from DION HENRICK in Cape Town
CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) – RADISSON Hotel Group has signed seven new hotels, adding over 1400 rooms to its African portfolio.
This as the company continues its ambitious growth in the continent.
The new hotels expand the group’s brands, spanning from upscale to premium luxury lifestyle with a new market entry in Gambia and the introduction of new brands in key markets with the first Radisson Collection in Nigeria and Egypt, the first Radisson RED hotel in Nigeria and the introduction of the Radisson brand in Kenya.
These openings include the Group’s first hotel openings in Reunion Island and Ghana and expanding its resort presence in Casablanca and Saidia in Morocco as well as in Egypt, South Africa and Tunisia.
“With the continent remaining a focus market for us, we are committed to further contributing to the African hospitality industry, providing more possibilities to our guests and employment opportunities to the local communities,” said Elie Younes, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Development Officer at Radisson Hotel Group.
The company believes an even better indication of its growth is the materialisation of its pipeline into openings, where they had led consistently the biggest market share for the last 36 months, translating to a 15 percent growth on their African portfolio, year-on-year.
This places it well on track to reach an objective of 150 hotels within the next five years from 100 hotels currently.
Ramsay Rankoussi, Vice President, Development, Africa and Turkey at Radisson Hotel Group, said their rate of materialisation and openings was a testament to the quality of their pipeline and reflected conversion strategy in repositioning existing hotels under one of Radisson brands.
“We are also proud to further entrench our stance as the operator with the most extensive presence in Africa with once again a new market entry as the only hotel operator,” Rankoussi said.
– CAJ News