17 May 2004 - CBN
Cape Town-based Protea Hotels are operating their first hotel in the Republic of Congo. Situated on the riverbank of the Djoué river, overlooking the nearby waterfall, Protea Hotel Brazzaville Beach is one of the latest additions to Protea Hotels' portfolio and first in the Republic of the Congo.
Approximately 15km from the airport and 8km from the Brazzaville’s city centre
– the Capital City, the hotel is situated next door to the World Health Organisation and the Brazzaville Golf Course. "This is Protea’s first step into Francophone Africa, and has proved to be a good move," said Bernard Cassar, Regional Director for Protea Hotels.Protea Hotels has been operating the hotel for 4-months and found it to be a successful venture. "The country is stable politically and economically with the majority of the GDP coming from oil and diamonds," added Cassar. This is Protea’s first step in creating a tourism circuit in the area, however, the group plans to wait and see what opportunities arise instead of aggressively seeking out further penetration into this market.
Protea Hotel Brazzaville Beach is not a new build, but has been taken over in conjunction with an extensive refurbishment programme that took 24 months to complete. These refurbishments and additions to the hotel have brought the standard of the hotel up to that of a South African 3-star property.
The hotel is predominantly used by international visitors conducting business with the World Health Organization, United Nations as well as local and regional corporate travelers.
There is a conference venue with state-of-the-art equipment, which caters for up to 30 delegates. Furthermore there is a 40-seater a la carte restaurant, as well as 2 swimming pools, one of which overlooks the nearby waterfall, a gymnasium as well as golf and tennis available nearby. The General Manager, Jacque de Jager is South African, and was previously based in Cape Town at the Protea Hotel Cape Castle.
Publisher: Cape Business News
Source: Cape Business News
