Marriott's Protea brand plans Botswana debut

Marriott's Potea Hotels brand keeps on growing. After launching in South Africa, the brand has expanded in recent years to Zambia, Nigeria, Namibia, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana. And now the company has signed a deal to open in Botswana, its ninth country. 

The new hotel, scheduled to open in early 2018, will be located in the capital city of Gaborone's central business district, close to corporate head offices, government offices and retail facilities. It is expected to have 160 rooms. 

“This latest development reflects our ongoing commitment to doing business in Africa,” Alex Kyriakidis, president and managing director, Middle East and Africa for Marriott International. Marriott International, the parent company of Protea Hotels, plans to open more than 93 hotels in the Middle East & Africa region between now and 2025, adding 19,000 additional rooms to the portfolio. This year alone, 17 new hotels will open in the region, adding close to 3,000 new rooms. In Africa alone, 10 new hotels are scheduled to open during 2016, bringing an additional 1,623 rooms to the market.

Kyriakidis said that thanks to its “prudent economic management and political stability,” Botswana is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and is classified by the World Bank as an upper-middle-income state. “With this sort of economic success and the positive outlook for the country, we certainly see strong value in this venture in Botswana,” Kyriakidis said.