In response to the rapidly growing demand for business travel in Zambia‚ Protea Hospitality Group said on Monday it was significantly expanding its Protea Hotel in Lusaka as part of its African expansion drive.
The group is constructing a substantial new wing to the hotel‚ which will see its capacity more than double from 100 rooms to 237 rooms.
While the group did not disclose the value of the project‚ it said the total value of its projects throughout Africa was about $100m — about R1bn.
Protea Hospitality Group said the Protea Hotel Lusaka expansion project intended to service the growing demand for business travel as Zambia’s economic growth trajectory continued due to industry expansion and low interest rates.
Sales‚ marketing and revenue director Danny Bryer said Zambia‚ “like many economies in Africa”‚ was showing “phenomenal growth” and as business expanded so did the need for accommodation with a well-known hotel brand.
“Protea Hotel Lusaka’s prime position in the capital as well as its superior accommodation and service offering means the demand is there to invest tens of millions of dollars in the creation of this large new wing.”
The hotel‚ which also offers conferencing facilities for up to 80 people‚ expects to open its new wing in February 2014.
The extension of Protea Hotel Lusaka is one of several builds across Africa under the group’s Protea Hotels and African Pride Hotels brands‚ including hotels in two new countries — Rwanda and Ghana.
The group said in June that it had signed a deal that would see it moving into Rwanda‚ its 10th African country. Protea Hospitality Group would open a 25-room hotel in Kigali in the last quarter of this year.
Group CEO Arthur Gillis said at the time that Rwanda had shown “tremendous economic growth in the past few years”‚ and added that the country’s government had a strong focus on the development of the tourism sector‚ “recognising it as one of the foremost economic drivers and the largest foreign exchange earner”.
Protea Hospitality Group is one of many branded hotel groups looking to establish itself as a leading hospitality provider on the continent. Africa is being targeted thanks to its rapid economic growth relative to subdued economies in more established markets.
Earlier in July‚ the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group‚ whose brands include Regent‚ Radisson Blu and Park Inn‚ announced its 50th hotel deal in Africa — the Park Inn by Radisson in Kigali‚ Rwanda.
The group had planned to reach this target at the end of 2015‚ but the deal saw it achieving it two and a half years ahead of schedule.
According to research released earlier in 2013 by consultancy W Hospitality Group‚ companies leading the way in their African expansion drives were Hilton Worldwide‚ with 6‚230 rooms in its African pipeline; Carlson Rezidor‚ with 5‚947; Accor‚ with 5‚165; and Marriott‚ with 3‚900.
Hilton Worldwide vice-president of operations for Africa and the Indian Ocean Jan van der Putten said in May Hilton Worldwide was targeting key capital cities across Africa.
“We have a lot of focus‚ attention‚ and dedicated work being done into African growth‚ and in the months and years to come we will see that come to fruition‚” he said.
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