Protea Hotels, Africa’s largest hotel group continued to experience growth in 2009 with the opening of a series of new hotels throughout Africa.
2009 saw Protea Hotels celebrate its 25th anniversary with the group proving its status in the market though 5 recessions, by continuing to be the brand of choice with consumers both locally and internationally.
“We have a tremendous ability to adapt to change and having been around for 25 years have learnt valuable lessons from the changing South African landscape in every aspect – politically, economically and of course with evolution of the information age,” said Danny Bryer, Group Marketing and Revenue Director, Protea Hotel Group, “This adaptability and the ability to reinvent ourselves in relation to the demands of the economy and our guests means that we are confident in tourism in South Africa in spite of the current economic climate and look forward to booming growth well beyond the FIFA Football World Cup next year.”
Protea Hotels has added a number of hotels to its portfolio throughout South Africa including Protea Hotel Willow Lake, Protea Hotel Umhlanga Ridge, Protea Hotel Hilton and Protea Hotel OR Tambo which will be opening its doors in November 2009. To add to the new builds and acquisitions, Protea Hotel Fire & Ice has undergone a major expansion and is set to be a highly talked about property in the group. Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! - Melrose Arch will be ready in the popular Johannesburg precinct in the first quarter of 2009. In terms of Africa; Nigeria continues to be a country of strategic growth and value to Protea Hotels with a collection of hotels in the bustling cities of Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt. On the back of this growth, two new hotels namely Protea Hotel Ikeja and Protea Hotel Ikoyi Westwood have recently been opened which brings the total number of hotels in Nigeria to eleven. This growth continues into Namibia with the 4-star Protea Hotel Moon Mountain Lodge en-route to Sossusvlei, Namibia which opened in October. All these properties form a part of Protea Hotel’s strategic ongoing development for 2010 and beyond.
