•During the six months of the year, there were 847,810 international arrivals, in contrast to the 642,861 arrivals recorded during the same period in 2022.
•Marriott Hotels & Resorts that has in recent past been pumping investments into the region comes second with 15 hotels that will add 4,305 rooms under its portfolio
Image: /FILE
Kenya ranks fifth among African nations set to reap big from investments into the hospitality sector in 2023, according to a new report.
Egypt tops the continent among countries recording highest investments from multinational hospitality brands, followed by Nigeria, Morocco, Ethiopia and Kenya.
According to the W-Hospitality Group report titled Hotel Chain Development Pipeline Africa Kenya is set for 25 new hotels that will bring an additional 3,729 rooms.
This will be an increase from the 3,155 units recorded in 2022 as the sector looks to surpass the 2019 numbers.
The increasing rooms are set to boost the initiatives to increase Kenya's tourism numbers to 10 million by 2027.
According to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), tourist arrivals during the first half of 2023 rose by 32 percent, with a nearly equivalent growth in revenue.
During the six months of the year, there were 847,810 international arrivals, compared to 642,861 arrivals over the same period in 2022.
W-Hospitality Group managing director Trevor Ward notes in the report, that the market for luxury rooms is increasing in the region.
“We tracked 31 hotels with about 5,000 rooms that opened last year, plus some of the chains had another “clear-out” of deals that have been in their development pipeline for years, and that they could see were just never going to happen,” the report reads in part
Despite scaling down its operations in the country last year following the closure of its iconic outlet, Hilton still leads in regard to pipeline status with 28 hotels.
Marriott Hotels & Resorts that has in recent past been pumping investments into the region comes second with 15 hotels that will add 4,305 rooms under its portfolio
It followed by, Rixos (Accor), Four Points by Sheraton and Protea Hotels both under the Marriott International.
“Although its percentage under construction is lower than most others in the top 10, Hilton (the brand) still has the highest number of rooms on site construction, but Marriott Hotels & Resorts is not very far behind,” the report reads in part
Despite its clear leadership in the absolute pipeline numbers, Egypt has the lowest percentage of rooms onsite which has been attributed to its relatively “young” pipeline.
Of the total 103 deals there, half were signed in 2020 and later, and that’s nearly 60 per cent of the rooms.
In contrast, Morocco and Algeria have some of the highest ratios of rooms under construction on the continent. After Egypt, Nigeria has quite a low percentage onsite, and we note also that of the 22 hotels around the country that have started construction, eight of them, with about half of the “onsite” rooms, have stalled and the sites are closed.
BWH Hotel Group Managing Director International Member Services, Neville Graham added that as of early 2023 the chains’ development pipelines total 482 hotels with 84,427 rooms, up 5 per cent compared to 2022.
Morocco and Algeria reported some of the highest ratios of rooms under construction on the continent.