"Africa is an important growth region for Carlson Rezidor. We believe in the great potential of this continent and are committed to becoming a key player in the travel and tourism sector," said Andrew McLachlan, vice president of Business Development for Africa & Indian Ocean Islands.
"Our development strategy is built on asset-light, profitable and sustainable growth with a strong focus on emerging markets. Africa offers excellent opportunities due to its huge natural resources and workforces, improved infrastructure, and a growing middle class. However, the continent still suffers from an imbalance between supply and demand for internationally branded hotels with world-class standards and services, and we want to change that. It is not merely about growing the number of hotels - we aim to be a leading employer in the region. By creating new jobs for local talent and by contributing to the communities where we operate, we can make a huge difference," said Wolfgang M Neumann, president and CEO of Rezidor.
Carlson Rezidor opened its first hotel in Africa in 2000, the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, Cape Town. Since then, the group has built up a network of 24 hotels and 5800 rooms in operation and 30 hotels and 6300 rooms under development in Africa, and has a Regional Office in Cape Town.
Carlson Rezidor is focused on growing its footprint in sub-Saharan Africa with Radisson Blu in capital cities, financial and economic hubs. Park Inn by Radisson will grow in clusters focused in three of the 16 economic communities in Africa and into depth of the Nigerian and South African market. Recent flagship openings of the group include the Radisson Blu Hotel, Maputo (Mozambique), the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lusaka (Zambia) and the Park Inn by Radisson Foreshore Hotel Cape Town (South Africa). Most recently Carlson Rezidor also announced the opening of Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel in Freetown - the first five-star hotel in Sierra Leone. Future openings include Radisson Blu hotels in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda and Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Gabon, Senegal and Rwanda.
In Q1 of this year Carlson Rezidor signed its first Radisson Blu Residence in Maputo, Mozambique. This is the first internationally branded hotel residence in Africa and a product offering Carlson Rezidor is very excited about. "Hotel Residences are becoming very popular and we hope to take this product offering to other capital cities across Africa," added McLachlan.
"We plan to accelerate our growth strategy in Africa and aim to establish Radisson Blu as the leading upper upscale brand in the region and to pursue the scaled growth of Park Inn by Radisson in high-potential primary and secondary destinations," said McLachlan. "Quorvus Collection and Radisson Red will offer additional potential to our growth in this region by covering more market segments."
Carlson Rezidor is, furthermore, committed to continue growing in Nigeria, a focus country. The group already operates one Radisson Blu hotel with 170 rooms in the country and has four hotels with 700 rooms under development. "Nigeria is one of Africa's powerhouses. It is one of the world's fastest growing economies, and international tourist arrivals are expected to increase by more than 65% in the next decade - we want to be at the forefront to optimise this growth," concluded McLachlan.
