Hyatt Hotels announced plans to open 9 additional Hyatt-branded hotels in Africa by the end of 2020.
Meanwhile, the hotel group yesterday announced the first dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels on the continent, the return of the Hyatt brand to Cairo, new Park Hyatt and Hyatt Regency hotels in Morocco, and Hyatt hotels in three new countries: Algeria, Ethiopia, and Senegal.
Africa, and particularly East Africa, remains a focus for Hyatt with an increasingly favorable business climate and heightened tourism spend, encouraged by relaxed visa rules, travel incentives, and a growing middle class. Together these factors are shaping demand for diversified accommodations, ranging from full-service luxury destinations and select-service hotels. According to the UNWTO Tourism Highlights: 2018 Edition, international tourist arrivals in sub-Saharan Africa have grown by 5.8 percent from 2005 to 2017, which is well above the global average of 4.2 percent. Furthermore, the continent saw a sustained growth of 8.6 percent in international tourist arrivals last year.
Domestic travel is expected to grow due to the Single African Air Travel Market (SAATM) initiative that launched earlier this year. While UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2017 noted four out of 10 travelers in Africa originate from the region, this number is expected to grow with the SAATM initiative, therefore fueling demand for mid-market options in the continent’s bustling centers and regional hubs such as Nairobi, Lagos, Addis Ababa, and Johannesburg. Leveraging global flight reservation information, travel data company Forward Keys has stated long-haul international flights to Nairobi have grown by 8 percent as businesses take advantage of the recent multi-million dollar expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and newly announced routes from Amsterdam, Paris, London, and Accra.
Of Hyatt’s expected nine new hotels, five are market entries:
Algeria: Hyatt Regency Algiers Airport (expected to open in Q1 2019)
Ethiopia: Hyatt Regency Addis Ababa (expected to open Q4 2018)
Kenya: Hyatt Place Nairobi/Westlands and Hyatt House Nairobi/Westlands (expected to open in 2020)
Senegal: Hyatt Centric Dakar (expected to open in Q1 2019)
In Africa’s established markets, Hyatt is expanding its brand footprint in:
Cairo: Hyatt Regency Cairo West (expected to open in 2020) will mark the second Hyatt-branded hotel in Egypt and return of the Hyatt flag to Egypt’s capital
Morocco: Park Hyatt Marrakech (expected to open in 2020) and Hyatt Regency Taghazout (expected to open in Q3 2019) will represent the third and fourth Hyatt-branded hotels in Morocco
Tanzania: Hyatt Regency Arusha (expected to open in mid-2019) will mark the third Hyatt-branded hotel in the country
