GAMING FOR AFRICA Sun International’s SunBet Shoots the Lights Out


JSE-listed hotel and resort groups Sun International and City Lodge Hotels have both reported greater demand for rooms at their hotels, resulting in higher room rates and occupancies. Sun International released its latest interim


results recently. City Lodge Hotels saw an 18-percentage point rise in occupancies to 56% for the year ended June 2023, compared to an occupancy level of 38% in 2022. This year’s group occupancies are also slightly higher than 2019, which saw occupancies at 55%. City Lodge said that greater demand for hotel space has further boosted average room rates by 12% this period, marking a recovery on pre-Covid levels. For Sun International, the resorts and hotels


division reported an average occupancy rate for accommodation of 66.8%, compared to 57% reported in the previous comparable period. Higher occupancies have contributed to the


division’s 26.9% growth in income to R1.4 billion. “We continue to experience a strong recovery


in both international and local business in the resorts and hotels segment of the group.


Domestic leisure, conferencing and sports and events revenues continue to grow while international leisure business recovered strongly in the review period,” Sun International said. “Sun City continues to achieve exceptional


performance following the restructure and streamlining of its operations, along with the resort’s strong appeal to the South African market. Additionally, the Table Bay Hotel experienced a significant surge in demand from international markets, leading to robust growth in occupancies and room rates,” the group added. Gaming, which forms a signifi cant part of Sun


International’s operations, accounting for 78% of group income, reported an income growth of 6.6% for the six months ended June 2023. Online betting platform SunBet came in as the star performer for the division this period, generating a record income of R90 million, up 138.4%. Sun International added that SunBet has


recorded a mega increase in unique active players, fi rst-time depositors and deposits on its platforms during the period under review.


“SunBet offers the group signifi cant and


exciting growth potential, with the added advantage of the business model being self- funding and capex light. With this in mind, we continue investing in people and marketing to signifi cantly increase our share of the fast-growing online gaming market.” The hotel group said it plans to capitalise on


SunBet’s growth and launch the platform into other markets, including Ghana, Zambia and Kenya, by the fi rst half of 2024. “Our balance sheet remains strong, and we


are focused on effi ciencies as we look to protect and grow our income and margins. SunBet is achieving record numbers in terms of income and all key indicators and will deliver another step change this year as this business continues to scale at a rapid pace. Our resort and hotel properties have continued to perform exceptionally well, and we anticipate another good year from them in 2023. Urban casinos and LPM operations are demonstrating continued resilience despite the tough operating environment,” Sun International said.


Ithuba’s Open Verse Challenge Campaign Breaks Social Media Records


South African National Lottery Operator, Ithuba, has left an indelible mark on the digital landscape with its ground-breaking Open Verse Challenge campaign. Since its electrifying kick-off on June 1st, the campaign has not only dominated the trend charts but has also generated an astonishing reach of over 463 million and an awe- inspiring 1.17 billion impressions, exclusively on the X (formerly known as Twitter) app. Media tracker Meltwater meticulously tracked and authenticated these remarkable figures. While the campaign spanned across multiple social media platforms, X emerged as the undisputed champion, responsible for


an astounding 81.66% of the captivating content, followed by Facebook at 10.43%. The IthubaOpen Verse Challenge was


propelled to unprecedented heights by five of South Africa’s most illustrious artists: Cassper Nyovest, J’Something, Nkosazana Daughter, Lady Du, and DJ Tira. These iconic musicians created original tracks for this campaign and ingeniously intertwined them with the National Lottery and ITHUBA themes, leaving a blank canvas for the public to fill with their creativity. Over 2,200 emerging artists enthusiastically joined forces with their preferred version, vying for their share of the grand R125,000 prize. The campaign achieved a staggering 7.45


million views on X and an astounding 14.1 million views on TikTok. Ithuba launched this monumental


campaign to commemorate its 8th anniversary as the official South African National Lottery Operator. Social media enthusiasts embraced the campaign with unparalleled fervour, igniting a wildfire of engagement and conversation around the myriad collaborations, amassing an astounding 100,000+ interactions. Charmaine Mabuza, Ithuba CEO,


expressed her elation at the campaign’s resounding success, stating, “We are overjoyed to celebrate our 8th anniversary with a campaign of such monumental impact. The triumph of this campaign mirrors our outstanding performance as the Operator over the past 8 years. Furthermore, the public’s response and lyrical contributions demonstrated their profound connection with the National Lottery brand we have cultivated diligently over the years. Our brand resonates with both men and women, evident in the campaign’s gender split, where 53% are male and 47% are female. X and Facebook stood as the top-performing social media platforms, reaffirming our ability to connect with our players and understand their passions.” The competition climaxed on August 1st,


Ney The Bae who made a video of herself collaborating with Casper Nyovest has been one of the most watched in the Open Verse Challenge by Ithuba. Picture: screenshot from @neythebae sa/Twitter


32 OCTOBER 2023


with five fortunate winners emerging, each walking away with invaluable exposure and R25,000.


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