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Hilton heads hotel development boom in Africa

Hot on its heels is Carlson Rezidor, with 6,953 new rooms in development spread across 32 hotels. Marriott is in third place with 6,412 rooms in its pipeline spread over 36 new properties, 22% up on 2014.

The findings of this year’s Hotel Chain Development Pipeline Survey, produced by Lagos-based consultancy W Hospitality Group, show that Hilton is leading the race to develop new hotels in Africa with 7,250 rooms in its pipeline, spread over 29 new properties, 18% up on the previous year. Hot on its heels is Carlson Rezidor, with 6,953 new rooms in development spread across 32 hotels. Marriott is in third place with 6,412 rooms in its pipeline spread over 36 new properties, 22% up on 2014.

If one creates a ranking not by number of rooms but instead by the number of hotels, Marriott would take the top spot with 36 in their pipeline, followed by Carlson Rezidor with 32 and Hilton with 29.

2015 Hotel Chain Development Pipelines in Africa

Top 10 Chains by Number of Planned Hotels and Rooms

Rank by Hotels

 

Rank by Rooms

 

 

Change on 2014

Average Size

1

Marriott

36

1

Hilton Worldwide

7,250

18%

250

2

Carlson Rezidor

32

2

Carlson Rezidor

6,953

11%

217

3

Hilton Worldwide

29

3

Marriott

6,412

22%

178

4

Starwood

21

4

Starwood

4,623

32%

220

5

Mangalis

17

5

Mangalis

2,329

5%

137

6

Swiss International

16

6

Accor

2,273

43%

189

7

Accor

12

7

Rotana

1,955

34%

244

7=

Best Western

12

8

Swiss International

1,738

150%

109

9

Rotana

8

9

Kempinski

1,618

3%

324

10

Louvre Hotels Group

7

10

Fairmont Raffles

1,277

366%

319

Best Western has 12 new hotels in its pipeline, but the average size of hotel is lower, at 93 rooms, and therefore drops out of the top ten when the pipeline is analysed by number of rooms. Both Kempinski and Fairmont focus on large, luxury hotels (Kempinski with their single brand, and Fairmont developing Raffles, Fairmont and Swissotel) and have the largest average number of rooms in the survey.

Mangalis is a new chain, launched in 2013, with its first hotel openings expected in 2015, in Conakry and Dakar. It is of note that Mangalis is achieving its very rapid growth by adopting an “asset-heavy” strategy, funding the development of nearly all of its hotels. This is in contrast with virtually every other chain in the survey, who are “asset-light”, seeking management agreements or, exceptionally, franchises and leases.

If, instead of looking at the chains, one looks at individual brands, Carlson Rezidor’s Radisson Blu brand occupies first position in terms of the number of hotels and rooms in its development pipeline. Its sister brand, Park Inn by Radisson, is also in the top 10, whilst the Hilton brand and its “little brother”, Hilton Garden Inn, occupy second and fifth positions respectively. Marriott and Starwood each have two brands in the top ten, with Starwood achieving particularly strong growth for both brands, Sheraton and Four Points.

Marriott leads in presenting a multi-brand offer, with 10 brands available to developers, including four brands included for the first time since its acquisition of Protea last year. This multi-brand approach has become more commonplace as Africa’s markets continue to develop and become mature enough for multiple brands, catering to markets across a broad spectrum. Having led their market entry with their flagship brands, typically at the upscale level, several of the chains are now introducing their midscale and budget brands.

Kempinski has been signing the biggest deals, with an average 324 rooms per hotel, double that of Park Inn, and of all the chains in the survey has the largest hotel project in sub-Saharan Africa, the 451-room Grand Hotel Oyala Kempinski in Equatorial Guinea’s future new capital, Oyala.

2015 Hotel Chain Development Pipeline in Africa

Top 10 Brands by Number of Planned Hotels and Rooms

Rank by Hotels

 

Rank by Rooms

Change on 2014

Average Size – Rooms

 

Brand

Hotels

 

Brand

Rooms

 

1

Radisson Blu

22

1

Radisson Blu

5,372

23.9%

244

 

2

Hilton

16

2

Hilton

4,965

5.1%

310

 

3

Marriott

11

3

Marriott

2,316

9.5%

211

 

4

Park Inn by Radisson

10

4

Sheraton

1,862

29.6%

233

 

5

Hilton Garden Inn

9

5

Hilton Garden Inn

1,682

33.1%

187

 

5=

Noom

9

6

Kempinski

1,618

3.3%

324

 

7

Sheraton

8

7

Park Inn by Radisson

1,581

-17.3%

158

 

8

Four Points by Sheraton

7

8

Noom

1,332

12.9%

148

 

8=

Golden Tulip

7

9

Four Points by Sheraton

1,250

37.5%

179

 

8=

Mantis

7

10

Courtyard by Marriott

1,154

0.0%

289

The far larger average size of new hotels signed by Hilton, Kempinski and Marriott (Courtyard) is clear from Chart 5 below. Hilton’s and Courtyard’s largest deals are mostly in North Africa:

Hyatt and Kempinski are set to double their African presence through new deals signed, but in percentage terms it is the smaller chains (in terms of African presence) including those focusing purely on Africa, such as City Blue, Onomo and Azalaї, that have the highest percentage increase. Rotana, the Abu-Dhabi based chain, are making rapid inroads into the continent, with eight new hotels in the pipeline, as is Swiss International, with 16 new franchise deals, of which more than half are in Nigeria.

2015 Hotel Chain Development Pipelines in Africa

Top 10 Chains by Pipeline and % of Existing Hotels

 

 

Existing

Pipeline

Pipeline % of Existing

Rank

Company

Hotels

Rooms

Hotels

Rooms

Hotels

Rooms

1

Swiss International

6

547

16

1,738

267%

318%

2

Rotana

2

759

8

1,955

400%

258%

3

City Blue

4

69

2

135

50%

196%

4

Onomo

3

343

4

525

133%

153%

5

Mantis Collection

23

284

7

430

30%

151%

6

Groupe Azalaї

7

700

6

949

86%

136%

7

Carlson Rezidor

25

5,763

32

6,953

128%

121%

8

Wyndham

5

820

6

931

120%

114%

9

Hyatt

4

1,111

7

1,121

175%

101%

10

Kempinski

9

1,656

5

1,618

56%

98%

Deals signed and properties under construction are two very different things. Carlson Rezidor, with 5,250 rooms on site, has more rooms actually under construction than Hilton Worldwide, which has 4,730, and therefore takes the top slot. Best Western enters the top ten, with 94 per cent of its pipeline rooms on site.

2015 Hotel Chain Development Pipelines in Africa

Top 10 Chains by Pipeline Status

Rank

Company

Hotels

Rooms

Rank – All Deals

Total

Onsite Construction

1

Carlson Rezidor

32

6,953

5,250

76%

2↑

2

Hilton Worldwide

29

7,250

4,730

65%

1↓

3

Marriott

36

6,412

3,555

55%

3↔

4

Starwood

21

4,623

3,016

65%

4↔

5

Accor

12

2,273

2,018

89%

6↑

6

Mangalis

17

2,329

1,204

52%

5↓

7

Best Western

12

1,115

1,050

94%

-↑

8

Mövenpick

4

1,001

1,001

100%

-↑

9

Kempinski

5

1,618

968

60%

9↔

10

IHG

5

1,195

895

75%

-↑

The chart below shows the evolution of the number of rooms in the top five brands’ development pipelines from 2013 to 2015. Although from a small basis, Hilton Garden Inn has seen the largest absolute growth, from two hotels in 2013 to nine hotels in 2015.


Trevor Ward, Managing Director, W Hospitality Group (on the left) and Matthew Weihs, Managing Director, Bench Events.

Trevor Ward, Managing Director, W Hospitality Group, said: “These figures highlight two trends in African hotel development, first that the main opportunities lie in the midscale segment, and second that such hotels are “easier” to develop. Hilton, for example, have launched a modular build solution for upcoming Garden Inn projects in Africa, in conjunction with CIMC Modular Building Systems – modular guest rooms and hallways are built in the factory, ensuring guarantees of cost and quality, as well as enabling faster development.”

Matthew Weihs, Managing Director, Bench Events, which organises the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF), which attracts all the major international hotel investors in Africa, where this report will be discussed in detail, concluded: “The economics are compelling. The World Travel & Tourism Council is forecasting that growth of the industry in SSA will exceed 5% for every year of the next decade. That is much stronger than most Western countries and too tempting for the major hotel chains to ignore.”

AHIF is the preeminent gathering of international investors in hotels in Africa.  It takes place in Addis Ababa on Sept 30 – Oct 1.

Co-Founder & Managing Director - Travel Media Applications | Website | + Posts

Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.

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