Agusta Thumbi has heavily invested in the hospitality industry.
She owns Hotel Basilea, Country Club and the flashy White Peacock Hotel all situated in Mtwapa, Kilifi County.
Thumbi made the investments from money that she made while working in Switzerland.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Background
Thumbi was born and raised in the coastal town of Mtwapa where she also attended school.
After completion of her secondary school education, the real estate developer pursued a course in Tourism and Hospitality:
Upon completion of her course, she landed a job with a local company in Mombasa where she worked for a while before resigning.
Thumbi left her job and started her own tours and travel company where she would do tour guide within Mombasa.
Moving to Switzerland
As fate would have it, she later got a chance to join a school in Switzerland to further her hospitality studies in 1989.
“It reached a point where I wanted to complete my hospitality education and I got a vacancy with a school in Switzerland and that’s how I went to do hospitality,” she said.
Thumbi went to school for two years and started working in the hotel industry immediately after school.
The then mother of two worked in the hospitality sector for two years before shifting to the pharmaceutical sector.
“Somehow I wanted to learn new things, I started working in the pharmaceutical industry from the belief that they pay better. I did not go long, I worked for two-three years before the department was closed,” Thumbi said.
After losing her job, she moved to another pharmaceutical company where she worked as a casher.
Thumbi rose through to become an assistant manager at one of the company’s branches by the time she left.
“I left there as an assistant manager of one branch. Before being the assistant manager, I had worked in three-four branches of the same company,” she added.
Investing back home
Although she was stable and making good money abroad, Thumbi said she couldn’t stop thinking about what she can do on her own.
She first invested in residential apartments in Mtwapa, before starting the construction of Hotel Basilea in 2009.
The hotel started operations in December 2010 and after some time in business, Thumbi added another establishment.
“…and after doing the hotel for some time, I though I was a bit advanced and thought of setting up a second one
“In between, I opened a club in 2013, I wanted something different and see how it could work,” Thumbi said.
White Peacock Hotel
White Peacock Hotel which is barely one year old is one of the newest modern hotels in the coastal region.
Thumbi was personally involved in the design of the scenic facility boasting traditional and modern architecture.
“We are outside of the town, we are surrounded with big trees and exotic flowers, it is a really friendly place to be,” she said.
Peacock Hotel offers accommodation, kids park, events garden and a well-equipped conferencing boardroom.
Accommodation include double rooms, twin bedrooms, apartment rooms, VIP rooms and honeymoon rooms among others.
The hotel management is currently working on a gym and grounds which can be used for team buildings and other activities.
