Ethiopia once again heads the league for hotel development in East Africa, according to a report from the influential annual hotel pipeline survey by Lagos-based W Hospitality Group.

Details of the survey, which covers the whole of the African continent, will be one of the key discussions at the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF), which will be held in Nairobi on 2-4 October 2018. Ethiopia has 3,433 hotel rooms under construction. As the other big player in the region, Kenya has 2,754 while Tanzania has 1,344. Rwanda has 457 and Uganda 447. Accor is among the chains focusing heavily on East Africa, including Ethiopia, doubling the number of hotels in its development pipeline in in the region, and achieving a 66% growth in the number of rooms signed.

Hilton is deploying part of its US$50 million Hilton Africa Growth Initiative to help fund growth in the region, converting hotels to its DoubleTree and other brands, and it has seen a 51% growth in its pipeline. Government incentives, alongside international conferences and global bases for NGOs, embassies and aid agencies have all fuelled hotel growth in Addis. In addition to the upcoming branded supply in Addis, there is a large stock of unbranded rooms under construction – but many are stalled, looking for investors to help finish them. The hotel development pipeline in Ethiopia is almost 50% up on last year’s strong figures, with Addis Ababa accounting for 86% of the total, almost 5,000 rooms in 25 hotels. There is also planned expansion in Awassa, Bahir Dar, Bishoftu, Gondar, Hawassa and Langano.

This year’s pipeline report, now in its 10th edition, has 41 contributors, reporting 418 deals with over 100 brands across Africa. YoY performance for Africa as a whole in 2018 shows growth.

The W Hospitality Group specializes in the provision of advisory services to the hotel, tourism and leisure industries, providing a range of services to clients who have investments in the sector.

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