The hotel industry in Africa continues to grow as a priority for many international groups. The W Hospitality group, in its 15e an annual study, forecasts the opening of almost 500 new establishments on the continent in the near future. This specialist in the African hotel industry has looked at the development of local chains and international groups, and has compiled a list of 482 hotel projects. This represents a pipeline of 84,427 rooms, an increase of 5% compared to 2022. New rooms are being prepared from the north to the south of the continent and will soon be available to business travellers, 45% to be accessible by the end of 2024.
Boosted both by the emergence of a new administrative capital close to Cairo and by new resorts in Sharm El Sheikh and Ain Sokhna, l'Egypt accounts for almost a third of future bedrooms for a total of 103 hotels in the pipeline. This is more than the total number of hotels expected in Nigeria and Morocco, the two countries with the largest number of hotel projects after Egypt. Like the country as a whole, the conurbation of Greater Cairo is also the most dynamic of the continent's metropolises, accounting for 12% of the total pipeline.
Following the opening of a St Regis hotel two years ago, a number of major luxury brands have set up shop in the new administrative capital in the coming years, including Four Seasons, Sofitel and InterContinental. In recent days, the IHG group has announced the continuation of its expansion in New Cairo, with two hotels under construction within the Arabella Plaza complex. One - the Voco Cairo Arabella Plaza - will be completed in July, while the other, the Crowne Plaza Cairo Arabella Clubhouse, is due to open in 2026. Both hotels are naturally equipped with vast meeting spaces. At the same time, "historic" Cairo will also be welcoming new establishments, notably from the Hilton group with the Waldorf Astoria Cairo Heliopolis and the Hilton Cairo Nile Maadi. Mandarin Oriental, meanwhile, is preparing to revive one of the city's legends, the Shepheard Hotel.
Cairo has pride of place, other major cities are expecting to see their offer expanded din the years ahead. Addis Ababa and Lagos are among those with the largest number of projects, but also NairobiAbuja, Abidjan and Algiers: all these major cities on the continent have between 2,000 and 4,000 rooms in the pipeline.
While the African hotel industry can rely on a number of local players, such as MangalisAzalai or OnomoThe major international groups remain the main drivers of this growth. The world's leading group, Marriott is also one of Africa's leading hoteliers since its acquisition of the South African group Protea. In the same way, Accor is also widely represented from the north to the south of the continent, supporting its development in sub-Saharan Africa by the Kasada investment platform. These two groups will further strengthen their offer, since Marriott has a pipeline of 123 hotels in the pipeline, under the Marriott, Four Points by Sheraton and Protea brands in particular. For its part, Accor's pipeline includes nearly 90 establishmentsunder the Swissôtel, Novotel and Fairmont among others, but also Rixos luxury resorts.
But behind these two spearheads, other big names in the global hotel industry are making no secret of their ambitions for the continent. Such is the case of Hilton, whose eponymous flagship brand is the one with the most hotels in the world. the most projects underway in Africa, with almost 30 Hilton hotels in a development phase, while also relying on the DoubleTree brand to expand its footprint.
In the same way, the Radisson Group has made Africa one of its main growth areas and accelerating its development. In the last two years alone, Radisson has opened 14 hotels and completed 25 other projects. Expected openings in 2023 include a first hotel in Ghana, new establishments in Morocco - in Casablanca, Taghazout and Saidia - as well as in Tunis and Lusaka, Zambia. The Radisson Group is aiming to have 150 hotels in operation or in the pipeline within the next five years, compared with 100 today.
However, it is not alone in taking a closer look at development opportunities on the continent. Hyatt, Pan Pacific and Wyndham, all of which have advanced plans to set up operations. Opportunities extending to long stays The world leader in this segment, Ascott, has around ten projects in the pipeline, including upcoming openings of residences in Abidjan, Casablanca, Dakar, Lagos and Nairobi. As Trevor J. Ward, Managing Director of the W Hospitality Group: " We remain optimistic about the future growth of the hotel industry in Africa. And we're not the only ones!"
