EUROPEAN hotel operator Kempinski has confirmed that it will no longer be managing its two Tanzanian properties as of July 31.
A statement from the group, which has recently seen changes in several key senior positions, read: ‘Kilimanjaro Hotel Kempinski and Bilila Lodge Kempinski will cease to be managed by Kempinski Hotels as of July 31, 2011. Following that date, the two properties will continue to be operated as international luxury hotels’.
Ulrich Eckhardt, Kempinski’s regional president for the Middle East and Africa, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and thanks to ASB Tanzania for the relationship we have enjoyed in these two international luxury hotels throughout the past five years and we wish them success with the two properties for the future.
“As one era ends another begins,” added Eckhardt, “as we have four openings planned for 2011 in the Middle East and Africa region.”
The Kempinski Hotel & Residences Palm Jumeirah will be the group’s first beach property in Dubai. The Kempinski Resort Seychelles at Baie Lazare on the idyllic island of Mahé is scheduled to open in November. A major project in Namibia sees the acquisition of the Midgard Country Estate, following the takeover of Kempinski Mokuti Lodge in 2008, in addition to the Kempinski Hotel City Centre Manama, Bahrain, which is scheduled to open in September.
The eagerly awaited entry by Kempinski Hotels into Lebanon takes place in 2012 with the Summerland Kempinski, Beirut and Kempinski Residences Alabadiyah Hills. Additional openings during 2012 are Kempinski Al Othman Hotel, Al Khobar, in Saudi Arabia to be joined during the course of the year by the Kempinski Hotel Riyadh and the Kempinski Hotel Jeddah, in addition to Kempinski Hotel Accra which will further strengthen Kempinski’s profile in the Africa region.
Scheduled for openings in 2013 are the Kempinski Hotel The Wave in Muscat, marking the group’s entry into Oman, and a second hotel in Egypt’s capital Cairo, the Kempinski Hotel, Royal Maxim to join the Kempinski Nile Hotel.
The group has also entered into management agreements for properties in Namibia, Qatar and Syria and the brand will soon expand into various other African destinations such as Nairobi, Kenya, Cameroon and Mozabique.