Sheila Kogo-Malinga is reshaping the hospitality industry. PHOTO/TREVOR LUTALO
In the world of hospitality and tourism in general, service is the glue that keeps the entire sector alive and growing. Elevating the quality of service goes beyond attracting visitors to the country but also ensuring that they can stay longer and come back again.
Visionary, Sheila Kogo-Malinga is quietly but powerfully reshaping the very fabric of hospitality. She is the brain behind Lodge Solutions, where her consulting work entails transformation, one lodge, one staff member, and one sustainable practice at a time. From a self-driven individual looking for a job to a pivotal force for change, Kogo-Malinga exemplifies how passion, practical experience, and a commitment to genuine human connection can transform an entire industry. Kogo-Malinga’s journey to becoming a pioneer in Ugandan hospitality is as inspiring as it is unconventional.
Originally from Kenya, she arrived in Uganda "because of love," following a Ugandan gentleman she met abroad. With a background in human resource and marketing, she found herself immersed in an industry she initially knew little about. But her inherent optimism and drive quickly turned this challenge into an opportunity. "I am an extremely happy, passionate, self-driven individual, a person who only sees a cup as half full," she explains. "So I think that even inspired the name of the company, which is Lodge Solutions. Because I always believe that if you try to look for a solution to a problem, you try and find the solution for that, and then end up standing out."
The baptism by fire
Her initial experience came from a seven-year tenure with Ugandan tourism entrepreneur Amos Wekesa, whom she credits as a pivotal mentor.
"He threw me in. No one showed me the ropes, or like these are the standard operating procedures. He asked me to start immediately, I had to figure it out."
Kogo-Malinga recounts
This baptism by fire, managing four lodges and two safari companies across Uganda and Rwanda, provided her with an intimate understanding of the industry's nuances and its inherent challenges. One of her most profound observations was the stark difference in service culture. While Ugandans are "the best, happiest, most loving people," she noted a tendency towards reactivity rather than proactivity in hospitality. "It is more reactive to a client complaining than proactive, whereas, if you could have spotted that someone picked up a pack of cigarettes, they will need an ashtray and a lighter," she illustrates. This realisation spurred her to transform staff training. Instead of traditional, often detached, consultant-led sessions, she implemented a human-centred approach.
"I just started to look at it like, I'm hosting parties," she recalls. "I decided to train my staff uniquely like normal scenarios like they were at home, I thought to myself, if you have guests coming, welcome them the same way you would at home or accompany them, provide a welcome drink." She even adapted her HR skills to be "almost a counsellor," understanding that genuine empathy and connection lead to better performance. "Every staff meeting starts with prayers, which is very unique, but to get the best output out of the staff, you have to adapt." Kogo-Malinga also keenly understood that traditional training methods often fall flat for remote, rural staff who may never have experienced a five-star environment.
"You are talking to staff who have never been in a five-star restaurant, they have never been in a five-star room, so you're telling them things they cannot fathom. Until I started to understand their living situations or their lifestyle, I could not get the best out of them. But the minute I did, I was able to grow a lot of the stuff from junior level," she explains. This understanding has led to a focus on internal promotion and hiring local women, building a sustainable and empowered workforce.
Lodge Solutions’ impact extends far beyond staff training
Kogo-Malinga has become an indispensable guide for investors and lodge owners, steering them away from common pitfalls. She works with them from the very conception of a project, advising on everything from architectural design to sustainable sourcing. "A lot of clients want to hire their usual masons or engineers, not experts in the hospitality sector. They come to you with complete drawings without factoring in the basics such as solar energy, because most national parks do not have access to hydroelectricity. And, the minute you start asking, 'Do you know how solar works? Do you know the system is biogas, so that we do not have that much access?' Then you start to see that they are not up for the task,”
Building the right lodge
She believes in authentic, raw African experiences, challenging the tendency to import foreign aesthetics that do not align with the local environment or traveller expectations. "Most of the guests you meet will tell you how they have the best jacuzzis, and tiles work abroad and are not coming to Africa for that, they want to see Africa in its truest raw form,” she says.
Sustainability is at the core of Lodge Solutions' mission
Kogo-Malinga and her team actively promote innovative solutions to reduce waste and increase efficiency. "When you are on site, you can have plastic from the room, right? Remember, in every room you put two bottles of water. So if I have a 19-room lodge or 15 15-room Lodge, those are 30 bottles per day," she says.
By introducing water refilling stations, she dramatically cuts down on plastic waste, a significant problem in national parks. Her advocacy also extends to digital solutions like QR codes for check-ins, reducing paper waste and improving data collection for management and national tourism bodies.
Lighting candles
Her impact is quantifiable and tangible. She recounts the success of a staff member who, starting as a steward, progressed to general manager.
This grassroots approach earns immense respect from staff, who often feel they have gained a university-level education.
Afrocentric
Sheila Kogo-Malinga is a strong advocate of promoting the authentic, raw African experiences, challenging the tendency to import foreign aesthetics that do not align with the local environment or traveller expectations.‘‘Most of the guests you meet will tell you how they have the best jacuzzis, and tiles work abroad and are not coming to Africa for that, they want to see Africa in its truest raw form,” she says.
