MGM Muthu Hotels, one of Europe's leading hospitality chain has acquired four hotels under the umbrella of Sun Africa Hotel Group of companies in Kenya.
Through the acquisition, MGM Muthu will oversee the operations of Sovereign Suites Hotel and Spa in Limuru, Lake Naivasha Country Club, Keekorok Lodge in Masai Mara and Nyali Beach Hotel and Spa in Mombasa.
The announcement was made during an event at the Sovereign Suites on February 23, attended by MGM Hotels group director of marketing Adhikar Vaish, country head Shailender Singh, Sovereign Suites general manager Petterson Njunguna, and representatives from the other hotel chains.
“The process of the acquisition started mid last year and today i am proud to announce all four hotel chains will now be operating under the MGM Muthu Hotel brand,” said Adhikar Vaish.
Vaish stated that as a group, they had plans to venture into the African hospitality industry and Kenya was a great choice to start with.
“We already have over 50 hotels and resorts operating in Portugal, Spain, England, Scotland, France, India, Cuba and Kenya provided a perfect destination to build our brand before venturing into other African countries,” he said.
Full details of the contract are yet to be disclosed.
Even so, Vaish said by venturing into a new market, in terms of costs, it was much easier to acquire an already established brand than starting from scratch.
“It will save us costs in terms if we were to build a new establishment, marketing, getting licenses and permits. This definitely gives us a head start going forward,” he said.
Njuguna on the other hand noted the reason that led to the acquisition was the marketing aspect.
“With the challenges currently being experienced in the hospitality industry, we realised we needed an international brand that can market our services and products worldwide,” he said, adding MGM is a big brand and Kenya offers a dream destination for tourists looking for great adventure experience and wildlife.
The Keekorok Lodge in Masai Mara offers visitors unique game drives while enjoying the wildlife, landscape, sunsets while those looking to relax at the beach have an option of visiting the Nyali beach facility.
“We are looking at offering good customer experience, more dining options, excellent holidays, more destinations and with our new chef we´ll have diverse cuisines to cater for all clients from different countries while maintaining our high standards,” said Vaish.
Njunguna said business has been good after the Covid period and word of mouth has been one of the marketing tools that have enabled them to get new clients.
“When your services are excellent, word spreads faster and our growing number of repeat clients is the reason we decided to launch our membership club where they will enjoy our services at discounted prices,” he said.
For the near future, Vaish stated MGM is looking at opening more hotels in Kenya, with further plans of adding Sun Africa's Kiboko Luxury Camp to its Kenyan operations.