NEWS LETTER
ON THE FINANCES OF THE VOORTREKKER MONUMENT GROUP FOR THE PERIOD 1 MARCH – 30
SEPTEMBER 2007
During
a recent meeting
of the Boards of Directors, the CEO could report back with some degree of satisfaction
concerning the financial status of the Voortrekker
Monument (VTM), comparing it with the situation of the same period of the
previous eight years. The Board of
Directors once again expressed their appreciation for the sophisticated system
of budgeting and cash flow management applied by the VTM, a clear confirmation
of disciplined financial management.
The
excellent results of the past seven months can be attributed to amongst others,
the following:
·
Considerably better than budgeted income from gate fees.
(Instead of the budgeted R2 090 000 for the period of seven months, we have
already received R2 577 270 which means a surplus of R487 270 for the seven
months, VAT in all cases included).
·
The successes thus far this year from different fundraising
endeavours and the commercial utilization of the VTM facilities.
·
The better than budgeted income from the sale of niches in
the
·
The manner in which the Friends of the VTM and of
·
Savings on expenditure, especially on human resources,
because some posts have deliberately been left vacant.
A
few graphs are attached to illustrate some of the above.
VISITOR STATISTICS
Thanks
to more effective measure instruments, we can now make more accurate deductions
concerning trends in visitor statistics. It would probably interest you to know
from where the international visitors of five of the past seven months (March
and June excluded), hail from:
|
5764 |
|
4276 |
|
3306 |
Rest
of Asia and |
3267 |
The
|
2840 |
Rest
of Europe and |
1808 |
|
913 |
|
613 |
Rest
of |
101 |
The
total number of paying visitors over this period of seven months (traditionally
the weakest tourism months at the VTM because our peak season is from middle
September to the end of November), is also better when compared to the previous
eight years namely:
1999-2000 |
76913 |
2000-2001 |
89222 |
2001-2002 |
88310 |
2002-2003 |
85610 |
2003-2004 |
88163 |
2004-2005 |
84716 |
2005-2006 |
81376 |
2006-2007 |
75067 |
2007-2008 |
90654 |
We
are currently trying to accurately determine how many people make use of the
VTM facilities on an annual basis without paying the normal gate fees (e.g.
people going to the restaurant as well as people who attend the annual Day of
the Covenant church service, concerts and other activities). According to
estimates this will push the total number of visitors to the site up to approximately
300 000 per year.
A
further interesting aspect is that the relationship between domestic and
international, paying visitors is gradually improving in favour of the
aforementioned as can be seen from the following:
|
Domestic |
International |
2002-2003 |
62 736 |
105 467 |
2003-2004 |
59 782 |
116 750 |
2004-2005 |
57 199 |
103 606 |
2005-2006 |
68 436 |
85 630 |
2006-2007 |
64 894 |
82 354 |
2007-2008 (March-Sep) |
46 668 |
43 986 |
Despite
the positive situation set out above, the VTM will never be able to rest on its
laurels regarding its finances and other resources. Indeed, the challenges are
so many that the emphasis on fundraising is abnormally high when seen against
the normal core functions of the VTM. You will most probably find it
interesting to know from which resources the operational revenue of the VTM
Group (that is the VTM Section 21 Company, the VTM Projects (Pty) Ltd and the Voortrekker Monument Trust) is obtained and what it is
spent on:
SOURCES OF OPERATIONAL REVENUE FY
2007/2008
Gate Fees |
54% |
State Subsidy |
21% |
Rental and sundries, incl fundraising |
14% |
Selling of niches |
5% |
Nett profit on sales |
4% |
Membership fees Friends of the VTM |
2% |
SUMMARY OF OPERATIONAL EXPENCES FY
2007/2008
HR related costs |
58% |
Administrative and diverse |
14% |
Bank and finance costs |
8% |
Security and alarms |
6% |
Redeemable funds (for redeeming debt) – included here
only for cash flow purposes |
5% |
Repair and maintenance |
5% |
Marketing and Communication |
2% |
Insurance and lisences |
1% |
Audit and other professional costs |
1% |
The
State subsidy to the VTM will this year amount to RM1, 566. The State does not
make any contributions towards the capital expenses of the VTM, nor does the
Heritage Foundation or any of the other sites falling under the control of the
VTM and the Heritage Foundation, receive any State assistance.
Lastly
it is mentioned that the VTM has to spend a further R410 309, 00 on
capital improvements and new facilities during the current financial year (The
Heritage Centre excluded, since this is being financed separately). This amount
of ±R410 000 must also be financed from the operational revenue of the VTM, as
the VTM does not have any other sources of income for such capital expenditure.
The
situation concerning the Heritage Centre will be explained in a separate
message.
Yours
faithfully
GERT
OPPERMAN
CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
6
October 2007