Late starters, fast mover's

THERE is a new
scramble for Africa.
The battle is among
international hotel groups
trying to create a significant
footprint on the continent,
which is regarded (along
with South America) as one
of the last frontiers.
Andrew McLachlan,
Carlson Rezidor vp of
business development for
Africa and Indian Ocean
Islands, says the reasons
for this breakthrough
are: African politics have
become more stable in
the past 10 years; many
African natural resources
are untapped; and there
have been new oil and
gas finds recently, which
are always followed by
developments in the
banking and telecoms
sector.
Carlson Rezidor Group is
currently top of this futurefacing
pile, according to a
recent W Hospitality survey,
with the largest number of
rooms (6 300) and hotels
(30) planned and under
development in Africa.
Its brand, Radisson Blu,
leads all brands in the
survey, with its Park Inn
brand in third place after
Hilton.
The group has put a lot
of faith and investment
into the continent, despite
the chain’s late start with
Radisson Blu Cape Town in
2000. The reason, Andrew
told TNW, is: “We look for
political stability, manifest
in a second round of
democratic elections, GDP
growth and quality airlift,
which in itself is a good
indicator of growth. We look
at the economic community
and build hotel ‘routes’ in
a region. For example, in
West Africa we service the
demands of the region,
building hotels in financial
hubs even if they are not
capital cities. We are more
interested in cities than
countries.”
The chain’s leading brand
is the iconic full-service,
upmarket Radisson Blu,
which it often uses as
a lead-in to a region.
“Travellers need this
type of hotel in areas
where infrastructure and
outsourcing opportunities
are lacking. Radisson Blu
is usually followed by our
midscale Park Inn brand.”
Returning to the topic
of airlift, Andrew sees
immense improvements in
this area, with increased
activity by SAA, Kenya
Airways, Ethiopian Airlines,
Asky, Emirates, and SN
Brussels. This has
created more demand for
quality hotels and Carlson
Rezidor is now a first
mover into some of these
markets, going where
competitors might not, says
Andrew.
Currently, the African
strategy has two key
markets: Nigeria and
South Africa, in each of
which it aims to have 15
hotels by 2020. It has
plans too for five hotels
each in Ethiopia, Kenya,
Mozambique, Ghana and
Angola. Add to this at least
one hotel apiece in Abidjan,
Lomé, Ouagadougou, Dar
es Salaam, Zanzibar, Juba,
Gaborone and Lilongwe.