August 29 2024
AFRICA
The Africa Property Investment (API) Summit will take place in the Mother City for the first time on September 19 and 20 this year. It’s fitting that the most influential gathering of real estate leaders in Africa comes to Cape Town, a tourist hub in many ways for South Africa.
The API Summit, which is in its 15th year, will bring the best in real estate talent from across the continent together. Established as Africa’s most influential gathering of property investors, developers, innovators and leaders, this year’s forum includes the Africa Proptech Forum and API Hospitality, Hotels and Residences Forum and will take place at the prestigious Westin Hotel.
The API Hospitality, Hotels and Residences Forum is a unique pan-African platform. Sponsored by Radisson Hotel Group, Marriott Hotels, HTI Consulting, JLL, and Tui Blu, the forum offers an exceptional platform for doing business in African hospitality.
The forum is well-timed as analysts have found that business and leisure travel have surpassed pre-pandemic levels in key markets across the continent. If visitors are not clinching deals in Nairobi, Port Louis, Harare, Lagos or beyond, they’re queuing up at Zanzibar’s beaches. The second largest continent in the world with the youngest population is in vogue.
CEO of HTI Consulting, Wayne Troughton, a speaker at the API Hospitality, Hotels and Residences Forum, explains that certain markets are truly flying.
“It’s really pleasing that a number of hotel markets are looking especially strong and have fully recovered from the pandemic. Just look at Cape Town, which is performing at better than 2019 levels,” he says.
It bodes well for the continent that it offers a variety of markets for leisure and business travel. The API Summit will highlight these successes and strategies to get more momentum into certain markets at the API Hospitality Forum.
Cape Town’s 5-star hotel market is thriving. Pent-up demand remains following the Covid-19 lockdown across 2020 and 2022. Tourists from Germany, the UK and the US have chosen Cape Town as a desired destination to visit. Well-heeled African holidaymakers are also drawn to the Mother City.
“It’s taking time to work through the demand. Cape Town is a destination city for many. Investment and marketing has helped in recent years. We see that many air routes are back up. There are more direct flights now and the market has worked through those airlines which went by the wayside,” says Troughton.
“Seasonality is also becoming far less of an issue for Cape Town. Our typical season used to be October to March, taking in the end of spring and summer. Now the season is mid-August to May,” says Trouighton.
Different people visit from different parts of the world now, often during their winters. Repeat visitors also choose to come at different times. A person might come in busy Cape Town summer on their first visit and then in the city’s autumn on their second.
“Cape Town is facing a shortage of hotels. There is significant potential in the luxury leisure segment to build luxury hotels in the Atlantic Seaboard,” says Troughton.
Cape Town has a handful of luxury hotels and it is proving difficult to enter the market. The V&A dominates the Waterfront area which houses the stunning The Silo Hotel. It will take some smart minds to clinch a deal to bring a new luxury hotel to the city. Rob Kane, who is the CEO of Boxwood Property Fund and the chairman of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) says while office vacancies in the Cape Town CBD have plummeted with an assortment of businesses wanting to operate in the city, a number of large and multinational hotel groups have enquired about space in the city for new hotels.
The Westin Hotel itself remains a top-class 5-star hotel and conferencing venue. it stands out as the destination of choice for the API Summit in 2024.
South Africa’s airport node is also having a stellar 2024. Hotels near OR Tambo International are attracting an assortment of business and corporate travellers. These include travellers from across the world. African travellers who want to splurge are also enjoying luxury holidays in the continent’s most gorgeous spaces.
Durban’s Umhlanga and north coast are very popular, especially with business travellers as the city pushes developments under new mayor, Cyril Xaba
In terms of super luxury travel, Zanzibar stands out as a new destination of choice, Troughton explains, with the archipelago seeing staggering tourist growth. Zanzibar enjoyed a 16.4% surge in international visitors in 2023, welcoming a record 638 498 tourists. In 2022, Zanzibar attracted 548 503 international visitors. this is according to the country’s annual tourist arrivals report. Most visitors were French, followed by Polish, German and Italian tourists.
Other popular island spots in 2024 and 2023 include Mauritius and the Seychelles. In the likes of Kenya, corporate accommodation has also regained demand with the largest economy in east Africa having recovered from the pandemic. Eleni Georgopoulou, founder of YourHost which rents out luxury accommodation in Kenya says tourists and business travellers are returning to the country in droves. Airport and apartment hotels and game lodges are back in fashion in Kenya and also Tanzania, whose government’s pro-business stnace is being celebrated. Troughton says the Ghanaian hotel market has also surprised this year and is facing a shortage of rooms.
Daniel Trappler, senior director for development sub-Saharan Africa at Radisson Hotel Group (RHG), who is also speaking at the API Summit says RHG has also recognised similar trends in key markets. .
“RHG plans to capitalise on growth opportunities in key value nodes such as Cape Town, Victoria Falls, Zanzibar, and leisure offerings in the coastal and safari segments across Southern and Eastern Africa. Within these nodes lies the opportunity to increase RHG branded supply to meet the obvious growing demand,” he says.
RHG is eager to expand its footprint in Cape Town’s 5-star and luxury segments, which have consistently performed above the market average despite higher rates. In Victoria Falls, RHG wants to replicate the success of its Zambezi River’s Zambia side, planning to introduce the Radisson brand to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
“We are actively seeking partners to bring our Radisson, Radisson Blu, or Radisson Collection brands to Zanzibar, given RHG’s significant presence in Eastern Europe, the largest source market for Zanzibar,” Trappler says.
Since opening its Radisson Safari Hotel Hoedspruit, RHG has set its sights on replicating the same model within Southern and Eastern Africa, capturing both the foreign market and the regional market, which prefers short travel distances for tourism.
“The group is developing resort offerings in various safari and coastal locations, including Masai Mara, Serengeti, the Kenyan coast, Seychelles, Mauritius and the wildlife territories in Namibia and Botswana,” Trappler says.
Fabio Nava, director for Advisory and Transactions at CBRE Excellerate, Africa stresses the importance of tourism on our continent.
“The resurgence of tourism across Africa is more than just a recovery, it’s a pivotal moment to redefine the hospitality and real estate sectors. As international arrivals approach pre-pandemic levels, the demand for innovative partnerships and strategic investments is paramount,” he says.
“At CBRE Excellerate, we are witnessing growth across various regions of the continent, supported by the collaboration of consultants like ourselves, financiers, investors, hotel operators, brands, and contractors to name a few. New developments and re-developments not only meet the rising demand but also drive sustainable economic progress,” he says.
The API Summit represents a unique opportunity to reconnect and establish networks with more than 550 investors, developers, and prominent figures in real estate from thirty plus African and international countries. The event promises exclusive and valuable networking experiences, including the API Summit Cocktail Party and the API Networking & IFC EDGE Champions Dinner.
This year’s summit will serve as a platform for more than 100 speakers over the course of two days. Speakers include entrepreneurs, business leaders, top financial institutions, developers, operator, facilities support and other groups. There are expected to be more than 250 hospitality delegates and in excess of 75 hotel brands, operators and owners, at the conference.
One of these speakers is Bani Haddad, founder and managing director of Aleph Hospitality, which is the largest independent hotel management company in the Middle East and Africa.
“The pandemic had several profound effects on the tourism sector,” Haddad says.
“One of the most noticeable impacts has been the increased desire among travellers for domestic or regional trips, as well as nature-based or less crowded destinations. Africa is uniquely positioned to benefit from these trends,” he says.
Citing a Chain Development Pipeline report by consultancy W Hospitality, Haddad said there was a 20% growth in the number of hotel rooms in Africa since 2020, reaching a total of 92,134 rooms.
“This growth indicates that the supply is expanding across the continent to meet the rising demand. We are also witnessing an increase in the quality and branded hotel supply in resort destinations such as Zanzibar and national parks like Serengeti and Mara. The global demand for nature and experiential experiences presents a significant opportunity for Africa, which has much to offer in this regard,” he said.
“Investing in and fostering partnerships within the tourism sector is not just beneficial but essential for unlocking its full potential in Africa,” he said.
The summit is themed “Impact”, and industry leaders speaking at the API Hospitality and Residences Forum highlight the key to unlocking the full potential of Africa’s tourism sector to foster sustainable growth and enhance the continent’s appeal to both travellers and investors. The future of this continent’s burgeoning real estate sector beckons.
Partner content for the API Summit.
alistair@propertyflash.co.za
With over 500 leaders expected to attend the summit, including the API Hospitality & Residences Forum is the premier gathering of Africa’s leading hospitality professions and consultants.
