Meeting woos hotel investors to Africa

A two-day Africa Hotel Investment Forum kicked off in Nairobi on Tuesday with participants hoping to tap in foreign direct investment from the tourism industry.Speaking during the official opening, Kenya’s Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said the East African nation has invested heavily in tourism marketing and product diversification in a bid to sustain her glory as a preferred world-class tourism destination.”To support our tourism, huge investments have been made in the hospitality sector especially in the last one decade. Top notch international hotel brands are now joining in non-traditional accommodation facilities such as villas, homestays, eco-lodges and Golf Resorts,” Musyoka told the investors. He called on investors in the hospitality industry to take advantage of the abundant opportunities in the country and the rest of Africa which he said “promise assured profitability”.Kenya’s 2011 tourist arrivals rose by 15.4 percent to 1.26 million in 2011 compared to 1.09 million in the same period in 2010. Cross border arrivals estimates reached 520,246, bringing total arrivals for the year to 1.78 million. Tourism earned the East Africa’s biggest economy 1.18 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 compared to 896 million dollars in 2010, making it one of the country’s top sources of foreign exchange.Musyoka told the conference which brings together leading international investors in hotel, finance, economic and construction among other key sectors not to shy away from investing in Africa which now provides the fastest growing economies of the world.He noted that besides the traditional Western Europe markets, the country has managed to court new ones in Far and Middle East, Australia, Canada, Latin America and Africa. On other products, Musyoka said Kenya no longer solely depends on beach and safari tourism but has developed niche products such as Eco-tourism, adventure and sports tourism. “Sports tourism in particular has won Kenya recognition as one of the upcoming global golf tourism destinations. This is what has led to development of Golf Resorts and Holiday homes that involve considerable amounts of investments,” he added.Musyoka added that conference tourism has not only made Nairobi the third-ranked sector destination in Africa after Cape Town and Cairo, but also has also ensured that the country hosts international and local conferences in major cities. The Vice President noted that last year tourism recorded 1.8 million arrivals accounting for 11 per cent growth over 2010.Africa is increasingly being viewed as an emerging investment destination and crucial growth market. Entering emerging markets remains a crucial growth strategy for companies in a range of sectors, as growth in more mature markets remains flat, however the lack of transparency around these markets makes many firms wary. Xinhua