Marriott International has announced rapid expansion plans across Africa, driven by strong demand for select-service brands and conversion opportunities. The new signings will further consolidate Marriott’s presence in Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa and mark the company’s entry into Mozambique. The signings put Marriott International on track to increase its portfolio by 50 percent with over 200 hotels and 38,000 rooms by 2023 estimated to generate 12,000 new job opportunities. Recent conversions to the company’s brands include Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi, Hurlingham, Four Points by Sheraton Arusha, The Arusha Hotel, Tanzania and the Mena House, Cairo which joined the Marriott Hotels and Resorts global brand portfolio earlier this year. Amongst new conversion deals, Marriott International has signed the Marriott Marrakech Hotel in Morocco. With over 360 rooms, the hotel is slated to be rebranded in 2020. Marriott has signed two new hotels under the Protea Hotels by Marriott brand including Protea Hotel by Marriott Accra Kotoka Airport, Ghana and Protea Hotel by Marriott Nairobi, Kenya. Protea Hotel by Marriott Accra Kotoka Airport will be a 200-room hotel strategically located in the prestigious airport residential area of Accra offering a restaurant, a lobby bar and lounge. Expected to open in 2021, the 250-room Protea Hotel by Marriott Nairobi will be located on Mombasa Road, about 5 km from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Earlier this year, Marriott International signed Protea Hotel by Marriott Pretoria Loftus Park, South Africa, which is slated to open later this year. The company also signed Four Points by Sheraton Nampula, Mozambique, which will be its first hotel in the country. The 185-room hotel which is expected to open in 2023, is part of a mixed-use development. Later this year, Marriott International will debut the AC by Marriott brand into Africa with the opening of the 188-room AC by Marriott Cape Town, Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa. The company has also signed its second AC by Marriott hotel in Africa, 205-room AC by Marriott Umhlanga Ridge, Kwazulu Natal, Durban, slated to open in 2023. The company expects to introduce some of its other well-known select-service brands like Aloft Hotels, Element, Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott with hotels already under development. It is also looking for opportunities to bring Fairfield by Marriott to the continent. Marriott is enjoying a strong year of expansion in Africa, which includes its first hotel in Mali - Sheraton Bamako - and the first Marriott Hotel in Accra. It also debuted the Protea Hotel by Marriott brand in North Africa with the opening of Protea Hotel by Marriott Constantine. Today, Marriott International is present in 21 countries in Africa with plans to expand into Benin, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal. Based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Marriott International has a portfolio of more than 6,700 properties in 30 leading hotel brands spanning 130 countries and territories.

#Marriott #HospitalityandTourism