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Sun City is quite something. Despite being around for more than three decades, it has still managed, (albeit with a recent revamp to the tune of R1 billion) to stay relevant to young, old, near and far.
How so? Well, the answer it seems, lies in being able to offer people what they want, and what they cannot get anywhere else.
Sun City was originally the brainchild of Sol Kerzner, who never doubted his idea would work from the moment he set eyes on the site, on the edge of an inactive volcanic crater in what was then the Bophuthatswana homeland.
The resort’s glory days were in the 1980s, in the height of apartheid when gambling was illegal in South Africa – but legal in the ‘homelands’ on the country’s doorstep. Sun City officially opened its doors in 1979, with one hotel, one casino and one golf course, and welcomed a mixed crowd of 15,000 strong in the first few days alone. Considering the resort was designed to hold 3,000 at a maximum, the opening was deemed a roaring success.
South Africans flocked to the guilty pleasures of being able to drink alcohol at any time of the day, gamble to their heart’s content, and watch vibrant Extravaganza shows. It was a pleasure palace, a world of glitz, glamour and bright lights similar to that of Las Vegas, and unlike anything the rather puritanical apartheid-era South Africa had ever seen. The resort hosted top-of-the-range boxing bouts, international music artists and Miss World pageants, and was the home of the Million Dollar golf championship – at that stage one of the richest golf tournaments in the world.
Sun City was most definitely in business, thanks mainly to its casino. Gambling was the biggest revenue earner, and the cash flow catapulted a quick but massive growth spurt, subsidising the building of The Palace of the Lost City within the first decade alone. The expansion helped drive investment opportunities for the local economy and create 10,000 jobs for people living within a 30-kilometre radius.
Things nosedived a bit post-1994 when casinos in South Africa were legalised, and more than 40 licences for urban casinos were made available pretty much overnight. Sun City now had something it had previously not known – healthy competition and plenty of it, but that was not going to stop the resort from doing business as usual.
In 2017 Sun City emerged from a five-year-long, R1-billion makeover. Moving with the times, the casino is a much reduced part of the resort, with more emphasis placed on the family and corporate markets.
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‘We want to be known as a family-friendly place,’ says Raul de Lima when he sat down with me in the Luma Bar and Lounge at Cascades. He went on to explain that, back in the day, Sun City was an ‘adult’ destination, but the resort’s new focus is on adventure, the connection with the adjacent Pilanesberg Game Reserve, family holidays and MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions).
One thing that has not changed is the range of accommodation, which caters for a wide range of income groups. The four hotels at Sun City have 1,310 rooms, and together meet the needs of every budget within the LSM 5–10 bracket. Top of the range is The Palace, which offers five-star plus service, followed by the five-star accommodation in the Cascades, where we stayed. The old Sun City Hotel, which is home to
the casino, has now been rebranded as the Soho hotel. The rooms here (and in the three-star, entry-level Cabanas) have had more than just a lick of paint, and now boast a fresher, more contemporary feel, and there are a range of new entertainment offerings, including night clubs, burlesque clubs and restaurants open 24 hours.
We dined at Legends, one of the newer, upmarket restaurants that pays tribute to Sun City’s heyday when it was a major event venue, with memorabilia and photographs from past shows by the likes of Michael Jackson and Elton John.
Finally, there is the self-catering Sun Vacation Club timeshare offering. Phase one of the upgrade has already created bigger and better accommodation, and average annual occupancy is now just under 80%, with most members tending to buy again once their 10- year membership period has lapsed.
One of the bigger focuses for the brand going forward, is the function and corporate events arm. While the splendid grandeur and exclusivity of The Palace has somewhat been marred by the hosting of the infamous Gupta wedding, the Sun City Convention Centre remains popular and has recently enjoyed a R300-million revamp. It is a win-win situation for corporates who benefit from accommodating their staff in one central location, while giving them the opportunity to enjoy after-hours activities, and – of course – Sun City benefits from a welcome boost in room occupancies during the week. As we noticed during our stay, the resort will go to great lengths to make events special.
Our visit coincided with a conference for the insurance giant, Liberty, and we found the Valley of Waves transformed into a cocktail area for a private ‘beach party’.
On the gaming front, even though the casino has been reduced in its size, it still attracts a number of high-rollers from Southeast Asia, and India as well as travellers from Europe, South America and Russia who, thanks to a weakened Rand, are prepared to undertake long-haul flights to try their luck.
The brand continues to play off its historical association with golf by hosting some of the world’s largest and most expensive tournaments. There are no membership requirements for either of the two courses. The Gary Player Country Club is ranked as one of the top three courses in the world, and the Lost City Golf Course one of the top 30. The first Million Dollar Golf Challenge carried that amount as the purse while the Nedbank Golf Challenge last year made its debut as part of the European Tour with a purse of more than R120 million.
A resort of this magnitude requires astute logistics, and Sun City is self-sufficient in almost all regards, with their own water and sewerage systems, and electricity substations. They also have their own in-house public transport and security facility as well as a fire department and clinic.
Sun City’s reinvention as something other than just South Africa’s ‘sin city’ is by no means complete. An even bigger menu of activities, a larger Sun Vacation Club, and a host of other developments are on the cards.
At capacity, the resort can take more than 15,000 people a day, which is usually made up of 70% locals to 30% foreign guests. In December 2017, the hotel was fully booked, day visitors queued in cars, as did staying guests, and the Valley of Waves was packed. While it is not really fighting for relevance as, according to De Lima, ‘there is no real competition in South Africa or Africa for that matter’, the resort still markets aggressively to ensure it retains its market share.
The fact that it has survived the last three decades, however, is testament to its longstanding appeal. What was once deemed an untested venture is now seen as a no-brainer, and although it has no permanent residential sector, it has been suggested that some of the bigger mixed-use estates, such as Steyn City and Pearl Valley, have been partly inspired by the success of this legendary development.
A South African institution that put the country on the hospitality map the world over, Sun City is the perfect example of how you can reinvent yourself without losing any of your appeal, status or class.
