[2 August 2011]
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.
Jonathan Worsley, Chairman of Bench Events, organiser of
Hotel Investment Conferences in developing markets throughout the world
said “we have been aware of the huge potential of
Africa for some time and have been actively building relationships with
governments and consultants in the region to launch a hotel investment
conference, which I am pleased to say will take place in Casablanca
from 26-27
September this year…much of the problem has understandably, been a lack
of
knowledge of how to successfully carry out business here. There have
been many
challenges which governments have been working hard to resolve. The
purpose of
the conference is to show delegates how successful investors and
operators have
overcome these hurdles, and to explore ways in which to work in
partnerships to
attract further hotel investment to the region.”
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.
HOSTS
HICA is organised by Bench Events in association with SMIT
and the TBCSA.
Sponsors of HICA:
HICA is sponsored by Accor; Corinthia Hotels; Jones Lang
LaSalle Hotels; Marriott; Actif Invest; Alhif; Alliances; Anantara
Hotels,
Resorts, Spas; France 24, Hilton Worldwide; Horwath HTL; h partners;
Hyatt;
IHG; Interedec; Madaef; Rezidor Hotel Group, Starwood Hotels and
Resorts; T
Capital, Tourism & Leisure Europraxis Consulting; T Capital; WTAG;
and W
Hospitality Group.