Samuel Njoroge is the founder of Rhodes Holding Limited, trading under the brand name, Rhodes Tours and Travel.
In an exclusive interview with WoK, Njoroge said the company he founded the company with an aim of providing affordable tourism services.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Tourism business
Njoroge noted that Rhodes Tours and Travels was founded in 2015 to offer sustainable and affordable tourism services.
He noted that the company has majored on safaris, although they also offer other services such as hotel bookings, adventure and home stay accommodation.
“We have specialized on private safaris, group-joining safaris as well as team building, travel and holiday incentives for corporates,” Njoroge said.
At Rhodes, Njoroge explained that they prioritize their clients, and as such invest more in client satisfaction.
“What we consider the most in our business is the ability to reach the customer’s satisfaction in good time and in a professional manner
“For instance, when one requests for a quotation, they are able to get in good time and we are also able to offer the service in the right time,” he explained.
Njoroge who is also a tour guide cited value addition as the biggest motivation to succeed in the travel business.
“For example when someone wants to go for a holiday, what is the value that you can add for them; are you in a position to book their flight or hotel or organize their transport from the airport to the hotel?
“Those are the value adds that bring success in a travel agent. Especially nowadays when we talk of sustainability, we also want to see that these clients add value to the destinations that they are moving to,” he said.
Njoroge pointed out safaris as their most selling service with its popularity among their clients attributed to value addition.
“This package is well curated to offer clients the kind of satisfaction that they would get even if they travelled by themselves .We have added value by guiding clients on the best destinations depending on their budget, the best timings and we also give detailed information; not just selling the package
“Information is very key since it helps the clients to determine which destinations to go to. Those are among the value adds that make our services loved by the clients,” he explained.
Guest house made of recycled materials
He has also invested in farmstay guest house in Kikuyu which was built using recycled materials.
Njoroge explained that the project was built in 2022 to cushion the company from the COVID-19 pandemic which hugely affected the tourism sector.
During the pandemic period, the two-bedroomed house was open for private bookings.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic period when traveling was restricted, we thought of this idea now that we were not servicing any clients
“We put up the guesthouse making it possible for private booking for families to experience some exclusivity,” he said.
At the moment, the company hosts farmstay experiences such as cooking, game nights and chamas.
Challenges
Just like any other business, Njoroge has also had to deal with challenges in their business.
He mentioned low revenue, high staff turnover and financing, especially when serving corporate clients, as some of their major challenges.
“Those are some of the major challenges within this industry… However, the level of competition right now is very high since most companies are trying to recover what they lost during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Njoroge said.
He also mentioned that most people are not much into holidays due to financial constraints caused by the high cost of living.
