Hotels for Africa

A NUMBER of hotel
groups announced
plans to develop
properties across Africa
at the recent Africa Hotel
Investment Forum 2014,
held in Addis Ababa.
The US-based Wyndham
Hotel Group has signed a
management agreement
for its first property in
Ethiopia, the 136-room
Ramada Addis hotel, due
to open in early 2015.
Also in Addis Ababa, Best
Western International plans
to develop the Best Western
Plus and Best Western
branded hotels, due to
open in 2015 and 2016
respectively.
W Hotels Worldwide,
part of Starwood, will
enter Morocco with the
W Marrakech hotel,
planned to open in 2017.
Carlson Rezidor will add
the 195-room Radisson Blu
Hotel, Kampala, its first
property in Uganda, due
to open in the last quarter
of 2016. The 207-room
Radisson Blu Hotel Accra
Airport will open in 2017.
Carlson Rezidor also plans
30 new hotels in Africa.
Hilton Worldwide has
signed two new Hilton
Garden Inn hotels in Nigeria
in Owerri and Abuja Airport.
Accor has signed contracts
for a Sofitel hotel in
Tamuda Bay, Morocco; three
Pullmans (one in Addis
Ababa, one in Kinshasa
and one in Nairobi); one
Novotel in Mohammedia,
Morocco; three Mercures
(two in Morocco and one
in Algeria); two ibis (one in
Mohammedia and one in
N’Djamena, Chad); and one
hotel without brand in Al
Hoceima, Morocco.
Marriott International
expects to open 30
properties across the
continent by 2020, nine of
them scheduled to open
by the end of 2015 in
South Africa, Nigeria and
Uganda, as well as its
first properties in Ethiopia,
Ghana and Rwanda.
Spanish hotel group,
Mangalis, has unveiled
economy brand, Yaas
Hotels, following the launch
of Noom and Seen hotels in
the upscale and mid-scale
segments respectively.
Areen Hospitality is
working with Lagos-based
DAA architects on the
interior design of the
150-room Four Points by
Sheraton in Ibadan, Nigeria,
as well as the interiors
of the 200-room Hilton
Freetown Cape Sierra in
Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile, an analysis
by Grant Thornton of an
InterVISTA liberalisation
impact report, which
was completed for Iata,
found that liberalisation
of Africa’s skies could
spark significant growth
in the tourism industry.
Liberalisation between 12
of the 54 African countries
would lead to an increase of
over a million tourists and
a need for 40 additional
160-room hotels in those
12 countries, said Grant
Thornton’s Gillian Saunders,
who presented at the
conference.