MARRIOTT International has signed an agreement with Sunshine Construction to manage its first two hotels in Ethiopia – a Marriott Executive Apartments for extended stay travellers, and a Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Both will be located in Addis Ababa and are scheduled to open in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Marking the company’s entry into the East African country and a major milestone in its aggressive growth plans for Africa, the new hotels will bring the total number of announced properties joining Marriott International’s Africa portfolio by 2017 to 21. Alex Kyriakidis, president and managing director of Marriott International Middle East and Africa, added that the company will need to recruit more than 2,000 staff over the next five years in order to meet the needs of its portfolio of hotels in Africa. The company also said it will focus its growth on Benin, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and Rwanda, with a number of new properties scheduled to open over the next five years.
“We are thrilled by the robust expansion of our African hotel portfolio,” said Kyriakidis. “Africa remains a key market for tourism because of its increasing economic dynamism and worldwide exposure created by the 2010 Fifa Football World Cup in South Africa. In fact international arrivals increased by 72 per cent (two million) in Sub Saharan Africa in 2011, bringing the total number of visitors to Africa to 50 million. These figures indicate further growth potential for the hotel industry, and with these signings and more to come in 2012, Marriott International will be perfectly placed to accommodate the increasing number of visitors to Africa.”
“Having our popular Marriott Executive Apartments and Courtyard by Marriott brands in Ethiopia will bring us a step closer to our strategy to lead in Africa with our diverse portfolio of full-service brands,” he added.