Protea Hotels has announced that in addition to Protea Hotel Kampala, which is about to open its doors, the group will also be adding a second hotel in Entebbe, Uganda. Situated close to Kampala, Entebbe is on the shores of Lake Victoria, ideally located to cater for both the business and leisure market and will ultimately double Protea's offering in this African country. "Uganda has a growing economy and is forging a place within the geo-tourism sector, competing with its East African counterparts that have traditionally dominated the tourism sector," explained Aart van der Heijden, Protea Hotels Regional Director.

The hotel, which is part of Protea's aggressive African expansion programme, will be developed in two phases. The first phase, consisting of 195 rooms, is scheduled to open ahead of the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting in November this year. The second phase is planned for completion nearing the early half of 2008 and will consist of 600 rooms, bringing the hotels' total capacity to almost 800 GUESTS.

The hotel will include a public swimming pool and entertainment complex, helicopter landing pad and botanical gardens. In addition to this, the hotel will also have a conference centre with facilities to cater for up to 5 000 delegates with associated parking facilities and restaurants and the public food court with outsourced restaurants. "The conference centre is expected to attract both local and regional conferences, with delegates from throughout Africa and the world, especially considering the hotels' proximity to the capital city, Kampala," concluded Van der Heijden.