THE PIPELINE : AFRICA
2013 CHAIN HOTEL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
TOP 10 COUNTRIES BY ROOMS
RANK |
COUNTRY |
ROOMS |
HOTELS |
AVERAGE SIZE |
1 |
EGYPT |
7,644 |
20 |
382 |
2 |
NIGERIA |
7,470 |
49 |
152 |
3 |
MOROCCO |
5,178 |
30 |
173 |
4 |
ALGERIA |
3,160 |
17 |
186 |
5 |
KENYA |
1,469 |
11 |
134 |
6 |
GHANA |
1,441 |
8 |
180 |
6 |
TUNISIA |
1,441 |
6 |
240 |
8 |
LIBYA |
1,359 |
4 |
340 |
9 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
1,320 |
8 |
165 |
10 |
GABON |
1,128 |
7 |
161 |
TOP 10 CHAINS BY PIPELINE STATUS
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group , which currently has one of the largest pipelines in Africa with 21 hotels , is casting a wide net . “ Our key markets are South Africa , Nigeria , Angola , Egypt and the Sub-Saharan capital cities , which have no or rather dated internationally branded hotels ,” says Wolfgang Neumann , president and CEO , Rezidor Hotel Group , Brussels .
Source : W Hospitality Group , Lagos , Nigeria
RANK COMPANY HOTELS ROOMS TOTAL ONSITE CONSTRUCTION
HILTON
1 |
WORLDWIDE |
23 |
6,230 |
4,982 |
80 % |
2 |
CARLSON
REZIDOR
|
28 |
5,947 |
4,472 |
75 % |
3 |
ACCOR |
30 |
5,165 |
2,028 |
39 % |
4 |
LOUVRE |
17 |
2,290 |
1,990 |
87 % |
5 |
MARRIOTT |
22 |
3,900 |
1,931 |
50 % |
6 |
IHG |
8 |
2,413 |
1,528 |
63 % |
7 |
STARWOOD |
9 |
2 , 514 |
1 , 385 |
55 % |
8 |
MÖVENPICK |
5 |
1 , 369 |
989 |
72 % |
9 |
BEST
WESTERN
|
8 |
796 |
731 |
92 % |
10 |
KEMPINSKI |
6 |
1,481 |
717 |
48 % |
Source : W Hospitality Group , Lagos , Nigeria |
Regional brands like Protea Hotels Group see opportunities in landlocked countries like Uganda and Zambia as well , and they are impressed with the possibilities overall . “ Ghana ’ s economic growth is predicted to be greater than 7 % in 2013 , which is nothing short of miraculous in the current global climate , and Nigeria isn ’ t far behind ,” says Arthur Gillis , CEO , Protea Hotels
Group , Western Cape , South Africa .
Taking a longer-term view , the possibilities are even more open-ended . “ Places of interest for us include Masai Mara , Mombasa , Dar es Salaam and Kampala ,” says Rustom Vickers , group director of development , Dusit International , Bangkok .
IHG will enter Uganda , Nigeria and Senegal over the next three to five years .
Bringing the pipeline map into clearer focus , more mature markets will start to see development outside of capital cities . “ Nigerian development opportunities are moving out of the Lagos cluster and into secondary nodes like Benin City , where a new Protea Hotel has just opened ,” Gillis says .
At the same time , Alan O ’ Dea , senior vice president of Africa for Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts Management AG , is currently focused on strengthening Mövenpick ’ s portfolio in Morocco and Tunisia .
Multi-sector opportunities As much as Africa is growing , the size and scope of the opportunities remains different than , say , China . Ward ’ s research shows that of the top 10 brands in Africa , all but two are developing hotels with an average of less than 300 rooms .
“ The hotel markets , while growing , can become overtraded through the addition of just a few hundred rooms ,” von Aulock cautions . That is making smaller , lower-cost economy and midscale offerings a tempting target .
On the upside , increasing disposable income among African travelers is driving domestic demand , as is urbanization that makes limited-service offerings more practical . “ The upper upscale is normally the first to fill up ,” Ward says . “ Then , the market gaps are in midscale and economy sectors . Park Inn , Hilton Garden Inn , Premier Inn and easyHotel are all targeting those sectors . All major cities will be hotspots for this development .”
International brands are noticing . “ To better respond to changing lifestyles in Africa and to the African customer ’ s new expectations , Accor is expanding its economy ( Ibis ) and midscale brands ( Novotel , Mercure ) and ,
56 HOTELS June 2013 www . hotelsmag . com