Local hotelier back at it

Botho Mogami’s return to Masa Square Hotel

Having held the position of Masa Square Hotel (MSH) Sales and Marketing Manager for four years (2012-2016) before taking a two year plunge into the South African hospitality scene, Botho Mogami has returned to claim her throne to head the hotel’s sales and marketing department yet again.

With her usual bubbling energy, one would argue that the feisty pint-sized lady never left.

Seemingly happy to be back in the country, Mogami, who insists to be called by her first name, plunges into the deep end of the conversation.

“I left Botswana and went to Johannesburg South Africa, in pursuit of a broad understanding of the hotelier business and I am positive that my experiences will help me serve the company better,” she expresses.

She lists some of the fundamentals she has learnt as coming up with innovative techniques of ensuring guests get value for money while on the one hand making sure the hotel also meets its targets. 

“I am able to come back because I’ve learnt the various trades of the hotel world; how it is done in other countries as well as how it can be adopted at this hotel,” she asserts, noting in the same breath that the exposure was necessary as MSH also caters for a global client base.

“I had to find out what they want since I am in the business of providing service to them once they book with us,” she adds matter-of-factly.

Her proudest moment in her job is when she meets the needs of a customer. “I love   seeing a customer walking away with a smile on their face,” she smiles.

Though a prolific player in the local hospitality landscape, growing up, all Mogami wanted to be was nothing but an airhostess. She was enticed to the profession by the prospect of constantly being on the air, travelling the world and seeing exotic places.

Despite her infant dream, she has since found her footing in the hospitality space and is relishing every moment of the experience.

The prospect of studying Hotel Management came from her father, who worked hard to ensure all his six children’s career futures were planned to a tee.

“It was second nature to him to choose who would do what looking at our different characters,” she notes, with a quick mention that he passed on a few years back.

Amongst her credentials is a Diploma in Hotel Management from the Institute of Commercial Management (ICM) where she studied through correspondence at Unitech. Upon completion, she went on to intern at the then Gaborone Sun International Hotel (Now Avani Hotel).

She animatedly recalls her first assignment as a House Keeper at the hotel.

“I was ecstatic to work in Housekeeping and got to learn a lot about the hotel business,” she says, throwing in that as the youngest in the team, she would always be wide-eyed and amazed at how the older staff did their work diligently.

She is currently studying Revenue Management and believes the strategies she acquires will be instrumental in helping her offer her customers the best rates while generating revenue for the hotel.

Her daily routine at the hotel entails checking e-mails for the previous day’s reports and responding to queries, checking up on clients (residents and those who have booked the conference facilities), attending to customer needs. She also checks the hotel’s occupancy and drafts a plan to achieve the weekly and monthly budget.

Her advice to anyone looking to carve a career in hospitality is that they should work hard and build what makes their ‘soul sparkle’. She places a lot of emphasis on integrity and ‘BOTHO’ as well as employing the ‘NOW’ rule, which talks seizing the moment and not postponing things for the future.

Shifting her focus to the recent commemoration of the International Women’s Day commemoration observed on March 8^th 2019, she said “Women we need to help fix each other’s crowns and end girl hate. According to her, the theme; ‘Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change’ the message is on innovative ways to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure.

Botho is not the only woman in MSH leadership roles. She also works with five other ladies in the roles of Finance Manager, Front Office Manager, Front Office Manager-Housekeeping, Guest Relations Manager and the Executive Chef.

She reveals that their recruitment approach is gender neutral, with selection based on merit of the candidate’s credentials.