Investor urges hotels to innovate

Kenya’s hospitality industry has to keep up with global trends to cater to a new generation of leisure lovers, according to an international hotel investor.

The sector has not invested substantially in developing new hotel and leisure concepts yet they present unique experiences and opportunities for holiday travellers across the globe, said Accor Hotels Middle East and Africa Chief executive, Mark Willis.

Concepts such as augmented hospitality and hotel residency could increase Kenya’s attraction and investments, he added.

“The lifestyle element of the hospitality sector has not been developed here and the dominant idea out there is that Kenya is only good for safari and not life in the hotel,” said Mr Willis at a meeting in Nairobi where he revealed the progress of the group’s new hotel in Nairobi.

“Kenya needs to position itself for this by investing heavily in support services and infrastructure in order to attract investors in the new niche.”

 Support

Willis said the firm’s future investments in the country will depend on the support of Government and other stakeholders for hoteliers to explore emerging leisure concepts.

“Kenya has so much to offer to the world, but because a lot has not been done to attract new niche players, our investment strategies have mainly been focused on our North Africa business,” he said.

“However, we are looking for like-minded partners to do more here.”

The firm’s Middle East and Africa Chief Commercial Officer Yigit Sezgin said they were looking to channel more resources to augmented hospitality concepts across its diverse portfolio.

“We are no longer just a hotel company but a full-scale travel and hospitality group,” he said.