The RIU Hotels & Resorts chain plans to invest 150 million euros, which includes the purchase of the site and the development of the future hotels in Senegal.
RIU has already purchased a 25-hectare site in the Pointe Sarène area on Senegal’s west coast, a paradise destination that is in the midst of the tourist development process. The size of the site will allow two properties to be built, and it is being purchased within the framework of the chain’s partnership with SAPCO (Society for the Development and Promotion of the Senegal Coast and Tourist Zone). They are working in close collaboration to execute the project, which is currently in the draft planning stage and due to launch in November.
With it, the chain strengthens its commitment to the continent of Africa, where it already owns six hotels (five in Cape Verde and one in Tanzania) and runs a further five hotels in Morocco.
RIU’s project in Senegal will consist of two phases: in the first, a hotel in the Classic range will open, with around 500 rooms; and in the second, the chain aims to build a hotel in the Riu Palace range, with capacity for around 800 guests.
The local and tourist authorities’ intention to promote the destination was evident in the finalisation of the Blaise-Diagne international airport in 2017, which is 35 km from the site RIU has acquired, and of a highway that links it to the city of Dakar. To complement that highway and the hotel chain’s project, the construction of a bypass is underway that will link the highway to the new destination that is under development.
As well as hiring and training workers for the construction of the hotels, following their development RIU will create 300 jobs for the opening of each property, which entails a total of 600 new employment opportunities once both hotels have launched. In addition, as part of its commitment to sustainable development in the new establishments, the chain has already planned efficient construction of the first building in the destination.
