International developers have shifted a long pipeline of new hotel projects to sites outside Nairobi and with it jobs and growth in favour of the hitherto ignored regions.
At least 46 percent of hotel rooms currently being constructed or planned for set up in Kenya are located out of Nairobi, a sharp increment from 26 percent last year even as global hospitality brands flock to Kenya for new branches.
This year, 26 hotels with a combined 4,344 rooms are in the pipeline in Kenya, down from 25 hotels with 4,268 rooms last year, according to the Hotel Chain Development Pipeline in Africa 2025 report published by Lagos-based advisory W Hospitality Group.
However, much fewer hotel rooms are under development in Nairobi this year compared to previous years, edging the country’s capital and largest city out of the continent’s top 10 capitals with the most rooms under development.
Nairobi this year has 2,306 rooms in the pipeline, while other towns and cities in the country have 2,038, almost half of the total 4,344 under construction or planning.
This is an improvement for Kenya’s satellite towns, cities, and tourism destinations, which last year, had just 1,123 rooms under development, or about 26 percent of all hotel developments in the country, and a sign that international hotel chains are developing a liking for Kenya’s remote locations.
W Hospitality Group compiles the data based on private disclosures by 50 leading hotel chains operating in Africa on deals made for either planned or ongoing construction of hotels in any of the 54 countries in Africa.
Industry players in Kenya intimated there has been increased development in areas of key tourism destinations such as the Mara and Tsavo.
Experts believe Nairobi is now a mature market with nearly all top hotel chains and brands with representation in the capital, hence the shift to other locations in the country.
“Nairobi is the hospitality hub of East and Central Africa, but it is a mature market,” noted Mohammed Hersi, a seasoned hotelier and former chairperson of the Kenya Tourism Federation.
“Infrastructure across the country has also improved tremendously, which means that investors are finding it easier to invest in hospitality even outside Nairobi.”
Mara has particularly been flocking with international hotel chains lately, with the latest announcement being from Marriot International which is developing the JW Marriot Rhino Reserve Safari Camp in the area.
Last year, seven new hotel chains were completed in Kenya, six of which were in Nairobi, among them JW Marriott, Novotel, Hilton Curio, Best Western, MGallery, and Hyatt Regency.
With Nairobi’s drop in the top ten rankings, neighbouring Tanzania’s resort city Zanzibar now has the highest number of hotel rooms in the pipeline this year in the region, and ninth continentally.
Others in the top 10 are Cairo (17,757 rooms) and Sharm El Sheikh (4,231) in Egypt, Lagos in Nigeria (3,709), Boa Vista in Cape Verde (3,650), Addis Ababa in Ethiopia (3,369), Morocco’s Casablanca (2,939), Accra Ghana (2,652), Nigeria’s Abuja (2,523) and Dakar, Senegal with 2,334.
