We've chronicled Ethiopia's hospitality development trajectory before, here and here and here to name three separate instances. And yet still, spurring hotel development throughout the country and in its modern capital of Addis Ababa remains a priority. Now, according to this report, the country is encouraging investors via tax and land incentives and bank loan arrangements.
As All Africa writes: "Conferences in the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa have increased the demand for brand hotels bringing a huge chunk of foreign currency to the tourism economy. The city is home to the world's third highest concentration of embassies bringing the majority of the diplomatic missions into the country. Large global bases for NGO's, embassies and aid agencies also created massive market for the hotels."
According to a recent study by W Hospitality Group, the number of planned hotel rooms in Africa has risen to 64,000 in 365 hotels, up almost 30 percent on the previous year.
The increase is largely down to strong growth in sub-Saharan Africa, which is up 42.1 percent on 2015 and is significantly outstripping North Africa which achieved only a modest 7.5-percent pipeline increase this year.
RELATED: The Africa Hotel Investment Forum is October 4-6, at the Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Center, Kigali, Rwanda.
Trevor Ward, W Hospitality Group managing director, said: “The evidence from our survey is clear: Investors remain confident about the future of the hospitality industry on the continent. Even when pummelled daily by low commodity prices, exchange rate problems, political challenges and poor infrastructure, Africa remains resilient.”
Matthew Weihs, managing director of Bench Events, said: “Africa is still on the up. For business, trade and capital investment, the continent remains an attractive proposition, leading to continuing demand for accommodation and other hospitality services.”