By Chris van Gass

German group Arabella Hotel Holdings International's joint venture could see another eight  hotels  being built in SA in the next few years.

The group, which has business co-operation with Starwood  Hotels  & Resorts Worldwide, already plans to provide three new  hotels  by 2010 in SA and Namibia. It has identified sites in Sandton, Durban and Cape Town.

It is also looking at other areas, including Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Kimberley, says Heinz Grub, the newly appointed chief operating officer of Arabella South Africa Holding.

He has previously managed the Le Royal Mansour Miridien in Casablanca, Morocco.

Grub said that ArabellaStarwood's "area of exclusivity" included Germany, Switzerland and the Balearic Islands, but it had expanded to include SA and Namibia.

"This means the Sheraton Pretoria is now part of ArabellaStarwood's portfolio and all future projects in SA and Namibia will form part of the joint venture," said Grub.

He said the group had already received financial backing from a South African bank which would partner them in the hotel venture in Cape Town.

It could possibly be part of ArabellaStarwood's "W" brand, a trendy and vibrant hotel product. This site was situated in the V&A Waterfront.

Grub said it would be difficult to speculate on the size of the investment as the group had a range of hotel brands. The investment would depend on which type of hotel was built.

ArabellaStarwood owns and operates the ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel, opposite the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and the Western Cape Hotel and Spa, a five-star luxury resort hotel on the Arabella Golf Estate near Hermanus.

It also owns the Blaauwklippen Agricultural Estate in Stellenbosch and the Paulaner Brauhaus in the V&A Waterfront. Grub said

while the group was confident about the economy of SA, the country?s biggest challenge was to address crime.

"We still have a lot of work to do about our (international) customers' perceptions about crime, especially those from the US.

Crime is still a bit of a stumbling block, but we try to put the issue of crime in perspective with other world cities such as New York"

Business Day