CAPE TOWN The number of hotel rooms in Cape Town will rise 52% in the next two years, mainly in the five-star category, based on the number of hotels deals signed or under construction, says Protea Hotels MD Arthur Gillis.

Speaking yesterday at the Airline Destination Workshop, organised by the Airports Company of SA, he said that the supply of rooms in Cape Town rose 147% to 9248 in the past 10 years, despite complaints that Cape Town hotels were always full.

Cape Town hotels were never 100% full, even at peak periods, although it might be harder to find a room in the peak seasons, he said.

While airlines and car rental companies could to an extent vary their capacity to match demand peaks and troughs, hoteliers were in a far more difficult position with fixed investments in bricks and mortar.

Contrary to popular belief, Cape Town hoteliers' busiest periods were February, March, November and December, in that order.

Their quietest periods were the first two weeks of December and the last two weeks of January, when businesspeople did not travel and foreign visitors preferred to be with their families, said Gillis.

Popular perceptions that prices for Cape Town hotels were steep were incorrect, as the average room rate was $75 a night, despite the number of five-star hotels, he said.

That price could not be matched for a hotel room in any of the US's or UK's major cities.

Not only were hotel rooms inexpensive in SA, but so were food and beverages. Free market forces kept prices down. If prices rose too far, visitors would go elsewhere.

The tourism industry's enemies were arrogance and complacency, Gillis warned. The industry needed a partnership of all participants such as airports, hotels, car-rental firms, restaurants, tour operators and local and national government.

Sep 26 2003 07:13:44:000AM Charlotte Mathews Business Day 1st Edition