Soaring demand for hotel accommodation in Century City in recent years has increased the average annual occupancy to 73% necessitating additional hotel rooms be brought on stream, says Greg Deans, a director of Rabie Property Group, the developers of Century City.

Hospitality Property Fund delivers 17.7% growth to 89.08c in its distributions per combined linked unit in the 6 months to end December

Ankerdata who have been working closely with the operations team at Hotel Verde and BON Hotels on the property management system protel for "Africa's greenest hotel" may very well be able to claim a world first in hospitality software technology.

Positive news in the hospitality sector in South Africa is recorded throughout, which despite experiencing substantial decline between 2009 and 2011, recorded a national average RevPAR (revenue per available room) annual increase of 10.5 percent during 2012.

The Western Cape has proven to be the best in the country when it comes to tourism and hospitality after the province came tops during the inaugural Lilizela Tourism Awards held in Pretoria on Thursday night.  

Rental income for the period increased 8.3% to R174 million, underpinned by improving overall occupancies and average room rates (“ARR’s”) over the bulk of the properties, more particularly in the core metropolitan portfolio.

The upcoming year is projected to be a better and brighter one for the hospitality industry, but what are the new factors driving the market in 2013?

Economic factors such as rising fuel costs coupled with a general need for convenient access is seeing Vaal Dam leisure properties receiving renewed interest from leisure home buyers, reports Phil Medlock, area principal for Pam Golding Properties.

Perhaps hard to believe, but according to Tourismrsa.com the Western Cape only brings in 13% of South Africa’s domestic tourism revenue or R2,8 billion. That compared to KwaZulu-Natal with 26% of revenue or R5,7billion. But tourism in general grew by 5% in the Western Cape in 2011 contributing 10 percent to the province's gross domestic product (GDP) and creating 70 000 jobs over five years

The hospitality industry which boomed in South Africa in 2010 has admittedly had some post World Cup benefit. The industry has also shed some of its fly-by-nighters. However the debate continues as to whether hotel rooms are overpriced and over accommodated. Regardless, the question remains: aren’t hotels a property industry problem and therein lies the root dynamic behind the quantity and price of rooms?