Bite

Vishal Koovejee, CEO of Salsa Tours, had coffee with Editor Dylan Rogers to chat about the wholesale corporate travel industry

Hilton Worldwide is one of the big players in global hospitality with over 4,500 hotels in nearly a hundred countries. That portfolio is growing, with Africa very much part of that development strategy, including the roll-out of a host of mid-market Hilton Garden Inn properties, as explained by Africa & Indian Ocean Vice-President Jan van der Putten to editor Dylan Rogers over coffee in Johannesburg.

Legacy Hotels & Resorts Managing Director Paddy Brearley joins Business Traveller Africa for "A Bite with the Editor" BT Africa's new feature and an opportunity to engage with members of the industry on issues relevant to their particular sector.

Well, it’s not just this individual property, but a growing group of hotels, with, in the short-term, two more Home* Suite Hotels properties planned...

The second half of 2014 will see the XL Travel Group celebrate 10 years as a consortium, which started with 15 shareholders and is now made up of 150 members. Rod Rutter is the group’s chief operating officer, and he sat down with editor Dylan Rogers over a coffee in Johannesburg, to chart the group’s history, expand on what it has to offer, and touch on some of the travel industry’s most pressing issues.

Indaba Hotel and Conference Center operations director, Rob Mickel, pulls no punches, as he reflects on the state of the South African hospitality industry, the post-2010 dip, and the way forward for properties in a similar space.

According to W Hospitality Group’s ‘2014 African Hotel Chain Development Pipeline’, Carlson Rezidor holds the largest hotel pipeline on the continent, with 30 hotels and 6,300 rooms under development. No surprise then that the group’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Office Olivier Harnisch was in Johannesburg recently, and made himself available for a coffee with editor Dylan Rogers.

It’s been a year since Bidvest announced that it would no longer represent Budget Car Rental in the South African market, with Avis Southern Africa granted the brand representation. So, the time seemed right to pick the brain of Avis Budget Rent a Car, South Africa CEO Rainer Gottschick on all things car rental-related.

Otto de Vries, CEO of ASATA chatted to Editor Dylan Rogers about three big issues the association is dealing with at the moment.

Legacy Hotels & Resorts is in a good space, with a diversified portfolio of hotel and resort properties that ensure the South African-based group...

Editor Dylan Rogers chats to the Regional Manager of Southern Africa & Latin America for Air Mauritius, Carla da Silva, about her views on what the industry should be concentrating on, and the role that government plays in the development of the aviation industry.

ISO Leisure Hotels Operations Director, Gary Foster joined editor Dylan Rogers for a chat about the preference by corporate's opting to book executives in to more affordable 3-star hotels rather than 5-star's exclusively.