O&L Leisure to temporarily close two lodges

Jo-Maré Duddy - As part of “urgent rescue measures to safeguard the future sustainability of its business and mitigate the risk of the impact on an already crippled tourism sector”, O&L Leisure will close Chobe Water Villas and Mokuti Etosha Lodge from 1 August to 1 October 2021.
Basic salaries of O&L Leisure employees will also be cut by between 25% and 50% from next month to the end of October. The company’s portfolio includes Chobe Water Villas, Mokuti Etosha Lodge, Strand Hotel Swakopmund, Midgard Country Estate and its central office.
“With the pandemic continuing to impact us negatively and the current government regulations and health measures including restrictions on trading in our restaurants and international travel regulations linked to infection levels, we are further hampered in our ability to operate our business resulting in this situation becoming unsustainable,” Norbert Wurm, the managing director of O&L Leisure, said in a statement.