfaction and increased sales. Also by having an efficient call centre companies can save money, time and having to employ additional staff.
The call centre utilizes the Multires and the accounting system helps these companies streamline and simplify their business when it comes to bookings, invoices, payments and sales reports. This system helps to process sales more easily as well as being able to facilitate secure debit or credit card transactions backed by a robust Microsoft SQL server for near 24/7 uptime.
ITS also facilitates data capturing in Multires for suppliers who wish to have their products and services housed MultiRes. All the relevant information such as accommodations, activities, cars hire and tours with all the pictures and rates, is captured into MultiRes and from there, web developers can use the information to drive a website. By the call centre handling the data capturing which is time consuming will save hotel groups and companies of having to employ additional staff thereby saving money, time and having to provide training.
HOSPITALITY CONSULTING AND MARKETING and PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT AND SALES
During the new millennium, Johnny made further development into the Hospitality market by conceptualizing and project managing a Guest House and Game and urban lodges. The section title hotel scheme is in full blossom in 2008 and having pioneered the concept, Johnny is well positioned to consult in the industry as well as assist with development opportunities. His development of sales and administration in the travel and hospitality utilising the internet is going to be launched early in 2009 to a market that has now caught up with the concept.
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