Carlson targets Africa for growth

THE CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group, which operates 1 370 hotels in more than 110 countries, has targeted Africa as its key global investment region and will be opening three new hotels in South Africa by next year.

Mark Descrozaille, the area vice-president for Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands for the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, said yesterday that the group would be investing $2.6 billion (R41 bn) in developing and opening 34 new hotels in Africa by 2020.

This will increase the number of hotels operated by the group in Africa to 66. Five of the 34 new hotels that will be opened in Africa will be in South Africa, with five more in Nigeria and two each in Algiers, Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda and Tunisia.

Descrozaille said the opening of the new hotels in South Africa would create 1 500 permanent jobs plus an additional 3 000 downstream jobs with suppliers and contractors to the hotels.

About 1 000 people were involved in the construction of each hotel, which meant further 3 000 job opportunities had been created in the construction phase, he said.

Opportunities

The new hotels the group will be opening in South Africa are a five-star 166-room Radisson Blu in the Triangle Building of the old Safmarine offices in the Cape Town central business district; a 235-room Radisson Red, which was a new category hotel targeting millennials, in the Silo District at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town; and a mid-market 160-room Park Inn in Polokwane.

Descrozaille said all of these hotels were under construction and the two hotels in Cape Town would open next March and the hotel in Polokwane in June.

Explaining the rationale for the expansion programme in South Africa, Descrozaille said the group targeted cities.

“We see the gap being for stylish upmarket (Radisson Blu) and mid-market (Park Inn) hotels with European levels of service and facilities, such as free wi-fi, as… being a big opportunity.”

Descrozaille said the group saw Africa as the continent of opportunity. “Radisson Blu is the hotel brand with largest number of rooms under development in Africa. Our vision is to make Radisson Blu the leading… upscale hotel brand in Africa.”

South Africa remains a top priority for the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group development team.

Andrew McLachlan, the senior vice-president for business development, said the group had in the last 24 months singed a new hotel deal in Africa every 37 days.

“We are delivering our pipeline and in the last 24 months we have opened a hotel in Africa every 60 days,” he said.