Chief Executive Officer, Yusuf Olela, told Zodiak online Wednesday the company was not as busy as earlier anticipated.

Olela cited a drop in terms of hotel guests and the number of conferences hosted which, he said, was a clear departure to the environment in 2018.

“The business environment has been very challenging this year for obvious reasons but SUNBIRD has been so resilient. We are looking forward to a better year next year.

“We have not been as busy as we anticipated to be,” explained Olela acknowledging that this has affected revenue for the company.

“…If you look at half this year’s results, we could not give the profit warning because the growth was below 20 percent slightly not a good year as we could have expected,” he said.

On Wednesday the company awarded long serving members of staff targeting those that have served for a period of 10 years to 35 years.

“As a company we are thriving because we have people who are committed to work. Our industry is people based so when people have committed their services to the company it is important to motivate them,” said Olela.

He said awarding staff is critical as it gives the organization stability.

One of the awardees, Benedict Ndala, General Manager, SUNBIRD Nkopola, was all smiles.

Ndala went away with a certificate and 245,000 Kwacha shopping voucher having worked for 30 years.

He commended the company for the gesture. “I am very excited, when the company is thriving, it also needs to recognize people who are contributing to the growth,” said Ndala.

SUNBIRD targets to award over 100 employees across the regions. In the Southern region, the company has awarded over 60 members of staff.