AFRICA: Radisson Blu Is The Leading Individual Hotel Brand In Africa

Radisson Blu has for a second year in a row, secured the leading position as the hotel brand with the most hotels under development and the most hotel deals in its pipeline in Africa, according to the recently published 2019 W Hospitality Pipeline Report.

Radisson Blu, part of the Radisson Hotel Group™ took over as the fastest growing hotel brand in Africa last year and has for a second year claimed the title with the recent release of W Hospitality Pipeline Report 2019, the most authoritative source on the growth of the hotel industry in Africa.

The report has ranked Radisson Blu as the leading individual hotel brand with the highest number of hotel deals and within this pipeline, the largest number of rooms and proportion of its pipeline actually under construction, in Africa.

The Group's upper midscale brand, Park Inn by Radisson, has also entered the same top 10 brand list, securing the fifth position.

We are thrilled to see our flagship brand, Radisson Blu, continuing to lead the way in Africa with the most hotel deals signed and the most hotel rooms under construction, than any of the other 120 hotel brands it was ranked against.

This is a true testament of our agility as a hotel group, as we can move quickly from deal signing to hotel opening. As referenced in the report, we had several hotels which were signed and opened within the same year.

This is aligned with our development strategy, as we expect our future growth to arise from existing hotel take-overs and new build hotels.

With economic headwinds in some African markets, we have identified further opportunities to exploit our vast knowledge and experience in converting unbranded, underperforming hotels, offices or apartment buildings and re-position them to the right brand and market segment within the Radisson Hotel Group brand portfolio, says Andrew Mclachlan, Senior Vice President, Development, Sub-Saharan Africa, Radisson Hotel Group.

This growth has spiked Radisson Hotel Group's portfolio in Africa to 99 hotels (20,500+ rooms) in operation and under development across 32 countries.

We aim to add a further 12 hotels to our African portfolio this year, which will take us well over the 100 hotel mark by year end and confidently on our way to securing 130 hotels by the end of 2022.

Our five-year development strategy focuses on creating scaled hotel growth in key cities and resort locations across Africa.

With a focus on scaled growth in key locations across Africa, we can offer guests multiple hotels across different brands and market segments, at various price points and improved local hotel performance with strong local procurement and cluster select services in the same city.

Cape Town, Johannesburg and Lagos are our three gateway cities in sub-Saharan Africa where we aim to have scaled growth and an ambition of up to ten hotels within the same city.

Dakar, Abidjan, Douala, Luanda, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Addis Ababa are cities where we aim to have between three and five hotels due to the size of the economy, market, long-term fundamentals and supply and demand opportunities.

In addition, we are not ignoring the smaller cities and larger towns across Africa where we've identified potential to penetrate the market with either our midscale Park Inn by Radisson brand or upscale Radisson, concludes Mclachlan.

DR CONGO: Congo Airways To Start New Routes

This year will be a watershed year for Congo Airways’ expansion plans, says Desire Balazire, Director General of the airline.

The carrier launches services from Kinshasa to Johannesburg today (February 28), marking its international debut, after initially planning to launch these flights later this year on November 1.

The three weekly flights are operated by an Airbus A320-200, with 10 seats in business class and 150 in economy.

Congo Airways next plans to launch flights to Dubai, its first destination outside Africa.

These flights will be operated by a leased Airbus A330.

Later in the year, two more Airbus A320s will be added to its fleet, which presently comprises two Airbus A320s and two Bombardier Q400s, to support regional expansion.

Other destinations that Congo Airways is eyeing include Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Cotonou (Benin), Douala (Cameroon), Addis Ababa and Nairobi.



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NIGERIA: South African Airways Introduces Flights To Abuja

South African Airways (SAA) has introduced a second entry point to Nigeria in its quest to enable trade and unlock mobility, which will considerably add to business travel options in the West African region.

Adding a second gateway in Nigeria to SAA’s existing daily service to Lagos materially strengthens SAA’s position in West Africa. The addition of Abuja to SAA’s network follows closely on the successful introduction of the Accra, Ghana to Washington Dulles, USA route, as a West African platform in August 2015. SAA launched flights between Accra, Ghana and Washington DC in North America.

The introduction of the Accra to Washington route has seen a steady growth in the number of passengers using this route and has performed in line with expectations. This has provided SAA with the confidence to invest further and enhance its footprint in West Africa.

“Nigeria is one of the fastest growing air travel markets in Sub-Saharan Africa and will be well served with our additional services to Abuja. Introducing Abuja as a second entry point in Nigeria will add more travel options, especially for the business community, and will enhance our footprint on the continent,” says Sylvain Bosc, SAA Chief Commercial Officer.

Abuja, built in the 1980s, became Nigeria’s capital in December 1991, and is known for being one of the few purpose-built capital cities in Africa. With Abuja, SAA will be serving eight destinations in Central and West Africa, with flights from its Johannesburg hub to Lagos (Nigeria); Abidjan (Ivory Coast); Cotonou (Benin); Accra (Ghana); Douala (Cameroon), Dakar (Senegal) and Libreville (Gabon) already forming part of the extensive regional route network.

The three weekly flights will operate non-stop between Johannesburg and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja aboard modern Airbus 330-200s, offering SAA Business class comfort and luxury, with the latest in In-flight entertainment.

The first flight is scheduled to depart O.R Tambo International Airport on 26 January 2016. Flights are open for sale on all SAA’s distribution channels.

RWANDA: RwandAir To Open Mumbai Route

RwandAir will start flights to Mumbai, India later this years, John Mirenge, the chief executive officer, has said. Mirenge said the airline would start operating four flights to Mumbai per week in December 2016 flying its brand new A330-300 aircraft.

He said the national carrier has already appointed India's Bird Travel as the general sales agent as it prepares to launch the route.

"We want Bird Travel to position our brand by creating awareness about our products and services in this market," Mirenge noted.

He explained that the sales agent will act as the liaison point for the airline's sales development in India, providing ticketing and direct support services.

He added that Bird Travel, which is part of the Bird Group founded in 1971 as an aviation management company, use its vast experience to market RwandAir in the vast travel market presented by India.

The firm specialises in representing airlines and other travel and tourism partners majorly as sales agent for operations, and aviation management.

With over 40 years of experience and more than 45 offices supported by over 6,000 staff and an impressive clientele of over 500 top corporate companies, Praful Khosla, the Bird Travel executive vice-president, is confident RwandAir made a right choice.

"Bird Group is one of the largest and most diversified entities within the industry in the Indian sub-continent. We are therefore delighted to be associated with RwandAir as their exclusive sales agent in India," Khosla said, adding that they are optimistic about the partnership. RwandAir signed a purchase agreement with Airbus A300-200 and A330-300 last year as part of its expansion strategy to Europe and East Asia, including India.

The national carrier is IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certified, which guarantees its safety and airworthiness.

Sonia Kamikazi, the airline's corporate quality assurance manager, said the certification ensures the airline is competitive in the cutthroat aviation industry.

Currently, the airline flies to 17 destinations, including Nairobi, Entebbe, Mombasa, Bujumbura, Lusaka, Juba, Douala, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Johannesburg, Dubai, Lagos, Libreville and Brazzaville.

QATAR: Qatar Airways Expands To New Destinations

During the opening day of ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel fair, Qatar Airways announced its plans for 14 additional new destinations, including a new service between Doha and Auckland, which would become the world’s longest.

“Qatar Airways prides itself on being a global connector, and most importantly, providing seamless and convenient connections for our customers, so that we remain their airline of choice.” Qatar Airways GCEO Mr. Akbar Al Baker said in a statement. “Qatar Airways prides itself on being a global connector, and most importantly, providing seamless and convenient connections for our customers, so that we remain their airline of choice.” Al Baker said.

The carrier’s route portfolio will grow with five destinations in Europe (Pisa, Sarajevo, Helsinki, Nice and Skopje), six in Africa (Marrakech, Windhoek, Douala, Libreville, Lusaka and Seychelles), two to Southeast Asia (Krabi and Chiang Mai in Thailand) and Auckland in Southwest Pacific.

Qatar Airways’ announcement confirms the expansion plans of the carrier into Africa, competing directly with Kenya Airways and South African Airways, both of them reported heavy losses after the fall of prices in commodities and political unrest in the region.

RELATED: African Airlines Face Powerful Incomers

The introduction of the new destinations comes two years after the opening of Qatar Airways’ hub at Hamad International Airport in Doha. According to the airline, it currently serves more than 28 million passengers annually, and is set to grow up to 50 million in 2018.

This year, Qatar Airways started services to Los Angeles in January. It is expected to start flights to Boston in the next week and to Atlanta in June.

NIGERIA: Arik Air Introduces New Timings, More Baggage On Lagos-Johannesburg Route

Arik Air, Nigeria and West Africa’s largest carrier has introduced new summer timings on the Lagos- Johannesburg route. Additionally, the baggage allowance on the route has been increased for both Premier and Economy Class passengers.

With the new timings which came into effect on June 15, 2015, outbound daily flights now depart the MurtalaMuhammed International Airport, Lagos at 1:30 pm (local time) and arrive into the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg at 8:40 pm (local time). Inbound flights leave Johannesburg at 11:15 pm (local time) and arrive into Lagos at 4:30 am the next day.

For the new baggage allowance, Premier and Economy class passengers from Lagos to Johannesburg can carry three pieces of luggage each with Premier passengers allowed a maximum weight of 32kg per piece and Economy passengers 23kg per piece.

The advantage of the new timings is that it offers better connections from Arik Air’s regional and domestic points to Johannesburg. Abuja and Port Harcourt passengers have multiple daily connection options via Lagos to and from Johannesburg.

Similarly, the new timings offer Dakar, Banjul and Luanda passengers same day connections in both directions while passengers travelling to Cotonou and Douala via Lagos have same day connection off inbound Johannesburg flight.

The domestic and regional South African markets are also benefiting from the new timings as they can now connect same day to the Johannesburg-Lagos service.

Arik Air Executive Vice President/Managing Director, Mr Chris Ndulue commented on the new timings and increased baggage allowance:

“Times are changing for passengers flying from West to South Africa. Their request for better connecting times has now been addressed. We are a customer oriented airline and we go the extra mile to ensure that our guests have value for money.”

RWANDA: Rwanda Air To Route Flights To India And China Via Dubai

Information received from an aviation source in Dubai suggests that RwandAir, due to receive two Airbus A330 wide body aircraft next year, may consider routing the planned flights to Guangzhou and Mumbai via Dubai.

Plans by RwandAir to launch Mumbai flights, using a B737-800NG via Dar es Salaam, came to naught when the Tanzanian aviation regulators denied the airline fifth freedom rights, claiming their own national airline was planning to launch flights, a preposterous suggestion causing widespread amusement considering the moribund state of Air Tanzania.

The Airbus order however puts paid to that plan as RwandAir will be able to launch flights from Kigali directly to Mumbai, but given that the airline apparently holds fifth freedom rights out of Dubai, may it well be a viable option to route is East bound intercontinental flights via DXB and pick up additional traffic from there.

The source attributed the information to RwandAir’s Deputy CEO Mr. Jean-Paul Nyirubutama, who is in the UAE for the Dubai Air Show, where he reportedly spoke to the media.

To boost continental flights from across Africa, key to feeding traffic into their planned intercontinental services to China, India and Europe, will a further two Boeing B737-800NG SkyInterior be joining the fleet in 2016 as well, very likely staged to arrive prior to the two A330’s which are due in Kigali in September and December next year respectively. RwandAir presently serves the West African destinations of Brazzaville, Libreville, Douala, Lagos and Accra while in Southern Africa flying daily to Johannesburg, a flight which presently routes three times a week via Lusaka. In Eastern Africa does RwandAir serve Bujumbura, Entebbe, Juba, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Mombasa and, as a sole domestic destination, Kamembe in the south east of the country at the border to Congo.

Dubai is served daily too with three flights routing via Mombasa, where the airline again has fifth freedom rights in both directions.

TOGO: Nightlife In Lome

Items for sale at Lomé's famous Fetish Market

Togo's capital Lomé, chosen for the nightlife loving traveller wanting an introduction to West African music, culture and joy of life. And Lomé has its beaches and sights as well.

Nightlife in French speaking West Africa is one of the world's leading tourist attractions providing a memory for life. But which city to recommend?

Before we dive into Togo's coastal metropolis Lomé, let us say a few words about West African nightlife in general. In the non-Muslim part of the region, alcohol consumption is often high, attitudes are mostly liberal, music is load, happy and hypnotising, crowds are dense, animated and positive towards visitors, dancing is obligatory and you are bound to get to know people.

There is a small distinction between nightlife in Francophone and Anglophone West Africa, which however should not be exaggerated. While partying in the former British colonies focuses a bit more on intoxication, the French ex-colonies focus a bit more on the cultural setting, including dance and music. But both factors play a key role all over the region.

So, again, how to choose a good West African party city? There are many good candidates, although some are too unsafe for first-time visitors (Abidjan, Lagos, Douala and Yaoundé), while others are small or lacking sights (Libreville, Malabo and Cotonou). We must however mention two very good candidates: Douala and Accra.

Douala, the unpretentious but energetic largest city of Cameroon, still has the hottest nightlife in all West Africa. If you can live with high crime rates and a lack of major sights, Douala's Akwa, Deido and Bonapriso quarters at night will give you a party experience to remember the rest of your life.

In Anglophone West Africa, Ghana's capital Accra is the most vibrant and safest nightlife destination. From Thursday throughout Sunday, many of Accra's bars, clubs and restaurants present live music or just turn into party spots. Although Nigeria's Lagos may be even livelier and Sierra Leone's Freetown is starting to enter the competition, Accra by night remains a safer destination for visitors.

Among the predominantly Muslim cities of West Africa, Senegal's Dakar is an evergreen with lots of sights, which however has lost most of its earlier sparkling nightlife scene. Guinea's Conakry may be evolving into a new hotspot, but still has a way to go. Burkina Faso' Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso are rewarding.

Togolese capital Lomé is mostly a safe choice. Lomé has a friendly ambient and an astonishing density of African and international bars, clubs and restaurants. And it has maintained a strong sense of local culture, including original voodoo.

A smooth introduction to Lomé's nightlife may be the international scene, dominated by expatriates and upper class Togolese. Larger hotels often arrange beach parties and entertainment typically includes traditional dances, magicians and fire artists. This may provide you with a first glimpse of Togo, but it of course does not represent real life in the city.

After acclimatisation, start out in a neighbourhood dancing pub and move on to the lively African clubs in the city. The Rue de la Gare in the city centre is a good street to get to know genuine Togolese nightlife after midnight. More posh clubs are found in an around the Boulevard du 13 Janvier, the large centre by-pass road.

When moving around during night in the city centre, be careful to go in groups or using public transport. Take a taxi or use the cheaper taxis collectives (shared taxis). Lomé is not a crime hotspot, but robberies are a problem at night.

Lomé is also an exiting day-time destination and a perfect introduction to the African city. There are some remnants of colonial architecture, including a surprising Gothic style cathedral. The centre is colourful with narrow streets and markets. Modern African buildings along grand boulevards dominate the outer centre.

There are some truly exotic sights in the old centre of Lomé. These include the colourful and sometimes grotesque Fetish Market, where you will find everything you never knew you needed to make magic charms or heal any disease. The Lomé Marché des féticheurs indeed is the biggest of its kind and a meeting point for voodoo practitioners from the entire West African region.

Less exotic but equally colourful is the Grande Marche, the Great Market, occupying an entire block in the city centre. Apart from the very wide line of products offered by the market women - a sight in itself - the market is always full of life,including live performing music, dancing and magician groups. During daylight, it is a unique spot to experience West African culture, but the market should be avoided at night for security reasons.

Togo is a country with a narrow coastline, squeezed between Benin and Ghana and lying along the Lagos-Abidjan highway. This means that a stay in Togo easily can include trips to Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and/or Nigeria. If you want to compare Lomé's nightlife with competitors, a weekend in Ghana's capital Accra, with its many sights, is a very good option. Accra is located 200 kilometres west of Lomé, while Cotonou in Benin is located 150 kilometres east of Lomé.

This of course also means that you have a wider choice looking for flights to the area, as you can choose between the Lomé, Cotonou (mostly from Paris) or even Accra (easier from UK and US) flight connections. Accra typically has the cheapest transcontinental flights to the region.

Going to Togo, unfortunately you need to be aware of the political situation and you should do some research. The country is heavily politically polarised, and whenever there is an election, there is a great risk of violence. So do avoid travelling to Lomé during an election campaign or shortly after polls, and if you see demonstrators in the street, leave the scene as quickly as possible!

This said, Togo has successfully entered a democratisation and political reconciliation process, and trend is going towards ever calmer elections and political normality. The worst definitively seems to over.

Tourism still is very limited due to the country's recent political turbulence. Indeed, Lomé is among the least visited coastal cities of West Africa, giving it an even more authentic feeling, leaving the Togolese to especially welcome foreign travellers and keeping tourism related crime at a very low level.