Research just released by W Hospitality Group, a founding member of Hotel Partners Africa (HPA), reveals that there are 40,000 rooms being planned or constructed on the African continent between now to 2017. The top city for construction is Lagos, Nigeria, which has 4,080 rooms in development. This is followed by two Egyptian destinations, Cairo, with 2,843 rooms and Hurghada with 2,221 rooms. The next most popular places are Abuja (1,598 rooms), Algiers (1,528 rooms), Tangier (1,505 rooms) and Nairobi (1,437 rooms).

Alex Kyriakidis, president and managing director, Middle East & Africa Continent, at Marriott International, says: “The African continent presents Marriott International with substantial opportunities for growth. With 1bn people, the majority of whom are Gen X and Y, seven of the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world and very low penetration by branded hotels, the opportunity for the hospitality industry to support the demand for travel, as the middle classes grow from 300m today to 1bn by 2050, is key to the continent’s economic success and the prosperity of its people.”

W Hospitality Group and HPA Founder, Trevor Ward, added: “The most interesting thing to look at in the numbers is not so much the scale of the development pipeline but how things are changing from city to city. Lagos and Abuja contribute to Nigeria being the No.1 country but delays in completing hotels there can be extreme, and not all of the pipeline can be said to be certain to happen.”