Sibaya Casino's Virath Gobrie wins prestigious General Manager award

Virath Gobrie, the general manager of Sibaya Casino, has been recognised as the top GM for Sun International in 2024, following significant transformations at the casino and a commitment to service excellence

Since taking on the role two years ago, Gobrie has been busy. 

He had budgets approved so he could transform a tired, 20-year-old casino into a refreshed, contemporary entertainment and hospitality space surrounded by new landscaping, and powered by a solar project. 

"He has won back customers by enforcing a philosophy of service excellence, has significantly increased casino market share and repositioned Sibaya in the conferencing market by completely renovating those facilities. Gobrie also introduced new food and beverage concepts and stepped up the rollout of meaningful community projects," said Sun International in a statement. 

Gobrie said the announcement at Time Square was a surprise. 

“Before my name was called out, I had no expectation of being the top GM because my colleagues at other properties all work equally as hard. It didn’t sink in immediately and I had to pinch myself,” he said. 

Gobrie’s award includes an educational trip to Las Vegas, where he can observe and understand how casinos and resorts operate in another environment.

Describing the accolade as a dream come true after many years of tirelessly working long hours, Gobrie said the award was not his alone. 

“When I got to King Shaka airport in Durban, I was surprised to see the management team were  there to greet me. When we got to the entrance to Sibaya, I was deeply touched to see the staff lined-up along the boulevard to the casino, singing and dancing for me, and once inside the casino even customers were singing.

"And to top it off, there was an enormous cake waiting for me inside the staff restaurant. I thanked all the staff and told them, this award is not for me – it’s for us, because you all stepped up to make me look good. In this industry it’s our people that make this business.”

The industry is one that the KZN Midlands-born Gobrie joined 20 years ago when he was appointed as an accountant at Sibaya Casino, which was two months old then. 

“This place is special. This industry is special and Sun International is special. The past 20 years have flown by and I have honestly never considered working at another company, or in another industry, and I still have so much more to give and to achieve.”

Gobrie pointed out that no day was average in the gaming and hospitality industry, but a day generally included providing operational oversight across all departments, including gaming, hospitality and support services such as marketing, maintenance, security, IT and human resources. 

He is responsible for monitoring the performance of the business, dealing with people issues and ensuring compliance and governance is maintained, especially in the highly-regulated gaming space with its strict gaming regulation and licensing requirements.

But Gobrie’s day would still not be over as he was also responsible for developing and implementing business strategies, ensuring customer satisfaction and growing the customer base in a competitive market. 

Sibaya also won the Sun International Group award for Sustainability. 

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