At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, large hotel chains curtailed their operations in Africa. The end of the pandemic brought new life to the tourism sector, renewing their interest in the continent. 

Marriott International, Accor, and Hilton are the three hotel brands with the highest number of planned hotels and rooms in Africa in 2023, according to the recently published “2023 Hotel Chain Development Pipelines in Africa.”

The report lists hotel projects under construction or with legally binding agreements signed in the first quarter of 2023  by international or continental hotel chains. It notes that the American chain Marriott International has the largest pipeline of projects on the continent with 22,776 rooms spread over 123 hotels.

The French group Accor comes second with 17,484 rooms (89 hotels) ahead of its American counterpart Hilton, which is involved in the development of 12,427 rooms spread over 67 hotels. They are followed by Radisson Hotel Group (5,572 rooms), InterContinental Hotels Group (4,268), Meliá Hotels & Resorts (1983), Kerten Hospitality (1,889), Hyatt Hotels & Resorts (1,792) and Wyndham (1,426). The Singaporean chain Ascott closes the Top 10 of the most active hotel groups in Africa this year, with a pipeline of 1,322 rooms.

When it comes to the number of hotels planned, Marriott International again tops the list, with 40 properties expected this year. Accor is second with 16 hotels, while Radisson Hotel Group and BWH Hotel Group are tied for third place with 8 openings planned for each chain, ahead of Hyatt Hotels & Resorts (5 hotels) and Hilton (4 hotels).

More upscale and upper-upscale chains planned  

The report also reveals that as of the first quarter of 2023, 45 international or regional hotel chains had projects to build 482 hotels and 84,427 rooms in 42 African countries. There were no hotels under construction or legally binding agreements to build hotels in 12 countries on the continent, including Mali, Gambia, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Burundi.

Sub-Saharan Africa has 307 hotel development projects totaling 47,750 rooms (+6%) compared with 175 projects with 36,677 rooms in North Africa (+4%). The breakdown of the 482 hotel development projects listed on the continent in the first quarter of 2023 by market segment shows a predominance of the upper-upscale (37.6% of the total projects) and upscale (34%) segments. The luxury segment accounts for 14.3% of total projects, compared with 10.8% for the upper-midscale segment, 2.8% for the midscale, and only 0.5% for the economy segment.

On the other hand, the ranking of countries where international or regional hotel chains had the most hotel development projects this year shows that Egypt is at the top of the list with 24,944 rooms spread over 103 hotels. This North African country, which attracted nearly 12 million tourists in 2022, is well ahead of Nigeria (6,772 rooms), Morocco (6,369), Ethiopia (6,129), Kenya (3,729), Cape Verde (3,660), Algeria (2,862), South Africa (2,768) and Senegal (2,650). Côte d'Ivoire closes the Top 10 with 2,445 rooms.