Bulls n Bears Entrepreneurship Zone :: Ali Manzoor: Africa’s growing hospitality industry

[Bulls n Bears]

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 


 


 

 

>From luxury safari camps, to island retreats to conference hotels, the
hospitality sector in Africa is booming.

Average hotel occupancy levels throughout Africa rose to 61% in 2018, up
from 58% in the previous year, according to data provider STR Global.

This was primarily driven by North Africa, where occupancy levels rose by
six percentage points in 2018. This is good news for the industry and
investors given that most North African markets have exhibited depressed
performance in recent years, partially due to security concerns.

In contrast to the volatility of many North African markets, hotels across
sub-Saharan Africa exhibited a more stable performance with average
occupancy levels unchanged in 2018 at 60%. The sub-Saharan region also
records consistently stronger room rates than in North Africa and in 2018
they stood at US$127 compared with just US$91.

However, looking at these numbers in aggregate hides the wide variation
across individual countries, which can stand at over 400% from region to
region. From a supply standpoint, North Africa has the largest proportion of
hotel keys within the continent, followed by Southern and Eastern Africa.
Looking at the development pipeline, the projects that have broken ground
account for only 5% of the existing supply, which is limited in relation to
more mature markets and suggests that there is significant room for further
development.

On a country level, Mauritius and the Seychelles were 2018’s top performing
markets in terms of both occupancy and room rates. Both markets are
dominated by luxury resorts, and have been relatively immune to the security
concerns that have impacted resort locations elsewhere in Africa.

The two islands are expected to remain the continent’s top performing
markets in the short to medium term, and as a result have been an
increasingly popular target for hotel investment.

Following a two year period of declining foreign direct investment (FDI) to
the Seychelles, the market witnessed a year-on-year increase of 24% in 2017
to US$192 million, of which tourism-related projects accounted for a
substantial proportion. This was stimulated by certain measures taken by the
government – such as reducing the corporate tax rate – which helped create
an attractive environment for foreign investment.

As a result, the Seychelles continue to be the beneficiary of increasing
interest from Gulf countries, most notably seen with the recent acquisition
of the Banyan Tree by a UAE-based entity. This GCC led investment is a
phenomenon that is not specific to the Seychelles, but is also the case
within many hospitality hotspots across the continent within Morocco, Egypt
and emerging locations in sub-Saharan Africa.

A surge in demand for luxury ecotourism experiences is also driving
investment into the sub-Saharan safari destinations, both from private
individuals and high-end chains.

Meanwhile, increasing intra-regional and international trade flows are
boosting demand from business traveller and conference organisers. The
Hilton group, for example, has announced plans to double its presence in
Africa within five years.—Howwemadeitinafrica 

 

 

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Telephone:   <tel:%2B263%204%202927658> +263 4 2927658

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:    <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw  

Website:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AF
QjCNH8LYgdY55h-XKseuM8Kpr-JKdfhQ> www.bulls.co.zw 

Blog:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1
&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bulls.co.zw/blog

Twitter:                 @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:              Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimba
bwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA>
www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:                  Bulls.Bears 



 

 

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 189998 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20190412/ac839f4e/attachment-0001.bin>