With summer holidays on the horizon, South Africa’s hospitality industry is gearing up for the influx of both international and local travellers. As visitors from Europe, the USA, China, and across Africa prepare to descend on Mzansi for the warmer peak season, transit hubs like airports and their adjoining hotels are set to experience a big surge in foot traffic.

According to Statistics South Africa, 3.5 million travellers were recorded at South African ports of entry or exit in December 2023, a 34.6% increase from the number of travellers recorded just one month earlier. While these peak travel periods bring an air of excitement, they also come with heightened safety concerns. Particularly in bustling environments like airports and hotels where the risk of illness transmission rises exponentially, a phenomenon well-documented during the Covid-19 pandemic and the SARS outbreak.

As such, the importance of safety in high-traffic environments like airport hotels has become increasingly apparent, where the constant flow of people demands stringent safety protocols to mitigate health risks, particularly in light of the pandemic’s lasting impact. With millions of international and local visitors expected, maintaining guest safety while delivering high-quality service has emerged as a top priority.

Grace Mathikge, Front Office Manager of Radisson Hotel and Convention Centre O.R. Tambo Airport, reflects on the evolving nature of hospitality in a time where safety is paramount: “Our focus is on making sure guests feel protected from the moment they arrive,” she says. “This requires a structured yet adaptable approach to crisis management, where health protocols are treated as essential, not optional.”

Radisson’s approach to managing these challenges stands as a model for the wider industry, demonstrating that guest safety does not need to come at the expense of exceptional service. Through a combination of proactive crisis management, ongoing staff training, and consistent health and safety measures, Mathikge notes that the hotel has seamlessly integrated safety into its daily operations without making it feel burdensome or intrusive for guests.

While the upcoming holiday season will see a large influx of travellers, with Gauteng alone expected to host a significant portion of the international tourists anticipated in the country this December, this emphasis on training and preparedness has allowed Radisson to stay agile during periods of high occupancy. The Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) reported a substantial 51% of all travellers entering South Africa in December 2023 travelled through O.R. Tambo International Airport, a trend which will likely continue in 2024.

Radisson Hotel and Convention Centre at O.R. Tambo Airport has anticipated these challenges by integrating safety protocols into their operational model, ensuring that both international and domestic travellers have a safe, reliable place to stay.

Moreover, the hotel has taken a holistic view of safety, recognising that guest well-being extends beyond physical health. Whether it’s offering a quiet lounge area for early arrivals or providing seamless access to premium amenities, Radisson understands that guest satisfaction and safety are interconnected.

“It’s about understanding that each guest’s needs are different,” Mathikge explains. “We want to ensure that while we focus on their safety, we also create a welcoming and memorable experience. This human-centred approach is crucial in ensuring that safety protocols enhance, rather than detract from, the guest experience.”

For the industry at large, the lessons from Radisson’s approach are clear. Hotels, particularly those in transit-heavy areas, need to develop comprehensive safety plans that can be adopted into their everyday operations. These should not be seen as temporary or reactive measures, but rather as part of a long-term commitment to guest wellbeing. Staff training, flexibility in service offerings, and clear communication are all critical components of this strategy.

While the hospitality industry continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic, Radisson’s model of combining crisis management with exceptional guest service stands as an example of how to navigate high-risk environments. Their approach reflects broader industry trends where safety, personalisation, and guest satisfaction converge, setting a new benchmark for what effective hospitality looks like in today’s world.

RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

Radisson Hotel Group is an international hotel group, operating in EMEA and APAC with over 1,380 hotels in operation and under development in +95 countries.

The international hotel group is rapidly expanding with a plan to significantly grow the portfolio. The Group’s overarching brand promise is Every Moment Matters with a signature Yes I Can! service ethos.

The Radisson family of brands portfolio includes Radisson Collection, art’otel, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, and prizeotel brought together under one commercial umbrella brand Radisson Hotels.

Radisson Rewards is Radisson Hotel Group’s loyalty program, which delivers an elevated experience that makes Every Moment Matter, counting more than 17 million members. As the most streamlined program in the sector, members enjoy exceptional advantages and can access their benefits from day one across a wide range of hotels in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.

Radisson Meetings provides tailored solutions for any event or meeting, including hybrid solutions placing guests and their needs at the heart of its offer. Radisson Meetings is built around three strong service commitments: Personal, Professional and Memorable, while delivering on the brilliant basics and being uniquely 100% Carbon Neutral.

At Radisson Hotel Group we care for people, communities and planet and aim to be Net Zero by 2050 based on the approved near-term Science Based Targets. With unique solutions such as 100% carbon neutral Radisson Meetings, we make sustainable hotel stays easy. To facilitate sustainable travel choices, all our hotels are becoming verified on Hotel Sustainability Basics.

The health and safety of guests and team members remain a top priority for Radisson Hotel Group. All properties across the Group’s portfolio are subject to health and safety requirements, ensuring we always care for our guests and team members.

Despite being separated by almost 600 years, modern-day accountants still share a common practice with Luca Pacioli. Like the father of accounting, today’s finance teams continue to work within the confines of the monthly close, a process that can still take up to 15 days for some businesses to complete.

This delay means companies are often not getting an accurate view of their financial performance until halfway through the following month. In today’s fast-paced business environment, where real-time insights can be a real difference maker, this approach does not align with modern business needs while also consuming valuable time and resources that could be better spent on strategic initiatives rather than what is effectively a low-value proposition that doesn’t particularly register elsewhere in the business when completed correctly.

To achieve greater agility, accuracy, and foresight needed to adjust and adapt, businesses must shed the constraints of the financial close and embrace continuous accounting – where the traditional month-end close is replaced with ongoing, real-time accounting activities.

Of course, a complete transition isn’t going to happen overnight. However, by making incremental improvements to drive financial reporting latency towards zero with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation, businesses can already start to de-emphasise the close. Breaking a cycle which, if not vicious, is not adding as much value as it should.

Evolving beyond manual processes

The monthly close exists, in part, because the traditional manual processes needed to capture the information required to present a full and accurate picture of an organisation’s financial performance take a long time (and effort) to carry out.

Take invoice processing as just one example. If vendors send customer invoices via email in a PDF or (heaven forbid) mail an invoice in the post, it causes a delay to extract information and input it into your accounting system. That’s before considering the time spent chasing customers for late invoices. Or what about that painful part of a finance team’s job when they have to chase employees to complete timesheets? It can be a frustrating task that is taking away from their ability to do more strategic work.

Automation dramatically speeds up these repetitive tasks so they can be completed in sync with business activity. And, because it no longer takes so much time to complete, there’s less need to group the work into monthly reporting periods to get it done. That’s a win for finance teams who are reportedly spending 25% of their time on the close, per our Sage customer surveys.

For example, Large Language Models (LLMs) can be used to create emails to nudge customers and employees. And AI-powered solutions can automate extracting and entering data from traditional paper or PDF invoices, speeding up the data collection process and empowering people to be more productive with humans only brought in at the review stage. Spending less time on the minutiae of the close positively impacts on a personal, human level as well. Michael A. Smith, SVP of Finance & Accounting at Operation Hope—the largest non-profit in the US focusing on financial literacy and empowerment—recently told me at Sage Transform 2024 that AI automation has given him invaluable time to spend with his two kids and be present as a father.

Greater accuracy and trust

When information can be captured closer to real-time via continuous accounting, you can move away from after-the-fact visibility and achieve a more accurate view of business performance in the moment. Of course, that is only possible when the information provided can be trusted as reliable.

Automation can reduce human errors in manual data entry that can occur during the often stressful and hectic time that is the monthly close. In fact, AI models are already achieving 100% accuracy on nearly 70% of invoices that flow through. Coupled with the real-time visibility into costs or expenses across the business, this approach allows for decision-making based on up-to-the-minute information rather than historical data. This real-time perspective offers a more accurate view of business performance at any given moment.

It is important that this continuous assurance elements work hand in hand with continuous accounting to ensure reliability. By mitigating risks associated with bad data and ensuring compliance, it fosters trust in the financial data being used for decision-making. Moreover, as businesses shift focus from manual tasks to managing relationships with vendors, they can foster more accurate and reliable supply chains, contributing to overall business performance accuracy.

Greater foresight and agility

Automation in continuous accounting not only increases accuracy but also gives businesses the gift of time. By automating tasks such as invoice processing and accruals, businesses can redirect their focus from tedious manual work to strategic initiatives that add value to the business. This shift in focus allows for more agile decision-making and fosters innovation.

Moreover, with real-time data at their fingertips, businesses gain foresight into their performance and financial health. They no longer have to wait until the end of a financial period to assess their standing. Not to mention unlocking quicker detection of issues and exceptions that previously would only be spotted after the damage is done.

More immediate access to insights allows businesses to respond quickly to changes and seize opportunities as they arise. In essence, continuous accounting enables businesses to be more proactive and less reactive, resulting in greater agility in an ever-changing business landscape.

That’s exactly what CB insights, a provider of market intelligence on private companies and investor activities, was able to do as they turned a 60-day soft close into a three-day hard close. With all that extra time – literally weeks and weeks of it – they were able to direct energy and attention to strategic areas of the business. A case in point being a reduction in their DSO (Days sales outstanding) by 10 days and an extended 13-week cash forecast.

In conclusion, the traditional ‘close’ of accounting is giving way to a new era of continuous, real-time insights, thanks to the revolutionary impact of AI. This shift is not just a change in process; it’s a transformation that promises greater accuracy, trust, foresight, and agility in managing business finances.

By moving towards eliminating the close, we are breaking free from the constraints of a term and a practice that by nature is not continuous. We are moving towards a future where real-time data reigns supreme, offering businesses the ability to make informed decisions at any given moment, rather than waiting for the end of a financial period.

It doesn’t stop at improving financial processes; it has the potential to drive new growth and development for businesses. By automating tasks and providing real-time insights, businesses can foster innovation and finance teams can rebalance priorities and their time away from the monthly close.

As we embrace this new age of continuous accounting, it is about more than changing how we handle workflows. Moving away from the close is about opening up a world where businesses can operate, grow, and succeed more effectively.

About Sage

Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of small and mid-sized businesses served by us, our partners, and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR, and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, the Sage Network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology, and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality, and the climate crisis.

Podcast Party is proud to announce that Timothy Maurice Webster, a leading strategy specialist and bestselling author in the field of behavioural psychology, has joined the team as Senior Partner. Known for his expertise in branding, leadership, and behavioural insights, Timothy brings a unique perspective that aligns perfectly with Podcast Party’s mission to empower South Africans with the knowledge to make informed decisions.

With two decades of experience in advising global brands and thought leaders, Timothy has a proven track record of leveraging behavioural psychology to influence public engagement and leadership dynamics. His role at Podcast Party will focus on driving strategic direction, shaping content that resonates with diverse audiences, and enhancing the platform’s ability to foster critical thinking.

“Timothy’s insights into human behaviour and leadership will add incredible depth to our work at Podcast Party,” said Rina Broomberg, co-founder of Podcast Party. “We are at a crucial time in South Africa’s history, and the need for thoughtful, informed discourse has never been more important”.

Timothy has authored several bestselling books on personal development, leadership, and the psychology of influence as well as host of the long-running Brain and Brand Podcast.  His experience working with top global brands uniquely positions him to lead innovative projects at Podcast Party, helping the platform expand its reach and impact.

“I’m thrilled to join Podcast Party at such a critical juncture,” said Timothy Maurice Webster. “This platform is not just about recording podcasts —it’s about empowering individuals with the tools they need to think critically, engage with their communities, and make decisions that will shape their futures. I look forward to contributing to this important mission.”

Through engaging discussions, expert opinions and on-the-ground activations, Podcast Party offers a kaleidoscope of content on all online platforms to equip individuals from all walks of life with knowledge to make more informed decisions.  The addition of Timothy marks an exciting step forward as the platform gears up for 2025 and beyond.

For further information please visit https://podcastparty.co.za/