Protea Hotels which forms part of Marriott International pledges R50, 000 in support of the Fire Relief Fund

March, 6: In this past week, the whole country has been finely tuned to the devastating fires that have burnt wildly all over the Cape Peninsula. The STAFF of Protea Hotels, like most South Africans, have been awed and humbled by the tireless work done by firefighters to bring under control the flames that have devoured great swathes of the mountain and threatened human life and settlements.

In order to show solidarity in some way to those fighting the fire, Protea Hotels, part of Marriott International has donated R50 000 to Fire Relief Fund being driven by Primedia #Fireradiothon in support of the heroic measures to bring the fire to heel. The fundraising efforts were started on Wednesday, the fourth day of the fires, and so far more than R3-million has been raised. We are glad to be able to make this gesture towards helping, where we can, to rein in the flames that have devastated over 5000 hectares of land on the mountain.

However, we have also felt that the firefighters need some recognition and reward for their work and we have offered every official firefighter a complimentary night at any Protea Hotel in South Africa. We hope that they will be able to use the night to catch up on some much-needed sleep. The Marketing Department will be producing vouchers for the redemption of these complimentary nights; an update will be sent to the hotels with a copy of the voucher artwork once issued to the respective fire departments.

We salute and remain grateful for the outstanding services done by professional and volunteer firefighters in the past week.

-ends-