 |
| StarwoodArabella-Western-Cape-- |
The annual Pipeline survey of the major international and African hotel chains reveals that more are opening in Africa in 2014 and they are growing their resource base in order to take advantage of the strong economies on the continent.
New research by W Hospitality Group, a founding member of Hotel Partners Africa, places Carlson Rezidor at the head of the race to open new hotels in Africa.
The survey is of 27 international hotel chains, with 60 brands between them, competing in Africa, with Carlson Rezidor and Hilton Worldwide out in front by a significant margin, each with over 6,000 rooms in development. Marriott International is next, followed by Starwood, Mangalis and IHG
TABLE 1
2014 Hotel Chain Development Pipelines in Africa
Top 10 Chains by Number of Planned Hotels and Rooms
| ||||||||
Rank by Hotels
|
Rank by Rooms
| |||||||
Change on 2013
|
Average Size
| |||||||
1
|
Carlson Rezidor
|
30
|
1
|
Carlson Rezidor
|
6,248
|
5%
|
208
| |
2
|
Marriott*
|
26
|
2
|
Hilton
|
6,165
|
-1%
|
247
| |
3
|
Hilton Worldwide
|
25
|
3
|
Marriott
|
5,243
|
34%
|
202
| |
4
|
Starwood
|
16
|
4
|
Starwood
|
3,499
|
39%
|
219
| |
5
|
Mangalis
|
15
|
5
|
Mangalis
|
2,210
|
-
|
147
| |
6
|
Best Western
|
10
|
6
|
IHG**
|
2,055
|
-15%
|
294
| |
6=
|
Accor
|
10
|
7
|
Accor
|
1,587
|
0%
|
159
| |
6=
|
Swiss International
|
10
|
8
|
Kempinski
|
1,567
|
6%
|
261
| |
9
|
Louvre
|
9
|
9
|
Rotana
|
1,455
|
7%
|
243
| |
10
|
Azalaï
|
8
|
10
|
Azalaï
|
1,129
|
151%
|
141
| |
*This survey was conducted before Marriott completed its purchase of South Africa-based Protea. Any Protea development deals are excluded from this survey.
** based on data provided by IHG in September 2013, which has not been updated
| ||||||||
Of the international chains, Starwood had the largest percentage increase, up 39 per cent year-on-year, with developments planned in eight countries, four more countries than in 2013. Marriott also recorded a strong increase, 34 per cent up on last year. Mali-based Azalaï has plans to become a dominant regional player, increasing its development pipeline with five more hotels and 679 more rooms compared to 2013.
A new entrant to the survey and to the African market, Mangalis, has stormed into the top 10 rankings. Of its 15 Noom and Seen hotels, with 2,210 hotel rooms in the pipeline, 11 are reported to be on site and scheduled to open between 2014 and 2016. Louvre Hotels Group, which has three hotel brands in Africa – Royal Tulip, Golden Tulip and Tulip Inn - reports that all of its projects are on site and that all but one are scheduled to open in 2014.
Having a closer look at the individual brands of those hotel chains, Radisson Blu and its sister brand, Park Inn by Radisson, occupy the first and third positions by number of hotels. However, the rankings of the two brands individually, slip to the second and fourth positions, when considering the actual number of rooms planned, overtaken by Hilton and Marriott, with larger properties (see Table 2).
| TABLE 2
2014 Hotel Chain Development Pipelines in Africa
Top 10 Brands by Number of Planned Hotels and Rooms
| ||||||||
Rank by Hotels
|
Rank by Rooms
|
Change on 2013
|
Average Size
| |||||
Brand
|
Units
|
Brand
|
Rooms
|
Rooms
| ||||
1
|
Radisson Blu
|
17
|
1
|
Hilton
|
4,723
|
-12.5%
|
295
| |
2
|
Hilton
|
16
|
2
|
Radisson Blu
|
4,336
|
3.5%
|
255
| |
3
|
Park Inn by Radisson
|
13
|
3
|
Marriott
|
2,116
|
19.8%
|
212
| |
4
|
Marriott
|
10
|
4
|
Park Inn by Radisson
|
1,912
|
14.1%
|
147
| |
5
|
Noom
|
8
|
5
|
Kempinski
|
1,567
|
5.8%
|
261
| |
6
|
Azalaï
|
8
|
6
|
Sheraton
|
1,437
|
238.9%
|
240
| |
7=
|
Hilton Garden Inn
|
7
|
7
|
Hilton Garden Inn
|
1,264
|
185.3%
|
181
| |
7=
|
Seen
|
7
|
8
|
Noom
|
1,180
|
-
|
148
| |
8=
|
Kempinski
|
6
|
9
|
Courtyard by Marriott
|
1,154
|
28.5%
|
289
| |
8=
|
Sheraton
|
6
|
10
|
Azalaï
|
1,129
|
150.9%
|
141
| |
The newcomer Mangalis sees both its two core brands in the top 10 rankings by the number of hotels planned - the Noom brand is ranked fifth with eight hotels planned, whilst the Seen brand ties in seventh position with Hilton Garden Inn, with seven hotels planned. The Noom brand also ranks eighth in the top 10 list of rooms planned, at 1,180 rooms.
At 295 rooms/ property, Hilton has the largest average room size in the top 10 list. It is followed closely by Courtyard by Marriott (289), Kempinski (261), Radisson Blu (255) and Sheraton (240).
This year’s survey is based on the contributions from 27 hotel chains with 60 brands between them. Of these 27 hotel chains, 24 of them are already operating in Africa, with a total of approximately 84,000 rooms. The pipeline of new deals represents almost 50 per cent of the branded supply.
