Kate

Marriott International has announced further expansion plans in Africa with seven new hotel signings. The company is targeting over 200 hotels with 37,000 rooms open or in the pipeline by 2022. Today Marriott International hotels are present in 20 African countries: Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda...

BON Hotels has added four hotels to its Nigerian portfolio, bringing to 16 the number of hotels it manages in the country. This makes BON Hotels the largest hotel operator in Nigeria, to go with its presence in Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa and Namibia. Bon Hotels anticipates a further two hotels to be signed before the year is out, and 20...

Aha Lesedi has invested R3.2million ($233,000) in rebuilding a new dance theatre after it had been destroyed in a runaway veld fire in 2016. The construction of this new dance amphitheatre is set to offer a more enhanced cultural experience. It is artistically designed and decorated with African art murals and a ‘buffalo’ front entrance walkway flowing into an open central...

The 147-room Town Lodge Windhoek hotel has opened its doors to guests. Part of the Johannesburg-headquartered City Lodge Hotel Group, the hotel is the 13th Town Lodge in the group, complementing 10 Town Lodges in South Africa and one each in Nairobi, Kenya and Gaborone, Botswana. It is the 58th hotel in the City Lodge Hotel Group which also owns and...

Turkish Airlines has extended its ‘Stopover’ service to include passengers from South Africa who are connecting in Istanbul to a wide range of selected destinations. Passengers who have more than 20 hours of connection time in Istanbul are in line to receive complimentary accommodation. Qualifying passengers will receive an accommodation voucher from Turkish Airlines’ authorised staff after booking their flight. Economy class...

AVANI Hotels & Resorts - a Minor Hotels brand - has announced it will debut in North Africa with two new properties in Tunisia, in partnership with Groupe Chaabane. Scheduled to open in the coming months, AVANI Les Berges Du Lac Tunis Suites will be located in Les Berges du Lac II. The 41-room property will offer exclusive serviced apartment accommodation...

Low-cost airline fastjet has welcomed the statement by Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance & Economic Development, Patrick Chinamasa, where he said that Zimbabwe is opening its skies to “any airline that wants to fly as many times as possible.” The opening of Zimbabwe’s skies positions the country as a leading nation in the early implementation of the African Union’s Yamoussoukro Decision,...

Tsogo Sun’s new dual-brand 19-storey hotel opened in Cape Town’s City Bowl last week. The R700-million ($51m) development incorporates two economy hotels, the select service SunSquare Cape Town City Bowl with 202 bedrooms, and the StayEasy Cape Town City Bowl with 302 bedrooms. This brings the total number of rooms operated by the group in the Cape Town city centre to...

It’s pretty obvious that British Airways has significant faith in South Africa as both an end destination and African hub, with the next few months set to result in even more seats between the UK and South Africa. In fact, October will see as many as 680 additional seats a week to Johannesburg, with BA operating an all-A380 service,...

Q: Please update us on the progress of your Time Square project and detail what has been achieved so far? A: Earlier this year the Time Square Casino opened its doors with 2,000 slot machines, 100 tables and a salon prive, while a new multi-purpose arena is set to open within the next few weeks. Development of the hotel complex...

Q: How would you describe the state of the private aviation industry in South Africa? A: Private aviation activity at our South African FBOs has increased, with 31% growth in flight numbers in Q1 2017 vs Q1 2016 at our FBO in Johannesburg, and 19% growth in the same period at our Cape Town FBO. However, new legislation implemented by...

BACKGROUND: With a dozen cities on the continent served from its hub at Paris- Charles de Gaulle, Air France has proven itself a popular choice for business travel into and out of Africa. In 2003 the French carrier partnered with Dutch airline KLM, and today passengers enjoy seamless connections and access to more than 200 destinations worldwide from their...