The announcement of three new hotel openings in South Africa, with two in Cape Town, will create 1,500 new jobs in the next 12 months. An additional 3,000 jobs will be created across the African continent in the next 36 months.
Wolfgang Neumann, president and chief executive officer of the Rezidor Hotel Group, said that the jobs announcement is a direct result of 32 new hotel openings across Africa. This will bring the total in Africa to 66.
“We see Africa as the continent of opportunity. Radisson Blu is the hotel brand with the largest number of rooms under development in Africa” said Marc Descrozaille, area vice president, Africa and Indian Ocean. “Our vision is to make Radisson Blu the leading upper upscale hotel brand in Africa” he added.
South Africa remains a top priority for the development team. This has been underpinned by the opening of the area support office in Cape Town, which will assist South Africa and the entire region with the expansion programme. “Africa is an opportunity and we have been very busy. In the last 24 months, we have signed a new hotel deal in Africa every 37 days. And it’s not just about signing up hotels. We are delivering our pipeline, and in the last 24 months, we have opened a hotel in Africa every 60 days.” added Carlson Rezidor’s senior vice president for business development, Andrew McLachlan.
As one of the most ethical companies worldwide (according to the Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practice), Carlson Rezidor has a responsible business programme. A third of the workforce in the Park Inn by Radisson Newlands, Cape Town, are deaf or hard of hearing. The Group is looking at expanding the model further.
Other initiatives include group-wide energy and water saving initiatives and area-specific offers such as the Youth Career Initiative in Africa, opening up training and job opportunities to underprivileged young talent as well as African in Leadership, developing talent from within our hotels.
