City Lodge plans expansion into Africa

Johannesburg-listed City Lodge Hotels Group is spending about N$1 billion on further expansion in east and southern Africa, its chief executive said on Tuesday, as it seeks to cater for both the business and tourist markets there.The owner of the Town Lodge, Road Lodge and City Lodge brands among others, is targeting capitals in the expanding economies in East Africa and consolidating its presence in southern Africa, but plans to avoid Nigeria for now, the continent's biggest economy, where it previously suffered setbacks.Namibian Sun had previously reported that City Lodges' first Namibian establishment would be complete by July. “In Windhoek, handover of the completed basement above which our 150-room Town Lodge Windhoek is being built took place at the end of July. This hotel is expected to open in July 2017. Final approvals are still being sought for the development of the 148-room City Lodge Hotel Maputo in Mozambique. It is hoped that construction will commence in the current quarter for completion in the first quarter of 2018,” City Lodges said in a response.“The strategy is to go into a number of the major East African capitals to start off with, and then the longer-term strategy is to find other opportunities for other brands within the group within these countries,” chief executive Clifford Ross told Reuters.City Lodge currently has two hotels in Nairobi, where it saw slightly higher occupancies for the six-months ended December, under its Fairview brand and Town Lodge brand, and is currently building a 172-room hotel there.The group is also building hotels in Tanzania, Mozambique and Namibia, while Uganda is another country which is “still very high on our radar” Ross said. The group last year dropped plans to build a hotel in Uganda because it was deemed to be too expensive.The group, which reported a 5% jump in revenue to N$791.3 million in the six months ended December, said it was also aiming to invest in the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.“We've recently been to Mauritius and we also believe that there is an opportunity in Port Louis or Ebene, the Cyber city,” said Ross. “There is a big business community, we believe there is a market there for our products and we would very much like to be there.”MONEYWEB

City Lodge plans expansion into Africa

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-19

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City Lodge plans expansion into Africa

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-19

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