SA hotel chain to expand into Africa

THE Capital Hotel Group
will open its first hotels
outside South Africa in the
next two years.
Marc Wachsberger, group
md, is looking at countries
in southern and East Africa.
“The ones I’m looking at
currently are countries
we can access easily, like
Namibia and Botswana, but
we’re also looking at Kenya
and Tanzania in East Africa
and hopefully North Africa
further down the line,”
he said.
The group also aims to
open two hotels in South
Africa every year.
“We are the fastest growing
hotel group for good reason,”
Marc told TNW. “We’re
opening three hotels this year
– Capital Menlyn Maine in
Pretoria, which has officially
opened, then the Capital on
Park in Sandton later this
year and another planned
for Umhlanga.”
Marc kept mum on the
exact location of the
Umhlanga hotel. “All I can
say is it will be in the best
location on the beach,”
he said.
Capital Hotel Group will
open one hotel in the
Melrose Arch vicinity in 2018
and another elsewhere in
SA. “I can’t say at this stage
where our second hotel for
2018 will be,” said Marc,
hinting that the group needed
to fill gaps in some of the
smaller cities.
 MICE is proving to be a key
sector for The Capital Menlyn
Maine, with conference-goers
constituting most of its
customers in the first three
months of operation. The
property has two boardrooms
that can accommodate up
to eight people each; a
conference room that can
accommodate between 190
and 350 people; two meeting
rooms and an events area on
the deck.
The Capital on Park in
Sandton and the new hotel
in Umhlanga would both offer
conference facilities, Marc
added.