Hospitality investment conference ends on high note

This is in accordance with the sentiments shared by most of the delegates who attended this prestigious annual event now on its second year.

“HICA 2008 was a great networking opportunity for us, a newly listed company, and we are proud of our association with the event,” said Andrew Hubbard of Altex listed Queensgate Hotel and Leisure. The conference took place from 28 - 30 September 2008 with delegates attending from within and outside the Southern African region.

TBCSA, Chief Executive Officer, Mmatšatši Marobe said the calibre of speakers was of high note and contributed to the quality of the conference discussions and the networking opportunities: “To mention a few, our delegates included decision makers from leading global hotel brands such as Rezidor, Movenpick, Marriott, Accor, IFA, GroupRCI which is part of Wyndham Group, Fairmont, Starwood and key Southern African operators such as Protea Hotels, Southern Sun, City Lodge, Legacy Hotels and Queensgate Hotels.”

Panel discussion highlights

A highlight for many of the delegates was the ‘Return On Investment' panel session which revealed critical information through a research which was commissioned by the TBCSA to Pam Golding Hospitality. This session, moderated by Nawfal Bendefa of Marriott Hotels, started with analysis of the financial performance of South African Hotels presented by Joop Demes, CEO of Pam Golding Hospitality. The analysis included 160 hotels, countrywide, amounting to in excess of 23,000 hotel rooms and compared the South African performance to the rest of the world.

“It was an absolute pleasure to attend HICA 2008 with the speakers been of high quality and the ‘take home' value that was tremendous. The content was highly relevant, fresh and stimulating,” commented Thomas Overbeck, Chairman of Southern African Association of Conference Industry (SAACI).

Responsible tourism

The conference kicked off on Sunday, 28 September 2008, with in-depth discussion on the topic of responsible tourism and the need for the hospitality sector within and outside Africa to embrace the ‘green revolution', which is becoming the norm globally, according to Professor Harold Goodwin of the Responsible Tourism Institute at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United kingdom, who led one of the discussion sessions. Conference delegates also learned about successful practices of involving local impoverished communities in the hospitality sector from Adama Bah from ASSET in Gambia and examples of doable ‘green revolution' practices from Judy Kepher-Gone of Kenya's Base Explorer Camp. African hospitality leaders were challenged to spread and share the benefits of the sector.

HICA 2008 moved into a higher gear on Monday and Tuesday when industry leaders from leading global and local hotel brands took the stage to discuss trends and performances of the sector from both a global and African perspective - “the discussions were fresh and inspiring thus helping to boost our confidence levels as investors in Africa,” commented Ron Stanger from Sovereign Solutions.

“A comparison was drawn on the performance of African hospitality against the prevailing global trends with astonishing results shared with us as delegates giving us increased confidence to invest in the continent,” commented Puneet Chhatwal, Vice President of Hotel Development, The Rezidor Hotel Group.

Slower growth and the exceptions

The STR Global Hotel Survey revealed that there is slower growth across most regions with the Middle East and Africa as exceptions. The STR Global Hotel Survey shows that on the African continent, most cities reported between 70% and 80% occupancy apart from Nairobi, which suffered due to the political turmoil following the elections in Dec 2007. Currently the Middle East is still on upward movement led by developments in the UAE, Europe and the Eurozone is slowing down while the Asia-Pacific region is holding its position.

Does it pay? Hosting 2010

On the last day of the conference, questions were asked as to whether it pays to build a hotel considering the high cost of resources and labour globally? The discussion also focused on whether the hospitality sector is ready to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

It was revealed that MATCH Events Services has already secured 30,000 beds towards fulfilling the 55,000 beds required to successfully host the global tournament. However concerns were raised with accommodation operators who are increasingly opting out of concluding contracts with MATCH Event Services and charging exorbitant prices thus running the risk of damaging South Africa's reputation in the process.

According to Marobe the panel of speakers made of role players within the Southern African hospitality sector committed to working together with their governments and FIFA to help South Africa deliver a world class tournament with far reaching legacy benefits.

Hospitality Investment Awards

The conference concluded with the announcement of the winners of the Hospitality Investment Awards with Protea Hotel - Fire and Ice in Cape Town winning the Best New Hotel Development category; Gondwana Desert Collection in Namibia wins in the category of Hospitality Innovation award, Helen Uerckamn of Sake Rapport winning in the category of Excellence in Tourism Reporting, while Bruce Chapman of Southern Sun Zambia won in the Leadership category.

A lifetime Achievement honour was bestowed on Dr Billy Gallagher who was also the Guest Speaker during the closing lunch.

Both the TBCSA and Pam Golding Hospitality are pleased to report that they have received the undertaking of key sponsors to continue with this important event for the next three years.

Hospitality platform

The Hospitality Investment Conference Africa has become the annual platform for investors, hotel operators and owners to network and it will be back in 2009 with more contacts and discussion topics to help develop Africa's hospitality industry.

The conference was undertaken with the assistance of distinguished sponsors; South African Group RCI, IFA Hotel & Resorts, First National Bank, The Rezidor Hotels Group and support from Thebe Conference and Events and Pam Golding Hospitality Group.