Marriott International , with more than 140 hotels with close to 24,000 rooms across 20 African countries ( including this Four Points by Sheraton in Nairobi ), has 50 hotels under development and is set to add another 11,000 rooms by 2026 . markets for the likes of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group , Hilton Hotels & Resorts , AccorHotels and Marriott International , as well as local stalwarts Tsogo Sun , City Lodge and Protea Hotels ( now owned by Marriott ). But take note , Africa is not without its homegrown upstarts with good product . Get used to reading about Mangalis ( fresh product appealing to Africans ), Onomo ( focused on the mid-market ), CityBlue ( for midsize owners who need services ) and Azalai ( West African brand ), among others .

Focus is shifting to middle-market products , according to Carlson Rezidor ’ s Senior Vice President for Business Development in Africa and the Indian Ocean , Andrew McLachlan . He points to Nigeria and its 12 state capitals as well as second-tier cities as having a lot of potential for Carlson ’ s Park Inn by Radisson brand . In fact , Park Inns are under development in four second-tier Nigerian cities , and he says the same is happening in Kenya and Ethiopia . The caveat , McLachlan says , is that the secondary city hotels must have reasonable access to support the product , good regional air lift and the ability to draft business from nearby , bigger hotels ( in Carlson ’ s case , the Blu brand ).

Michael Collini , vice president of development in Africa for Hilton , says his team has identified about 150 targets with just under 50 % of them being good fits for the mid-market Hilton Garden Inn brand . “ It ’ s the single , strongest opportunity to build in Africa – both in primary and secondary markets , and even some mature tertiary markets ,” he says .

Hilton is also using modular construction , as it has a strategic agreement with China ’ s largest container shipping company to deliver guestrooms and corridors . “ We have one we are about to construct at the airport in Ghana ,” Collini says . “ The continent is ripe

Q2 2017

Source : Lodging Econometrics

October 2017 hotelsmag . com 35