info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
Image from HuffPost
From luxury wildlife camps to island resorts to conference hotels, the African hospitality industry is booming.
Average hotel occupancy levels throughout Africa rose to 61% in 2018, up from 58% in the previous year, according to data provider STR Global.
This was primarily driven by North Africa, where occupancy levels rose by six percentage points in 2018.
In contrast to the volatility of many North African markets, hotels across sub-Saharan Africa exhibited a more stable performance with average occupancy levels unchanged in 2018 at 60%. The sub-Saharan region also records consistently stronger room rates than in North Africa and in 2018 they stood at US$127 compared with just US$91.
From a supply standpoint, North Africa has the largest proportion of hotel keys within the continent, followed by Southern and Eastern Africa. Looking at the development pipeline, the projects that have broken ground account for only 5% of the existing supply, which is limited in relation to more mature markets and suggests that there is significant room for further development.
On a country level, Mauritius and the Seychelles were 2018's top performing markets in terms of both occupancy and room rates. Both markets are dominated by luxury resorts, and have been relatively immune to the security concerns that have impacted resort locations elsewhere in Africa.
The two islands are expected to remain the continent's top performing markets in the short to medium term, and as a result have been an increasingly popular target for hotel investment.
The Seychelles continue to be the beneficiary of increasing interest from Gulf countries, most notably seen with the recent acquisition of the Banyan Tree by a UAE-based entity. This GCC led investment is a phenomenon that is not specific to the Seychelles, but is also the case within many hospitality hotspots across the continent within Morocco, Egypt and emerging locations in sub-Saharan Africa.
A surge in demand for luxury ecotourism experiences is also driving investment into the sub-Saharan safari destinations, both from private individuals and high-end chains.
Meanwhile, increasing intra-regional and international trade flows are boosting demand from business traveller and conference organisers. The Hilton group, for example, has announced plans to double its presence in Africa within five years.
