Protea Hotels expands further into Africa

The deal was agreed between Protea Hotels, a member of Marriott International, and its local partner in the country.

Karim Cheltout, Patrick Bitature, Alex Kyriakidis, Stuart Cook, Jarrett Swersky

The current pipeline includes an additional 91 hotels in the Middle East and Africa region set to open by 2020. This will add more than 18,000 rooms to market, and bring Marriott hotels into eight new countries. In 2016, ten new hotels will open in Africa, with most placed in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Africa is important to Marriott International’s strategy because of its rapid economic growth, growing middle-class and youth population, as well as the increase of international flights into the continent,” says Alex Kyriakidis, president, Middle East & Africa for Marriott International.

Impressive economic expansion

The East African region in general has seen impressive economic expansion – significantly higher than global figures – and with its newly discovered oil deposits soon to be commercially exploited, Uganda in particular offers great prospects for the future.

According to Stuart Cook, MD of Protea Hotels Uganda, which will own the hotels, “The two new developments in Kampala are a symbol of our strong commitment to the continued economic development of Uganda.The tourism sector is one of the government’s key focus areas of growth; the two new hotels will directly create over five hundred new jobs and, with our close links to the Makerere University Business School’s Hospitality Management Program, continue to identify and develop the next generation of industry leaders through our experiential training programmes.”

Work under way

The Protea Hotel Naguru Skyz and the Protea Hotel Pinnacle are both situated in Kampala’s affluent suburb of Naguru, an area popular for both upmarket residential and commercial property which has become a sought-after location for company headquarters and diplomatic missions in recent years.

Artist impression of Protea Hotel Naguru Skyz, Kampala, Uganda

Work on the Protea Hotel Naguru Skyz is already under way, and the hotel is scheduled to open in July this year. An early 2018 opening is targeted for the Protea Hotel Pinnacle.

“The development of the two new hotels comes at a time when Kampala is ripe for the expansion of its hotel sector; the last hotel development dates back to 2007,” says Kyriakidis. “The demand for additional, quality accommodation establishments is evident in the high occupancy levels experienced by existing hotels and the consistently high average room rates.”