Hotel Development Focus On Africa 37,000 New Hotel Rooms Planned

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Africa now ranks among the fastest growing economic regions in the world, according to a recent report (June 2011) by the McKinsey Global Institute. The hotel sector reflects this exciting trend with established and international brands and developers entering the marketplace and developing their opportunities with long term growth prospects, including: Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International and The Rezidor Hotel Group. Recent construction pipelines indicate that there are over 190 planned hotel projects in planning and development, with combined guestrooms totally over 37,000, the most popular locations are Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. The continent’s real GDP rose by an average of nearly 5% per annum over the last decade and with the collective GDP of $1.6. Trillion (in 2008) is now roughly equal to Brazil or Russia, reflecting the flourishing growth in sectors including: telecoms, banking, retail and construction with impressive increasing foreign investment.

Examples of recent planned hotel developments and openings include:
• Hotel operator Monte-Carlo SBM has teamed up with developer Aerium Atlas Management (part of the Aerium Group) to develop a 34.5 acre site in the Menara district of Marrakech: the £120m Jawhar Resort, Spa and Private Residences.
• Rocco Forte Collection is launching a new five-star 90 all suite room hotel, golf and spa resort – the Assoufid Resort in Marrakesh, with the North Africa Holding Company. Rocco Forte will also be managing the 275-room Shepheard Hotel in Cairo with The Egyptian General Company for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH) to launch in 2013.
• Jumeirah Group is developing the Jumeirah Gamsha Bay Resort in Egypt, a luxury 250 room hotel on the mixed-use development of Palm Gamsha.
• Sofitel Luxuy Hotels will open its second location in Equatorial Guinea, on Bioko Island in Africa, the Sofitel Malabo Sipopo Le Golf – featuring 200 luxurious rooms.
• The Rezidor Hotel Group has recently announced the planning of its 7th hotel in Nigeria, The Park Inn Lagos, Apapa featuring 125 rooms and set to open in 2013. Rezidor has the largest pipeline in Sub-Saharan Africa with new openings planned in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda and Mozambique.
• Taj Hotels is set to launch the Taj Palace Marrakesh, later this year, following on from the successful opening of the Taj Cape Town in 2010.
• Sol Melia is set to open a new hotel on the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania, the Melia Zanzibar – a 5 star holiday resort and following the inauguration of its first hotel in Cabo Verde. The company has 6 hotels on the African continent, with 4 in Egypt.

Providing a unique insight and overview into the opportunities available, Bench Events is organising the inaugural Hotel Investment Conference in Africa (HICA) taking place in Casablanca (26th and 27th of September) and already attracting delegates from around the world interested in benefiting from the networking opportunities, a programme of seminars and sessions with a list of influential speakers which will educate potential investors and developers and raise awareness to optimise the opportunity of sustainable development of the hospitality industry on the African continent.

As further outlined in the McKinsey report, the rate of return on foreign investment in Africa is higher than in any other developing market (from $9 billion in 2000 to $62 billion in 2008) and providing early entry adopters the chance to develop their own markets and establish brand presence and profile whilst shaping the future economic climate and promoting new levels of tourism (both domestic and international).

The World Travel Organisation has recently forecast that in-bound tourism (to Africa) will increase over 50% from 2010 to 2020 while Africa’s combined consumer spending is now $860 billion and set to continue to grow. A recent Financial Times article (published following the World Economic Forum 2011 in Africa) reported that more than 10 African economies are forecast (by the African Development Bank) to grow at more than 7 per cent this year. Finance experts use the returns achieved by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a good guide to what is possible. From 2000 to March 2010, the IFC saw a return of almost 22 per cent a year on its African private equity portfolio, higher than for any other emerging markets region – a trend experienced by many of the large investment funds.

Daniel Fountain / 10.10.2012

Editor, Hotel Designs

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Work highlights: Sienna joined Forum Events & Media Group while studying Communications and Media, starting in the sales team where she managed and helped launch the first the PA Life Leading Venues of London SHOWCASE, where she built relationships with luxury venues across the capital. Drawn to the stories behind these spaces, she naturally transitioned into the editorial team, creating social media and editorial content. Upon graduating in June 2026, she is excited to be joining as Assistant Editor for Hotel Designs and SPACE.

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Work highlights: Jess joined SPACE magazine in 2022 and has since progressed from Assistant Editor to Editor. During this time, she has worked across many aspects of the publication – from shaping editorial strategy and overseeing operations to contributing to art direction and representing the brand on stage at industry events including Surface Design Show and WOW!house.

Alongside her role at SPACE, Jess has built a creative career spanning the arts, culture, design and travel sectors. Prior to joining the magazine, she spent more than a decade in the commercial art industry, in artist liaison, gallery management, and curating collections for the hospitality sector across hotels and cruise ships. During this time, she also worked on freelance projects as a writer, photographer, and creative content producer.
 
Jess studied photojournalism at London College of Communication and the Danish School of Media and Journalism and holds a first-class BA (Hons) in Culture, Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins.

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Work highlights: Katy has been with Hotel Designs since the beginning, way back in 2015 when Forum Events & Media Group acquired the brand.

During this time, she has fostered many meaningful relationships with clients from across the hospitality spectrum, as well as playing a pivotal role in the launch of The Brit List Awards, Hotel Designs MEET UPs, client-led roundtables and panel talks, brand and website redesigns, HD Wellness Sets, DESIGN POD podcast, Hotel Designs LIVE panel talk series, Accessible Design Talks and more. Katy is always on the lookout for the next opportunity to help grow the Hotel Designs brand even further.
 
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