Radisson discloses bumper Africa year

The Radisson Hotel Group has disclosed that this year’s been bumper for it in Africa.

According to it, it has vastly expanded its Africa presence by signing on a new hotel every 20 days, thereby adding 2,500 rooms to its Africa portfolio.

Despite the great success it’s recorded, it’s not resting on its Africa oars as it expects to sign on more hotels to add to the thirteen it’s already signed as well as open more hotels to add to the five it already has this year.

The aggressive expansion places it firmly on track to boost its Africa portfolio of almost 100 hotels currently in operation and under development to its ambition of 150 hotels by 2025.

From a single hotel in Africa 20 years ago, Radisson’s current Africa portfolio of almost 100 hotels in operation and under development is located in more than 30 countries across the continent.

“For the remainder of the year, we will continue to build on the success and momentum we’ve had thus far with a continued focus on our identified key markets, specifically Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. We aim to further accelerate our presence across the continent through both new build and conversions, especially post-pandemic, as there is less liquidity for newer developments.

“We therefore seek to form wider partnerships and strategic ventures with local or regional chains and forge ahead with our city scale and critical mass strategy. The execution of our strategy with clear priorities will equally support in achieving positive economic efficiencies and synergies operationally across all our existing and future hotels, further unlocking value to our owners.

“We’ve also demonstrated the relevant flexibility in addressing the current investment climate by providing not only tailored solutions to every project but also rationalizing our relationships with our investors to assess the best timings in terms of openings and the right budget allocation in terms of segment, space program and development cost,” Ramsay Rankoussi, Vice President, Development, Africa & Turkey, Radisson Hotel Group, said.

“Africa is mainly led by business hotels, but with the recent signings, we’ve expanded our leisure offerings and serviced apartments which’ve not only proven resilient during COVID-19 but are also fueling a faster recovery. Our ambitions are driven by creating critical mass in each of our identified focus markets but also ensuring market proximity, and these regions are sub-divided based on priorities, focus and potential scale.”