six new hotels have been signed in the first six months of 2008, four hotels are currently under construction and will open in the next few months, and in Mali last week, the Radisson Hotel Bamako opened its doors.

Hotels currently under construction are the Radisson Hotel Lagos (Nigeria) and Radisson Hotel Dakar (Senegal), both scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 respectively. In South Africa, three hotels are under construction.

The 290 room Radisson SAS Sandton hotel is situated in a prominent location within the Sandton CBD, north of Johannesburg, and will open in the last quarter of 2008. The 173 room Radisson SAS Port Elizabeth, situated on the Summerstrand beachfront, will open in the same period as the Radisson SAS Sandton.
 
Rezidor’s mid-market brand, Park Inn, will be opening in Sandton, Johannesburg in first quarter of 2010.  It will be situated directly across the road from Gautrain Rapid Rail Sandton Station, and comprises 190 rooms.  This is the second hotel in Sandton operated by The Rezidor Hotel Group, along with the first class Radisson SAS Sandton opening shortly.

The group features a portfolio of more than 335 hotels in operation and under development with more than 70,000 rooms in 53 countries.

Continental expansion includes the construction of two Radisson Hotels in East Africa:  the 209 room Radisson in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and the 245 room Radisson in Nairobi (Kenya). In both locations, the hotels will be located in the prime metropolitan hub of business and diplomatic activity of these two cities.

The group has also announced that an existing hotel in Libya is currently undergoing renovation, and will be renamed the Radisson Hotel Tripoli.

The group announced its sixth hotel in Egypt, the Radisson Hotel Cairo, Heliopolis featuring 427 rooms, and located in the emerging residential and commercial Heliopolis area, situated next to Cairo International Airport.

The latest announcement is the Radisson Resort & Spa Saïdia in Morocco. This luxury resort features 384 guestrooms and 97 villas located on the pristine and unspoiled northeastern Mediterranean coastline of Morocco. 

“With these development signings, we are now present in 53 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa”, says Andrew McLachlan, who is responsible for the group’s growth on the African continent and Indian Ocean Islands.

Recognizing Africa’s growing potential and the drastic lack of quality hotels in many countries, the Rezidor Hotel Group signed a 35 million EUR financial Joint Venture Agreement with four Nordic Government funds to expand its presence on the continent.

The partners have teamed-up their intelligence and financial resources to set up Afrinord Hotel Investments , which provides mezzanine financing or in certain cases secured loans to companies owning and developing hotel and resort projects in Africa.

“As part of our development strategy for Africa, a business development office was established in South Africa eighteen months ago,” says Andrew McLachlan, business development director of Rezidor.

“As a hotel management company, The Rezidor Hotel Group has identified a strong demand for internationally branded and operated full-service hotels and resorts in Africa,” he says.

“We have significant hotel management expertise in areas like branding, international sales & marketing, technical, training of personnel and other aspects of operating a quality hotel chain. “We can confirm our aggressive growth in Africa with both the Radisson and Park Inn brands, through individual projects and portfolio deals are well on track.”