HARARE- Raddison hospitality says it will invest in 10 new hotels across the sub Saharan African and these include a hotel in Zimbabwe.

Earlier this year the company commenced construction of a 5 start hotel in the capital Harare along Samora Machel, in partnership with a local hospitality firm. The hotel will have 245 rooms and was initially targeted for completion in 2019.

The group has been more aggressive on Africa in recent years starting in 2016 where it reportedly signed a new hotel deal every 37 days and opened a hotel in Africa every 60 days.

In 2018 the hospitality giant has announced 10 new hotel deals which again equates to a new signing every months.

Raddison will become the first international hotel player to set base in Zimbabwe in recent years and its presence will significantly tilt the city hotels landscape which is predominantly a reserve of 3 local players including African Sun which operates Holiday Inns, Meikles which owns Meikles Hotel and RTG which run the Rainbow hotel in Harare.

The allure of growing tourism and expected sustained future growth of the sector is a key driver in determining local investment in hospitality, the numbers are just phenomenal.

It follows therefore that players concentrating their investment in resort hotels are likely to earn a superior return. These will in the very near term remain a preserve of the 3 leading local hotel operators.

Given its expansionary maneuvers on the continent, it is too early to undermine the hotel group’s impact the Zim landscape.

The operator views Africa as its growth frontier and is splurging big on the continent. In the short term the hotel group may prefer hotels in resorts although a significant chunk of its hotel portfolio in Africa is in city hotels.

- EQUITY AXIS NEWS