TRENDING
Rwanda
RISING
Twenty years ago , Rwanda ’ s war and genocide made global news . Today , the eastern African country of diverse geography and rich wildlife has among the strongest GDP in the world – from 2006-15 , it averaged over 5 %, according to Horwath HTL . As well , from 2010-15 , tourism nearly doubled to 1.3 million , and it ’ s expected to grow even more with the new Kigali Convention Center , which has already hosted regional forums and continental summits . Trevor Ward , head of consultancy services at Hotel Partners Africa , talks about the country ’ s potential .
HOTELS : HOW HAS RWANDA TURNED ITSELF AROUND ? Trevor Ward : It was really down to strong leadership from President Paul Kagame – perhaps the sort of leader other African countries need – plus support from the international community , acknowledged to have done too little whilst the genocide was underway , making up for it . Kagame has , importantly , created an environment conducive to doing business , reportedly corruption-free , far less bureaucratic than other counties , and a nice place to be . Another factor is the support given to RwandAir , which provides the airlift essential to promote investment and tourism .
H : HOW IS RWANDA DIFFERENTIATING ITSELF ? TW : Rwanda can and does promote itself as a base for regional activities , with good air and OK road connections with the rest of the East African Community . Telecoms are good , in contrast with other countries , promoting the idea of itself as a hub .
H : WHAT IS THE HOTEL MARKET LIKE ? TW : There are very many locally owned and operated hotels , but the chains have been there in the past , including InterContinental ( now the Kigali Serena ) and Novotel ( now the Umubano ). Both have left . Now there are Kempinski , Serena , Radisson
Blu , Marriott and City Blue , with Golden Tulip , Park Inn and Sheraton all due to enter the Kigali market . Our research says there are at least another 1,200 rooms coming into the market in branded hotels . If the convention center lives up to expectations , there will be new business coming into the city , but general growth in the business market is needed to make them all viable .
H : ANY OBSTACLES TO DEVELOPMENT ? TW : Almost always it is finance . Having said that , Rwanda is one of the few countries that can still merit the “ Africa Rising ” tag – it is not reliant on a single source of revenue ( such as oil , iron ore , gold , etc .), and a growing , diversified economy generates growth in hotel demand , so Rwanda and other East African markets are more attractive for raising finance than many other countries here . Other challenges that typically face hotel developers are mostly dealt with by the government ’ s open-door attitude to investors – but Africa is never easy !
18 hotelsmag . com January / February 2017