Eldorado, a new land to conquer, the continent of tomorrow... There is no shortage of eulogistic terms to illustrate the confidence in Africa's future. A promising future that is attracting ever more business travellers and, in a snowball effect, requiring ever more hotels to accommodate them. The major business brands are not failing to seize these opportunities to expand their portfolios. Already in 2014, the American Marriott group struck a major blow by acquiring the leading hotel operator south of the Sahara, South Africa's Protea, with 116 hotels in its home country, as well as in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, among others. "This acquisition has enabled us to become the largest international player on the continent.explains Alex Kyriakidis, Marriott's Managing Director for Africa and the Middle East. We currently operate nearly 140 hotels in 21 countries. And we have more than 60 hotels under development, with the aim of reaching 200 in operation or planned over the next five years."
Chain establishments account for just 10 % of the supply for the continent as a whole, and just over 5 % in sub-Saharan Africa, hotel development is now running at full speed. In ten years, hotel projects have risen from 144 establishments to 418 today. "Lhe pipeline has grown by 148 % since 2009"This is what Trevor J Ward, Managing Director of the W Hospitality Group, says in his consultancy's annual study of the hotel industry in Africa.
"Sébastien Bazin, our CEO, believes that Africa is by far the continent with the greatest growth opportunities over the next 20 years."says Olivier Granet, CEO of AccorHotels in Africa and the Middle East. Duly noted. After forging a partnership at the beginning of the year with the South African group Mantis, which specialises in boutique hotels and luxury ecolodges, the French hotel chain, together with Katara Hospitality, set up a fund at the end of July with an investment capacity in excess of one billion dollars. These substantial resources will be allocated to the construction of new hotels as well as the acquisition of existing establishments. Some forty new hotels are expected to be created from this windfall.
Another global player heavily involved in Africa, with 86 hotels either open or planned, Radisson also intends to offer a business hotel in each of the continent's major cities. After appearing in Kinshasa, Libreville, Lusaka and Kigali in Rwanda, for example, with a hotel attached to the one of the most impressive conference centres on the continentThe group is preparing to add a thirtieth country to its roster - Cameroon - with a Radisson Blu in Douala, expected in 2019. "Once open, it will be the best top-of-the-range product in Cameroon's financial centre.says Andrew McLachlan, the group's senior vice-president of development for Africa and the Indian Ocean.
The emergence of new business districts is encouraging hotel openings. Hilton, which plans to double its presence in Africa, with around a hundred hotels in the pipeline, is preparing a fourth hotel in Nairobi, in the Upper Hill district. "In just a few years, Upper Hill has become a hub for business and international organisations, hosting a number of embassies and the regional offices of Cisco, the World Bank and the IMFIt's the perfect place to stay," said Patrick Fitzgibbon, Hilton Worldwide's Senior Vice President for Development in EMEA. The hotel's location is indicative of the high ambitions of a country focused on innovation and new technologies: the Pinnacle Tower, no less than the future tallest skyscraper in Africa at 330 metres, from which travellers will be able to wake up to a view of the Kenyan capital and the surrounding savannah and, on a clear day, the snows of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Sub-Saharan Africa's hotel boom is underpinned by tangible economic data: a population of 1.2 billion today and 2.5 billion in 2050, natural resources in abundance, increasingly efficient airport, rail and road infrastructures and, above all, high unemployment rates. GDP growth flirting with 10 %. "African economies are being driven mainly by strong domestic demand, improved macroeconomic management and political stability.says Alex Kyriakidis of the Marriott Group. Added to this is the rapid growth of the continent's middle class."
A host of young and ambitious entrepreneurs are driving the new African dynamic. Even more than international business travellers, it's the this connected generationIt's an approach that's open to the world and to new trends, and which invites us to rethink the spirit of the hotel offer. "Today, across our network of around one hundred hotels, 60 % of our customers come from intra-country or intra-regional flows. Emerging African customers have real expectations in terms of brands and experiences.says Olivier Granet. The image of business hotels is changing dramatically. We're starting to see weekend brunches organised, local customers coming to hotels for cultural events, and the development of leisure experiences to encourage short stays."
The head of AccorHotels cited the recent renovation of the Pullman Dakar and the Pullman Paris as examples. Abidjan which will be completed by the end of the year: "In these establishments, you'll find the quality standards and comfort that are typical of this business brand, but with a difference, an African soul by connecting with local artists and culture."In short, life, everything that makes up today's hotel industry, with its lively lobbies and trendy restaurants and bars.
New urban resorts
For long-haul business travellers who don't always have the opportunity to appreciate the richness of the local culture between two planes, this move towards true urban resorts offers the assurance of being immersed in the reality of their destination while allowing themselves a few moments of relaxation by the landscaped pools. "We receive 95 % business customersmade up of investors and entrepreneurs, as well as diplomats.says Vincent Bergmann, General Manager of the Hilton N'djamena, which opened two years ago in the Chadian capital. These professionals don't come for 24 hours, but often spend the weekend on site. That's why we offer a wide range of services, including meeting rooms, a business centre and high-quality WiFi, as well as a real leisure dimension with a beautiful outdoor swimming pool, a fitness centre and a spa."
Stimulated by competition, the many developments underway in African capitals are forcing historic establishments to reinvent themselves. Inaugurated in 1973, the Pullman Dakar has had to face up to the opening of new top-of-the-range hotels like the Terrou Bi and the Radisson Blu, which were opened in the Senegalese capital at the end of the last decade in the wake of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit, and are probably waiting for an InterContinental. "In order to stay ahead of the game, we needed to renew our offer and propose new services and experiences to our customers, with refinement and a touch of art and exoticism."explained Daniel KarbownikAccorHotels Senegal and Ivory Coast Director, when the hotel reopens at the end of 2017.
The return of glamour
Gone are the days of the big hotels, faded by overcrowding, benefiting from a privileged position through a continuous flow of international businessmen and air crews. In Lomé, for example, the Hotel 2 Février, housed since 1980 in the highest skyscraper in the Togolese capital, has regained its standing after a much-needed renovation and now bears the business name of The Address, owned by the Dubai-based Emaar group. Meanwhile, the Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan, a veritable legend in the African hotel industry with its swimming pool, casino, convention centre and, above all, its ice rink - the only one on the continent - has regained its glamorous atmosphere, again under duress.
Built in the 1960s, during Côte d'Ivoire's coffee and cocoa miracle, the hotel and its emblematic tower designed by architect Moshe Meyer had fallen into disrepair. The InterContinental brand relinquished management of the complex in 2002, before the hotel became one of the main theatres of the Ivorian crisis in 2004. With a great deal of work, the hotel rose from its ashes to join the Sofitel hotel collection in 2012. Whether the French luxury brand is affixed to one of the finest hotels in West Africa is no surprise in itself. AccorHotels is logically more represented in French-speaking Africa, while the Anglo-Saxon hoteliers have preferred to establish themselves in East and South Africa.
However, hotel groups are now seeking to move out of their comfort zone inherited from the colonial era. "In addition to a significant presence in Nigeria, we opened the Sheraton Grand Conakry in Guinea in 2016 and, more recently, the Sheraton Bamako in Mali and a Marriott in Accra, Ghana.says Alex Kyriakidis. With hotels under development in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritania and Senegal, West Africa has great potential."For his part, Olivier Granet, speaking on behalf of AccorHotels, believes that, ".While we intend to strengthen our leadership in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire, significantly accelerating our development in East and South Africa is becoming a priority. We are currently lagging behind our Anglo-Saxon competitors throughout the region."
Pendulum movement
Alongside this pendulum swing, hotel groups face another challenge: diversifying their offering. According to research firm Jones Lang LaSalle, while their top-of-the-range brands are present in most of the continent's major cities, the time has come for mid-range and budget hotels to get their claws out. "Too many top-of-the-range hotels have opened in relation to demand, leading to a saturation of the four- and five-star hotel market in many cities"says Xander Nijnens, Executive Vice-President for Africa at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels & Hospitality.
While a dozen Ibis and Ibis Styles hotels and Park Inn by Radisson hotels have already opened on the continent, the Hilton Garden Inn brand is due to open in Lusaka, Zambia, and an Aloft will open in Mauritius in 2019 in a former office building in the Port Louis business district, there is no doubt that there is still a long way to go. plenty of room for innovative concepts at low prices Moxy, Citizen M or Mama Shelter, all contemporary brands that European business travellers have come to know and appreciate. What's more, these hotels, which are attractive to the emerging local clientele, are also in line with the travel policies of companies, which would find it easier to accommodate their staff in mid-range hotels, as they are used to in Europe.
However, in this field, the world leaders are up against the ambitions of several African 100 % players, often less well known to business travellers, but who have developed networks of quality three- and four-star hotels in the capitals of West Africa, like the Malian group Azalaï or Onomo Hotels. The latter combines contemporary comfort and African art of livingThe Mangalis group (see interview) likes to do what the big boys do, with a multi-brand approach through its top-of-the-range Noom brand, mid-range Seen brand and Yaas brand. As for the Mangalis group (see interview), it likes to do what the big boys do, with a multi-brand approach through its Noom brands at the top end of the market, Seen in the mid-range and Yaas in the budget lifestyle segment.
Lifestyle. Perhaps that's what the continent still lacks. While there are some fine urban resorts with a contemporary feel to welcome travellers today, there are still very few charming hotels, with the exception of South Africa. Admittedly, the urban planning of Africa's capitals, which are largely built on concrete, hardly lends itself to this. Nairobi, however a case apart. With their design and arty bias, the Tribe and Trademark, members of the Design Hotels, rub shoulders with the Hemingways, a Small Luxury Hotel surrounded by greenery, while the voluntary Preferred Hotels chain has two fine establishments, the Sarova Stanley, opened in 1902 and the doyen of the Kenyan hotel industry, and the Sovereign Suites. A lush park, a lake, 14 spacious colonial-style suites: the whole ensemble conveys a timeless, very Out of Africa image. Far removed from the frenetic buzz of today's Africa.
