Radisson Targets 50% Expansion in West and Central Africa

Radisson Hotel Group is targeting a 50% expansion of its West and Central African portfolio, consisting of 29 hotels and over 5,000 rooms in operation and under development, building on the success of its expansion strategy in 2023. Within the past 12 months, the Group signed five new hotels, adding over 1,000 rooms to the region's portfolio.

These hotel signings included new market entries into The Gambia with Radisson Blu Beach Resort & Spa, Banjul and Radisson Hotel Benin City in Nigeria. In addition to the Radisson hotel in Benin City, the signing of Radisson Collection Hotel & Conference Center, Abuja; Radisson Blu Hotel, Abuja CBD and Radisson RED Lagos VI further strengthened the Group’s position as the market leaders in Nigeria, doubling the Group’s development pipeline in a year and expanding the portfolio in Nigeria to 12 hotels and over 1700 rooms.

Defining Radisson Hotel Group’s expansion strategy for West and Central Africa, Erwan Garnier, Senior Director, Development, Africa at Radisson Hotel Group said, “West and Central Africa has become increasingly important markets for our development across the continent. 2023 was a strong year for our expansion in the region and allowed us to further strengthen our leading position in Nigeria as well as enter a new market, The Gambia with our core brand Radisson Blu. It further demonstrates our ability to consistently deliver in key focus market while focusing on materializing the signing. Indeed 4 out 5 of the signings are already under active construction.”

Garnier added, “Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remain the six countries to develop this region with a clear strategy for city-wide growth in major African capitals, financial centers, and tourist destinations. In addition, we are focusing our efforts on large-scale expansion in eight proactive cities in West and Central Africa. These destinations are Abuja, Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, Dakar, Yaoundé, Douala, and Kinshasa. Our development strategy for West and Central Africa focuses on business hotels, resorts, serviced apartments, and mixed-use projects."

In 2023, the Radisson Hotel Group maintained its expansion momentum in Africa with eight new hotel signings, adding more than 1,600 rooms to its already robust portfolio on the continent. With this progress, the Group is well on track to achieving its objective of reaching 150 hotels in Africa over the next 5 years, up from its current count of 100 hotels.

Furthermore, over the past three years, Radisson Hotel Group has emerged as the fastest-growing hotel group in Africa, with 20 hotel openings across the continent. This remarkable achievement has set a record for the Group in terms of the realization of its pipeline into openings and has resulted in an impressive 15% annual growth on its African portfolio.