“My dream is to teach my five-month-old granddaughter to ski in a few years’ time.” That’s the word from Swiss-born City Lodge Group Founder and Non-executive Chairman, Hans Enderle, who steps down in August after 25 years with the group.
Fuelled by a desire to travel the world, Enderle first entered the tourism industry at the tender age of 15 when he became a chef in Switzerland. “When I left formal school I knew I wanted to be a part of the hospitality industry as it appeared to be international, exciting and full of opportunities to travel,” says Enderle.
He studied and worked for a number of hotels and restaurants in Switzerland before coming to South Africa in 1966. “At 23 I decided to emigrate to South Africa. I was lured by the promise of adventure and a desire to better my English. South Africa had decided to build a tourism infrastructure and the ‘Hotel Board’ was formed to set standards for the hotel industry. This strategy attracted lots of young international hoteliers like Otto Stehlik of Protea Hotels and Alberto Chiaranda, ex-Sun International.”
In 1970, he joined Holiday Inn where he worked for 15 years and served as both chairman and md. “When I joined Holiday Inn I was appointed innkeeper at the Holiday Inn Jan Smuts Airport. The company built and operated some years later over 40 Holiday Inns in Southern Africa. These were exciting times for me, being part of this growth and development of the largest franchise outside the American continent,” says Enderle.
When Holiday Inn’s 25 hotels were sold to Southern Sun, Enderle suddenly found himself without a job. Armed with an in-depth knowledge of the hotel industry and a keen sense for the needs of the South African traveller, he managed to convince Southern Sun to sell him the first unfinished City Lodge.
He recognised that the time was right for South Africa to launch a new selected services hotel concept. He knew that the focus had to be on quality. South African travellers were in need of affordable accommodation in excellent locations but without all the bells and whistles that full-service hotels had to offer, such as restaurants, room service and porters.
On August 1, 1985 City Lodge Randburg, the first hotel for the City Lodge Group, officially opened its doors. Enderle says: “We were not 100 per cent sure if the concept of selected services hotels would appeal to South Africans, but it did. We made a profit of R35 000 in the first year. This profit grew to R132 million last year. The years from 1985 to 1995 were the most exciting years of my professional career.”
Following his retirement, Enderle plans to do more of what inspired him to get involved in the hotel industry in the first place – travel! “I have been fortunate to visit many interesting places in the world. I’ve visited the North Pole, heli-skied from 4 600m above sea with my two kids, sailed in Croatia and fished in Russia, Alaska and Mongolia with my son Stephen. In my retirement I wish to see more of the world with my wife and our family.
