The Radisson hotel group is now eyeing Côte d’Ivoire, which has become its main target in French-speaking Africa. At the meeting of the CITHA, a conference dedicated to tourist and hotel investment in Africa held on June 26 in Abidjan, Erwin Garnier, the group’s director of development – sub-Saharan Africa, raised a corner of sailing on the group’s ambitions in the region. Francophone Africa region.
Two years after the opening of Radisson Airport Abidjan, a 5-star hotel with 240 rooms, its first project in Ivory Coast, the global hospitality giant is clearly satisfied with its investment to build on new projects in Abidjan but also inside the country.
First act of this growing interest, the commitment of the group in a second hotel project launched on June 25 by the Moroccan group Palmeraie. Located on the Boulevard de la République, the main artery of the Plateau, the business center of the Ivorian capital, the “Radisson Hotel & Apartments Abidjan Plateau” is a 27-storey building that will be operational in mid-2021.
“This is a hotel that will make 152 rooms and 4-star apartments with amenities including a rooftop restaurant with panoramic views and a conference center of 1,000 square meters that will become in my opinion, the leader in the market Plateau Said Afrik Erwan Garnier, the Radisson Group’s Director of Development, Sub-Saharan Africa.
Cocody, Zone 4, Marcory, Yamoussoukro and San Pedro
Beyond, the group seeks to develop 3 to 5 other hotels in the city of Abidjan under its different brands. “On Marcory we want to develop” Park In by Radisson “, our premium midrange brand. In Zone 4, we want to develop “Radisson Red” which is our high-end lifestyle brand. And on Cocody we are looking to implement our luxury brand “Radisson Collection”, added Erwan Garnier.
In addition, still in the district of Plateau, the Radisson group “intends to develop the brand Park In By Radisson and potentially the brand Radisson Red”.
“These brands have different positions and markets. So in fact they will be totally complementary and not at all in competition, “he notes.
“There is a real need in Plateau, according to E. Garnier. You see that today the “products” are a little deteriorated and you do not have large conference centers. When people want to organize a big conference, they go from Plateau to Hotel Ivoire and it takes half an hour if everything goes well. Our goal, with the current project, is to offer this conference service in the very heart of the Plateau “.
In the interior of the country, the hotel group “looks very closely Yamoussoukro to open a Radisson and also aims San Pedro for a Park In By Radisson”
Ivory Coast, a priority market
“Our priority markets in French-speaking Africa are Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon and Mauritius. But Côte d’Ivoire is a particularly interesting target, particularly because the country has the fastest growth in Francophone Africa and is one of the most dynamic economies on the continent. ”
In terms of strategies, the target group “flagship cities, capitals or financial hubs on Francophone Africa” with “several brands in the same city precisely to facilitate synergies”. An approach that Radisson intends to apply to Abidjan, but also to Dakar and Douala.
Present in 30 countries on the continent with a portfolio of 86 hotels representing 18,000 rooms, Radisson is the fastest growing hotel group in Africa. By 2022, the firm intends to increase its African network to 130 hotels through a multibrand development (8 brands in total) in the main cities of the region.
