Johannesburg - Construction has begun on the $20 million (R314m) 147-room City Lodge Hotel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the JSE-listed hotel group.
The development forms part of the City Lodge Hotels Group’s R1 billion expansion into Africa.
Read: City Lodge expands into Africa
Clifford Ross, the chief executive of the City Lodge Hotel Group, said yesterday that there had been some regulatory delays in starting construction in Dar es Salaam, which were caused partly by cabinet portfolio changes after Tanzania’s general election.
But Ross said the group was now happy to be getting under way with the project, which would add significantly to the group’s east African footprint.
Construction was progressing well at the group’s 169-room City Lodge Hotel Two Rivers in Nairobi, while construction would commence in June on the Town Lodge Windhoek in Namibia.
He said the City Lodge Hotel Dar es Salaam was expected to open in the fourth quarter of next year and would be the group’s fourth hotel in East Africa.
Progress
Ross said good progress was being made with the development of City Lodge Hotel Two Rivers in Nairobi with the building about 25 percent complete. “This hotel is on track to open to guests in the second quarter of next year.”
City Lodge Hotel Dar es Salaam will be the group’s fifth hotel outside of South Africa.
The group’s initial expansion into Africa involved the planned opening of five new hotels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Namibia by the end of next year.
Ross said construction of the 151-room Town Lodge Windhoek had been slightly delayed as the builders were waiting for the completion of the basement above which the hotel would be constructed.
Ross said the group was still waiting for the remaining regulatory approvals for the development of the 148-room City Lodge Hotel Maputo in Mozambique, but still hoped to be able to open this hotel in the third or fourth quarter of next year.
Ross said the group was still examining other expansion opportunities in South Africa, as well as east and southern Africa.
BUSINESS REPORT