Cape Town - The Culemborg Node, a vast tract of under-utilised land close to the Foreshore, will soon benefit from a multi-billion rand investment by one of the world’s biggest hotel groups.
The investment will create thousands of jobs and boost Cape Town’s attractiveness to tourists and investors.
To be called Harbour Arch, it will be one of three sites being developed by Marriott International comprising three new hotels for R2 billion.
The construction phase is set to create 8 000 jobs.
Chairman of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), Rob Kane, said one of the areas to be developed had long been seen as a “no man’s land”.
“We, of course, welcome the many construction jobs that will be created, but even more importantly the permanent job opportunities that will be added to the Cape Town, and more specifically, the central city economy.
“It will certainly boost visitor numbers in general to the central city, but in particular it will support the expansion of the convention centre, which brings huge numbers of business tourists to the area.
“Business tourists then often come back as holiday tourists, bringing their families with them or - even better - they come back as investors,” Kane said.
Despite the country’s gloomy economic outlook, Cape Town’s construction sector was bucking the trend.
The developments in Cape Town by Marriott, in partnership with the Amdec Group, would take the form of three hotels adding more than 500 rooms to the city’s hotel accommodation offering, bringing 189 additional rooms.
The hotels will include one under the company’s Marriott Hotels brand, which will be the first in Cape Town. The second will be under the upmarket brand, Residence Inn by Marriott - a first for South Africa.
The third is an upper-moderate tier lifestyle brand, AC Hotels by Marriott, which is the first hotel under this brand for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.
Construction on the AC Hotel is already under way, set for completion in 2018 while no date has been set for commencement on the other two.
The AC Hotel Cape Town Waterfront will be located at The Yacht Club in the Roggebaai precinct at the gateway to the V&A Waterfront.
At Harbour Arch (the current Culemborg node), currently the location of several major construction projects, the 200-room Cape Town Marriott Hotel Foreshore and the 150-room Residence Inn by Marriott Cape Town Foreshore will be built.
The announcement is an extension of Marriott’s existing partnership with the Amdec Group, initiated last year with the announcement of the development of the first two Marriott branded hotels in South Africa.
These two properties, in the Melrose Arch Precinct in Joburg, are scheduled to open in 2018. They are the Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch and the Marriott Executive Apartments Johannesburg Melrose Arch.
Over 700 new hospitality jobs will be created; 470 in the three Cape Town hotels and 320 in Joburg.
Enver Duminy, chief executive of Cape Town Tourism, said investment in tourism and hospitality was a healthy indication that the sector was growing and investor confidence was a major endorsement for Cape Town. Duminy said tourism did not operate in a vacuum from other sectors, but provided extensive opportunities for broader economic growth.
“Five hundred more hotel rooms translates to more options for business and leisure travellers, and they are all close to the big attractions and other experiences, so visitors will be able to discover the city with ease.
“Capacity for conferences and events across the city is at an all-time high, with the opening of the Century City Conference Centre earlier in the year, so we anticipate growth in this particular avenue of business tourism.”
Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive of Marriott International said Africa was particularly important to the company’s expansion strategy because of the continent’s rapid economic growth, expanding middle class and youth population, as well as the increase of international flights into the continent.
“With over 850 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are enormous opportunities.”
Alex Kyriakidis, Marriott International’s president and managing director for MEA, said the significance of the announcement for the city and the country could not be underestimated.
“The developments in Cape Town and Joburg confirm the country’s importance to the international travel market, for both the business and leisure traveller.
“From the perspective of tourism, the addition of three hotels in Cape Town, catering for different market segments among both international and domestic visitors, will strengthen the position of the city as one of the world’s top destinations, and we are confident that Cape Town will gain huge benefits from the likely increase in visitor numbers expected in the future.”
James Wilson, chief executive of the Amdec Group, said Marriott’s new hotels will become landmarks in South Africa and appeal to travellers from all over the country, the continent and the world.
“Amdec is thrilled to continue our growing partnership with Marriott International in Cape Town where The Yacht Club will offer an exclusive urban experience in an energised precinct on a working harbour, superbly connected to all the buzz of city living in a location steeped in history.”
CAPE ARGUS