Industry salutes Togo's best five-star hotel

The Radisson Blu Hotel 2 Février is the fruit of a private-public partnership between, the hotel developer, Groupe Kalyan; the management company, Carlson Rezidor; and the government of Togo. It took 18 months to develop and is the kind of project encouraged by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

The success in developing the hotel so quickly will form the basis of a case-study discussion at AHIF taking place on 21 and 22 June in Lomé. The session, entitled “Lessons from a hotel development success story”, will explore how a highly specified 320-room conference hotel was able to be completed in double-quick time in a market which has a reputation for slow infrastructure development progress. The panel will consist of all the main protagonists who will explain what they did to bring the project to fruition.

Matthew Weihs, managing director of Bench Events which organises AHIF, said: "This is a great example of how to get things done in the hotel sector and another good reason why people can be optimistic about investing in Africa. We welcome this hotel opening and of course its timing will provide a great focus for one of our many discussions at AHIF."

The new hotel fulfills many of the criteria set down by UNWTO which promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability.

Bernadette Essossimna Legzim-Balouki, Minister of Commerce, Industry, Private Sector and Tourism, Togo, said: “This new luxury hotel will give a much-needed boost to our country’s tourism industry which is already going from strength to strength.”

Ashok Gupta, Managing Director & CEO, Kalyan Hospitality Development Togo, said: “This is a landmark hotel development which marks a new era for Togo and we are proud that it was achieved through a successful collaboration with Togo’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Private Sector and Tourism.”

The AHIF conference will take place on 21 and 22 June at the new landmark Radisson Blu Hotel 2 Février in the capital. To see the full AHIF Togo programme, visit: www.africa-conference.com/togo/index.php/programme.