S.A. On Tour: Cape Town

Founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Profitroom serving thousands of hotels around the world, including operating for majority properties in Poland. The company's specialisation is online sales and marketing. A graduate of Management and Marketing at the University of Economics in Poznań and Computer Science at the Poznań University of Technology.

Samantha Williams is an award winning revenue specialist and currently holds the senior management position of Commercial Director at Profitroom. Before joining Profitroom she worked as a senior revenue and product manager working with a mixed portfolio of over 75 hotels and prior to this held sales and marketing manager positions for leisure resorts and hotels in the UK. Highly respected and with a strong background in hospitality, revenue management and leadership she has worked across numerous hotel marketing and management disciplines and is able to relate to the challenges that hoteliers face. 

She is passionate about helping hoteliers maximise and grow their revenue and is an advocate for personalised, automated processes and integrated systems that help to make the sales process easy for employees and more engaging for guests. At Profitroom Samantha leads on the strategic and operational activities to deliver transformative, tangible results for leisure hotels and resorts in the Africa, Europe and beyond.

For over 20 years, Michael has been developing and training leaders and entrepreneurs around the world. Having resided in the UK for 16 years and presented leadership training in over 25 countries, he has a wealth of international experience and practical know-how.

Working with government departments, businesses, corporates, NPO's as well as sports teams to build leaders, strengthen companies, envision, and inspire.

Michael is an adventurer at heart, together with a small overland team he has driven in a 4x4 from London, UK to Cape Town in South Africa, climbed Kilimanjaro, and visited 66 countries.

Theresa is passionate about sharing her knowledge in revenue management and assisting service-orientated companies to optimise their revenue.

Her key focus areas are:

• Optimising Total Revenue through Strategic and Tactical Planning
• Forecasting, Budgets, Revenue Plans, Competitive Analysis & Pricing
• Revenue Management Audits
• Training & Developing future revenue management specialists.

With an enormous amount of experience in system configuration (i.e. Micros: Opera, Sales & Catering and Symphony, RoomRaccoon, Guestline, IDeaS RMS and G3, Cendyn, Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Site Minder, Rategain, Ota Insight, Profitroom and many, many more) with the focus on driving the bottom-line.

Theresa challenges standard Revenue Concepts and implements Metrics and Analytics that leads to actions and results.

Hello, my name is Lee-Anne Singer, Marketing and Sales Director at the Singer Group. The Singer Group is a well-known travel and hospitality company with a track record of almost 60 years. I have over 25 years’ experience in the tourism industry, and my role focuses on business development for the Group, identifying new business opportunities and partnerships. Along with my team, we are responsible for the sales and marketing of our eleven brands.

I currently serve as Chairperson of FEDHASA Cape, where, along with the board and our executive team, we strive to be the representative voice for the hospitality industry via coaching, collaboration and commercialisation projects. I am also honoured to be part of the Cape Town Tourism board, where I sit on the tourism committee. I also serve on the board of Glendale, a home for intellectually disabled adults, where my portfolio includes communications and fundraising.

I have spoken at various conferences and events, of which the International Travel Tech Conference in Tel Aviv was a definite highlight. Another career highlight was winning the ‘Western Cape Positive Role Model’ title in the Gender Mainstreaming Awards.Prior to joining the Singer Group, I worked in various roles within the media industry, including CNBC Africa, The Property Magazine and Top Women in Business and Government. 

All this said, my biggest, and most exciting project is raising my three children Ruby, Joseph and Daniel.

Ryan Roach’s experience is deeply rooted in the hospitality industry, having practised his analytical skills within the field for many years. Initially, Ryan had a passion for preparing cuisine and saw himself becoming a chef, after obtaining his National Diploma in Hospitality Administration/Management from Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He soon pursued other career paths within the hotel industry, but his love for technology ultimately steered him towards analytics within the hospitality sphere.

Ryan first joined Newmark as the Group Revenue Manager in 2013. He then went on to become Revenue Director in 2017 before his current role, which he was promoted to in 2019. 

His vision is to take Newmark and all its properties to the next level in revenue management, by embracing the latest technological advancements.

Zineb Belyasmine is helping hotel brands grow their direct bookings in her current role as Market Director of Middle East and Africa for The Hotels Network. After studying management and marketing of travel, hospitality, and tourism, she gained an extensive background working in distribution and with OTAs, like Booking.com and Expedia, first beginning her work in hospitality over ten years. In her current role, she is responsible for business development and client acquisition, sustaining company growth throughout the Middle Eastern and African markets, and maintaining client relationships.

Bernhard Potgieter is a veteran in the field of information technology, having been involved in the industry since 1971. He began his career as a programmer and worked his way up to become a project manager and divisional head.

Bernhard then expanded his expertise by working for supplier companies, where he gained valuable experience in selling and supporting software. He went on to work as a technology consultant in the United States before returning to South Africa to work for Dimension Data.

In 2001, Bernhard founded Semper, an IT solutions provider, and has been serving as its CEO ever since. Under his leadership, Semper has grown into a successful company that delivers innovative IT solutions to the hospitality industry.

Bernhards extensive experience in the IT industry has made him a respected figure in the field. He is known for his strategic vision, leadership skills, and commitment to delivering exceptional service to his clients. Bernhard is also a mentor to many young professionals in the industry, and his knowledge and expertise continue to inspire the next generation of IT leaders.