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Zuri Hotels & Resorts ,
Bangalore , India , is already strong on the Indian subcontinent — with hotels in Bangalore , Goa , Kerala and the state of Sikkim — and is now concentrating on East Africa . There , says Aditya ( Bobby ) Kamani — who heads the family company with his brother Abishek and their mother , Priscilla — the main
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Myanmar ( Burma ) are lifted , the country will be high on his agenda . He last visited in 1993 , driving from Yangon ( Rangoon ) to Mandalay and back . It is a beautiful country , with innately hospitable people and huge potential for tourism . Hilton ’ s President Asia Pacific Martin Rinck says he is interested in Myanmar , too , but various |
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potential is with luxury serviced apartment-hotels within mixed-use developments . Destinations that are the key focus : Nairobi , Kenya ; Kampala , Uganda ; Kigali , Rwanda ; and Dar-es-Salaam , Tanzania .
Others , too , are eyeing Africa . Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou , founder of EasyJet and EasyHotel , is said to be investing 15 % in Rubicon Diversified Investments to set up an intra-Africa budget airline . The African conglomerate Lonrho , once itself very strong in the hotel sector , is taking 12.7 % of Rubicon .
Abdeslam Bennani Smires , 28 , based in Marrakech , wants to start a Moroccan hotel group and , once established , take it further afield . He has a unique brand : The Selman , named for the Arab thoroughbred horses he collects . His initial resort , opening just outside Marrakech in March , is completely designed by Jacques Garcia ( of La Mamounia fame in Marrakech ). The hotel has 56 keys , a big grassy paddock and 10 luxury stables , complete with showers and massive equine hairdryers .
In 1991 , Accor formed a joint venture in Formula 1 Hotel South Africa . Accor has now sold its 52.6 % share to its partner , Southern Sun Hotels , Sandton , South Africa . The idea is to expand the all-franchised Formula 1s throughout sub-Saharan Africa .
Paul Logan , IHG ’ s Singapore-based senior vice president of development and asset management Asia Pacific , says if and when sanctions against
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compliance issues must be addressed . Edouard Ettedgui , group chief executive , Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , says Myanmar is not on his priority list at this stage .
Andreas Mattmüller , still Dubaibased , is now senior vice president , Middle East and Asia , for Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts . Right now , Hong Kong is at the top of his want list , followed by Japan and South Korea . He has already signed Manila and Shanghai . Looking longer term , he wants clusters in Australia . There will be 25 Mövenpicks in Asia soon , he promises .
Pyongyang , capital of North Korea , is building up publicity momentum ahead of the centennial of the birth of The Eternal President , Kim II-sung , on April 15 , 2012 ( several tour groups are planned , mostly originating in Germany ). The question remains on the future of the Ryugyong Hotel , a 984-ft ( 300-m ) pyramid built in 1987 . It has 3,000 rooms ( some reports say more ), but it never opened . The Sawiris family ’ s Orascom Developments , Cairo , has invested heavily in elevators and other recent enhancements to the structure , and an unnamed hotel group has made at least two visits “ to talk .”
Edinburgh , Scotland , has many fine old buildings . Now the 1881-vintage headquarters of Scottish Life pensions and insurance , which has been standing empty since 2008 , has been earmarked for conversion to a 103-key hotel . The building is on the west side of St . Andrew Square .
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