Number of planned hotel rooms in Africa grows almost a third in past year

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Number of planned hotel rooms in Africa grows almost a third in past year

2:25 CAT | 17 March 2016 | by Advisory Editor

The number of planned hotel rooms in Africa surged 30% in the past year in anticipation of increased business and leisure travel in one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.

Global hotel chains were planning to build about 64,000 rooms across 365 hotels on the continent this year, from about 49,000 rooms in 2015.

This is according to the annual Hotel Chain Development Pipeline Survey released by the W Hospitality Group, released on Monday.

The increase is largely due to strong growth in sub-Saharan Africa, where planned hotel rooms surged 42.1%.

A major shake-up in the country rankings saw Angola — never before listed among the top 10 — pushing Egypt out of second place, due to a major deal there signed by AccorHotels.

Hotel development in North Africa was modest, with a 7.5% pipeline increase this year due to political turmoil in countries such as Libya and Egypt.

“The evidence from our survey is clear — investors remain confident about the future of the hospitality industry on the continent,” said Trevor Ward, W Hospitality Group MD.

“Even when pummelled daily by low commodity prices, exchange rate problems, political challenges and poor infrastructure, Africa remains resilient,” he said.

Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow 4% this year and 4.7% in 2017 from 3.5% in 2015, according to the International Monetary Fund.

This is more than double the growth rate expected for advanced economies such as Europe, the US and Japan.