the Rezidor Hotel Group announces, in a wave of new launches that sees the group expanding across Africa.
The Senegalese Park Inn hotel will bring the Rezidor group’s African hotel portfolio to 49 hotels across the continent, providing a total of 11,000 guest rooms (some of which are still under development).
The new Park Inn hotel will boast 122 guest bedrooms, a restaurant and bar, secure parking spaces, and a range of fitness facilities including a fitness centre and an outdoor swimming pool. The hotel will also offer almost 500 square metres of meeting space for business clients and functions.
Announcing the new development, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Rezidor Group, Kurt Ritter said: “Park Inn by Radisson is our young and dynamic mid-market brand, and we are delighted to introduce the brand to Senegal…Park Inn by Radisson offers colourful comfort, a hassle free stay, and great value for money. We see a promising growth potential for this brand across Africa where we now have 16 Park Inn by Radisson hotels in operation and under development and will further extend our network.”
The new hotel will enjoy a prime location in Dakar, situated in the exclusive Cité Tobago development park, mid-way between the capital’s international airport and the highway.
The Rezidor group already operates one other hotel in Dakar – the Radisson Blu hotel located on the beach front of the city. The company makes no secret of its hope to win over the Senegalese market, under the remit of its cluster strategy to develop a network of hotels spanning the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region.
Senegal has spent the past few decades trying to maximise its tourism sector; the country boasting a number of valuable tourist attractions. UNESCO named the former slave trading base Gorée Island a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1975, and the colonial town of Saint-Louis also draws in visitors. The country is home to numerous national parks and is renowned for its wonderful coastline. Senegal’s tourism industry created 133,500 jobs in 2011-12, accounting for 4.7 percent of total employment figures in the country. The tourism sector also provided a total contribution of 12.2 percent of the country’s GDP in 2011.
This new Park Inn by Radisson opening is a step in the group’s African expansion, with Rezidor having also promised the opening of two new hotels in Nairobi, Kenya by 2014.
