Updated on 9 November at 9am.
Hotel groups are making no secret of their ambitions in Africa. The Africa Hotel Investment Forum held at the Fairmont Taghazout Bay - a seaside resort north of Agadir in Morocco where Hilton has just opened a new resort - gave them the opportunity to prove this once again. Marriott, for example, intends to open more than 30 hotels there by the end of 2024.extending its current portfolio of almost 130 hotels in 20 countries.
The world's leading group has a solid base for development in Africa since its 2014 takeover of South African hotelier Protea. A group that had nearly 120 establishments at that time, compared with around sixty today. But the position of Protea Hotels by Marriott remains pre-eminent, particularly in its home country and in Zambia and Nigeria. Building on its mid-range, limited-service offering, Protea Hotels plans to expand its portfolio with around ten new hotels expected to open between now and 2024, enabling the brand to enter new markets - Kenya and Angola - and strengthen its network in South Africa, where five new hotels are planned.
At the same time, the American hotelier's expansion plans are focusing on another 'select service' brand, Four Points by Sheraton. Already boasting seven establishments on the continent - including two in Nairobi and one each in Dar es Salaam, Kigali and Lagos The mid-range brand is expecting to add five new hotels over the next two years. As part of this, Four Points by Sheraton plans to its entry into Uganda, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Verde. In parallel, a second establishment is planned in Nigeria, the Four Points by Sheraton Ikot Ekpene.
While the Protea and Four Points brands together account for more than half of the future hotels expected by Marriott in Africa up to 2024, Marriott is also banking on its upmarket brands, in particular Delta Hotels to make its first appearance on the continent next year. While this North American brand will be strengthening its presence in Europe with the conversion of many Marriott properties in the UKThe Delta by Marriott Dar es Salaam Oyster Bay will open its doors in Tanzania.
Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Kigali: Africa's capitals attract hoteliers
Among the business cities concerned by these future projects, Rabat is preparing to see the arrival of a prestigious Ritz Carlton, whileAddis Ababa will host a Westin and Nairobi a JW Marriott. Also in Kenya, the brand will be focusing for the first time on top-of-the-range safaris, with a luxury lodge in the Masai Mara park. Marriott is also developing its range of top-of-the-range leisure products, with a Tribute Portfolio resort in the Seychelles, Autograph Collection hotels in Tanzania and Algeria, and a luxury resort in Morocco, the St. Regis La Bahia Blanca in Tamuda.
It is also in Morocco that the Accor group will open one of its new flagship hotels on the African continent in December, the Fairmont Tazi Palace in Tangiers. This luxury brand, which is also expected in Rabat in the near future, is part of the French group's expansion on a continent where Accor is the leader with 151 establishments at the moment.
Its top-of-the-range offering is set to expand in the future, with another Fairmont and a Raffles both due to open in 2024 in the new Egyptian capital being developed to the east of Cairo. Egypt, where a Swissôtel will soon be opening its doors in Sharm El Sheikh. For its part, Sofitel set to strengthen its offering in 2023 in Morocco, in Agadir, as well as in Benin with a hotel in Cotonou, Algiers also being on the programme for 2024. Another of the continent's flagship capitals, Nairobi, will see the opening of a Pullman and an MGallery in 2023, with this boutique brand also in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2024.
Whereas Accor plans to open a total of 36 hotels in Africa by the end of 2024The French group can draw on its partnership with Kasada, an investment platform dedicated to hotel development on this continent and jointly backed by the French hotel group and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The investor currently owns around twenty hotels and has several projects in the pipeline, including ibis Styles and Mövenpick hotels backed by a congress centre in Windhoek, Namibia, another Mövenpick hotel in the pipeline in Kigali, Rwanda, and the luxury Cape Grace in South Africa, which could be added to the range of Accor's top-of-the-range brands.
Kasada has also just signed an agreement to manage Le Lamantin Beach Resort & Spa in Saly, Senegal, 80 km from Dakar, on behalf of the French group. The resort has 177 rooms and several seminar rooms. The hotel will come under the Mövenpick brand by the end of 2023.
Among the other major international groups, Radisson has stepped up the pace. its growth in Africa In recent years, the Group has built up a portfolio of around one hundred hotels in operation and under development. The aim is to reach the 150-hotel mark over the next five years. With 16 openings in recent months - notably in Ghana Madagascarin Ethiopia and Sudan - and 25 other projects recently secured, the Radisson Group is on a real roll in all regions of Africa. These target markets are in both French-speaking and English-speaking Africa, as much in South Africa as in Morocco and Egypt in the north of the continent, as well as in Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire. In this context, the last two contracts signed were for a Radisson Collection in Marsa Allam, Egypt, and a Radisson in Yaoundé, Cameroon. They are scheduled to open in 2024.
For its part, IHG, which has around thirty hotels in Africa, is planning to expand its presence in the region. double its offering over the next three to five years. Among the latest developments, the British group has just opened an InterContinental in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. Updated after a two-year renovation, the hotel offers 106 rooms and 87 suites, a Club Lounge with four meeting rooms, and a MICE area that can accommodate up to 700 people.
At the same time, the British group concluded franchise agreements in Tanzania and Kenya to bring three hotels into the IHG fold. These include the Fairview, one of Nairobi's historic hotels, which is about to undergo a major refurbishment before being operated under one of IHG's boutique brands. Also in the Kenyan capital, IHG has just added the Holiday Inn Nairobi Two Rivers Mall to its offer, thanks to these franchise agreements.
Located in a complex dedicated to entertainment in the Gigiri district, this 171-room hotel is ideal for business trips, thanks to its proximity to the United Nations representations and the many companies operating in this residential area. The Crowne Plaza Dar es Salaam is also predominantly business, but this time in Tanzania. in the central business district of the country's main metropolis and offers 148 rooms, as well as three meeting rooms for business travellers.
