Don Robertson

Hotels seem immune to the general economic slowdown, growing for the third successive year at almost 20 percent a year.

Quoting from a report by a Deloitte Hotel and Benchmark study, Joop Demes, managing director of Pam Golding Hospitality, a member of Pam Golding Properties, said that revenue per available room (revpar) in 2007 in South Africa had increased by 16.3 percent compared with 2006.

The five-star rating was up 19 percent while the overall revpar in Johannesburg was 25.5 percent.

“In the current year, this positive trend is continuing at an increasing rate and we are seeing double-digit revenue for the third successive year with the South African hotel market as a whole again up by 19.3percent for the first six months to June, compared with the same period last year.

“Greater Johannesburg is up by 25.7 percent with a record 36.1 percent increase in hotels located at OR Tambo airport. Indicative of the fact that business is thriving in the local hotel industry — with no slowdown on the horizon — is the fact that June reflected a healthy increase of 15 percent over June last year,” he said.

Revpar represents revenue from rooms occupied excluding VAT, divided by the number of rooms sold, and is a recognised measure of hotel income.

The rights to the study, which were initially compiled by Deloitte, were recently sold to London-based research group STR Global, and Deloitte no longer has access to the details of the study.

Demes said Dubai company Ruwood Holdings was investigating investing 4-billion (R30.8-billion) on a theme park near Richards Bay.

When completed, the park would have four golf courses, 20 hotels, 120000 residences, shopping centres and restaurants. It will have sea frontage and will also include a game farm.

Pam Golding Properties is also preparing various feasibility studies and facilitation processes for Protea Hotels — which plans to build 43 new hotels, most of them in South Africa.

Otto Stehlik, chairman of Protea Hotels, said the other hotels would be built elsewhere in Africa, mainly in Nigeria.

Protea is in negotiations with Australian-based hotel group Stella Hospitality over ownership and management of the new projects.

Hotel group Africa Sun will spend R270-million to buy two hotels, one in Cape Town and one possibly in Pretoria.

City Lodge has reported that occupancy was at 82 percent in the year to June and that revenues rose 18 percent to R599.9-million. Construction of the 90- room Road Lodge in Potchefstroom is being completed, and a 204-room Town Lodge in Port Elizabeth, a 200-room City Lodge at Fourways, and two in Pretoria at Lynwood and Hatfield are also included.

Source: Business Times