Hilton boss: We want to double number of hotels in Africa

The president of Hilton Middle East, Africa and Turkey speaks about the chain’s investments in Africa and the plans for expansion on the continent

What are your plans for Africa?
We want to double the number of Hilton hotels on the continent, from the current 38, in the next three years.

In East Africa, we have two ongoing projects — one in Burundi and another in Rwanda. The agreements have already been signed.

In some parts of Africa, we take longer to complete a hotel because we have to import materials as some are not found locally.

What prompted the decision to build more hotels in Nairobi?
We go with the trends. It is important that we stay as fashionable as we were when we started.

Upper Hill, where the hotel will be based, is a trendier area of Nairobi — like Sandton in Johannesburg.

I love the location for its vibrancy.

We have issues with the traffic in the central business district, where the existing hotel is, and we have been talking with the government for 10 years to have the bus stop outside it moved.

The property is partially owned by the government. Discussions have been taking place with the Minister of Finance and the people responsible for the hotel design.

On what?
Deciding whether we want to keep the shape of the existing hotel, or create something totally new because, if you look at the square metrage of the island on which the Hilton is located, with the method of buildings available, you could increase your lettable area.

What kind of facilities do you plan to have at the new hotel?

Underground parking in order to resolve congestion. We have to take into consideration the roads, pedestrians and public transport.

How is the privatisation process in Kenya coming along?

The government has several strategies, so they need to decide what they want to do. We now have two new hotels coming up in Nairobi.

You have had a management dispute with Ubumwe Grand Hotel in Kigali. What is the progress on that?
I am confident that it will be resolved in the near future.

East Africa’s hospitality industry is safari-centred. Would you venture into the lounge business?
We had lounges, but we gave them up in the mid-90s. We need to have something that suits us and our customers, that can be branded because we are an international company.

You do not have a presence at the Kenyan coast. Is it a region you would consider going to?
I think Mombasa is important, but we first want to make sure there are international flights going there. Safety and security is also a big thing for us, our customers and team members. We don’t want to be the only people there; we want to make sure that the government supports the infrastructure for tourists to come in.

There are many international hotels investing in Africa. What’s the attraction?
When you look at markets in terms of saturation and opportunities, Africa is where you see opportunities for growth. There are minerals and wildlife so one needs to provide hotels for the business people and the tourists.

The region’s middle class is growing.

With the instability in Burundi, why are you still venturing into that market?
There is trouble everywhere.

We have hotels in Turkey, Paris, Egypt. Inevitably, there will always be some issues, political or natural, which can destabilise business.

Hilton Hotels in Kenya did not get a five-star rating. What would you say about that?
We don’t look at rating systems of individual countries because each one has different criteria.

We have our own unique practices, we have our own brands, be it four-star or five-star.

The hotel is old, and it needs a facelift.

The government needs to decide if they want to privatise it or keep it as is. In the meantime, we are operating it as efficiently as we can.