Sun International’s New Sun Meropa Contributes to Local Economy
Several weeks ago, South Africa’s leading casino and hospitality group, Sun International, officially opened the expanded Sun Meropa Hotel. Since the group announced, together with the Domba Empowerment Corporation, that it intended opening the upmarket hotel last year, work has been continuing on the project around the clock. The contribution to the local economy has been excellent, and Sun International believes that the R76 million that Sun International invested in Sun Meropa will benefit education, employment and other social areas.
Sun Meropa is already a great contributor to the local community. In the last financial year, the resort contributed over R1.2 million to socio-economic development projects under the City of Polokwane’s education, sports and cultural initiatives.
Thanks to the construction of the expanded hotel, around 475 jobs were created (directly and indirectly). The large bulk of the labor used to build the hotel comes from the local community.
The general manager of Sun Merupo, Peter Guthrie commented on the importance of the hotel’s enhancement on the community.
“We continuously strive towards excellence to enhance Meropa’s appeal so as to promote tourism to the city and thereby contribute to the local economy,” he said. “By enhancing sun Meropa with a quality hotel, offering a high standard of accommodation, we believe we can increase our contribution to economic growth and tourism in the area.”
Guthrie said that Sun International was “delighted” with the results of the updated hotel, in a project which he described as “demanding, yet exciting.”
The manager said that the Sun Meropa has the largest and most contemporary casino floor in Polokwane.
“A selection of dining and entertainment options and our beautiful new hotel, Sun Meropa, is poised to become the premier leisure, business and conferencing destination in the region,” he said.
The casino at Sun Meropa includes over 400 slot machines and 17 tables, some of them being roulette, blackjack and poker. It should also be noted that Sun International has recently reinvented its Most Valued Guest (MVG) loyalty program so that members receive more rewards and exclusive offers. For example, members can receive casino and leisure points while they play slots and table games, or when they book rooms or eat meals.
