‘TIMES’ APOLOGISES TO SWAZI HOTELS

I wondered out loud last week why it was that the Times of Swaziland had done a hatchet job on a Swazi hotel chain.

The Times had said that a customer survey had found that there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the Royal Swazi Sun chain of hotels.

I said that even a cursory look at the full customer satisfaction data would tell you that the hotel was actually serving its guests rather well, although there was some room for improvement.

I asked why it was that the Times decided to misrepresent the survey.

I haven’t had any answers to my questions, but the Times itself has now put its hands up and admitted it was wrong and ‘unreservedly apologised to management and staff at the hotels’.

This is what the Times said on Tuesday (24 June 2008),

‘It has since been brought to our attention that an article which appeared in the Times of Swaziland on Monday [16 June 2008] entitled ‘Royal Swazi Sun staff sulk at guests over pay’ contained some factual inaccuracies. In particular it was alleged that the standards in the Royal Swazi Sun Hotel, and / or Lugogo Sun, and / or Elzuwini Sun Hotels were not up to the expectations of a significant proportion of the Resort’s guests.

'We therefore would like to withdraw the contents of the article entirely and we unreservedly apologise to the Resort, its management and staff for any inconvenience this may have caused.’

As apologies go it’s a pretty fulsome one. Maybe a lawyer’s letter helped the Times make up its mind to apologise.

But, my main point remains unanswered. Why did the Times make such an obvious attack on the hotels with absolutely no evidence? I think the Times’ readers are owed an apology and an explanation.

See also
‘TIMES’ HATCHET JOB ON SWAZI HOTEL