Rezidor president and chief executive Wolfgang Neumann said in an interview this week that the group wanted to see its mid-market Park Inn brand having a presence in all of SA's nine provinces, while also rolling out other Radisson Blu hotels in the country.
The Stockholm-listed group, a member of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, operates six hotels across SA - in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. Another three are set to open in the short-term, including a Radisson Blu in the Kruger National Park.
Neumann said sub-Saharan Africa "is a key area" for the group's growth. The group has 12 hotels with 2,300 rooms in operation in sub-Saharan Africa, while "we have a further 21 hotels with 3,600 rooms under development" in the region.
In February, Rezidor opened a Radisson Blu hotel in Mozambique, its second hotel in a country that previously had an under-supply of branded international operators.
"When customers come to sub-Saharan Africa, they want to know where they're going, where they're staying and what to expect. They want reliability and security," Neumann said.
While Rezidor had expected a relatively slow start in Mozambique, its hotels opened with a 65% occupancy rate. The group was "starting to have a good portfolio" in sub-Saharan Africa, and was in the process of opening other hotels including a Radisson Blu and a Park Inn in Nairobi, Kenya.
A high growth and "key" country targeted was Nigeria, where the group had five hotels in its development pipeline.
Neumann said he was optimistic about opportunities in fast-growing Angola, and said growth was also high in Ethiopia, although this had not yet registered with the market.
However, he said Africa carried higher risks than other regions, and "it takes a year or two longer to open a hotel".
The group had a strong focus on other emerging market regions including Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States countries. The focus on emerging markets was necessary as Europe was "going through a difficult patch and that is not going to turn around very soon".
"These are external factors you cannot influence, so you need to focus on what you can do yourself. You have got to focus on new opportunities, while beating the competition in the market because competitors are in the same situation," Neumann said.
Research by consultancy W Hospitality Group states that the number of planned 130 new hotels were planned for sub-Saharan Africa with new hotels in Nigeria dominating development.
Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
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