Women’s Month – Annemie Turk at Carnival City
“Stay true to yourself” – Women’s Month.
Annemie Turk, Carnival City’s general manager, could not be further from your stereotypical image of a casino manager.
Turk ended up gambling almost by accident when she followed her husband to Carousel, in what used to be Bophuthatswana and now falls under the north of Gauteng.
Her career at that time was in the food and beverage sector, and she had completed her internship at Southern Sun. Having been unable to find a position in her sector, she ended up accepting a position at the Bingo tables instead.
Turk has never looked back. Gaming is something for which she feels deeply passionate, and she quickly moved up the ladder from bingo to slots, and then gaming management, which includes slots and tables.
Turk was headhunted to Carnival City from Tsogo Sun, where she held the position of group gaming manager for three years. She also served as the gaming manager at Hemingway’s Casino, and as gaming duty manager and slots manager at Montecasino.
Along the way, Turk learnt as much as possible.
“There is not a day that goes by that I don’t learn something new. This is especially true during Covid-19. It’s been a difficult time for all of us with many challenges that we have never had to deal with before.”
One of Turk’s secrets is to find colleagues whose strengths are her weaknesses and to lean on them for support.
Turk was responsible for developing and executing the first Group Slots Host Championship in South Africa and internationally.
“I absolutely love the gaming side of things; no two days are ever the same. I have learnt so much.”
Among the aspects that Turk enjoys in her role now is the general business side of running Carnival City in retail and hospitality facets, putting customers first and learning more general business skills.
