The buildings of banks, of stylish restaurants or other trendy bars addressing a local as well as international clientele find their place in the landscape of Ghanaian capital.
The business travel expansion on the African continent
Sub-Saharan Africa tourism generated USD83.3bn in 2014 representing 3.4% of the GDP and it is expanding.
According to a study conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council, business travel spending generated 30.6% of direct Travel & Tourism GDP and is expected to grow by 3.9% in 2015 to USD43.9bn.
This study also reveals that the business travel spending will rise by 4.8% pa to USD 69.9bn in 2025. Travel & tourism’s direct economic benefits in terms of employment will account for 10,985,000 jobs by 2025, an increase of 2.3% pa.
The luxury hotel trade in Africa: the die is cast
Aware of stake, the big international luxury hotel chains established in Sub-Saharan Africa such as Relais & Châteaux, Four Seasons, Fairmont, Hyatt, IHG and Kempinski have adjusted their target clientele.
From now on, as i was able to see during my last stay in Accra, the top of the range hotels do no longer limit themselves to Safari lodges in the middle of southern area. They are making way for charming boutique hotels rewarded by Condé Nast Traveller and other five-star international new standards, welcoming a larger and more diversified clientele.
A Kempinski Hotel in Western Africa
After Djibouti and Nairobi, the German hotel chain Kempinski laid a new stone on the Sub-Saharan land. This time with the opening in November 2015 of its new hotel Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra, Ghana. When launching the project in 2008, Kempinski measured the country’s advantages, amongst which a dynamic GDP, an economic and political stability and an ideal geographical situation.
In order to take the leadership of the business hotels’ market in Sub-Saharan Africa, the hotelier wants to attract a top of the range local, intraregional, sub-region and international clientele with a key asset: its world-famous know-how.
In the lounge of the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Laurent Ebzant, the General Manager also explains to me that their know-how is also proven by each employee who becomes a genuine ambassador of the establishment. Consequently, the internal approach is to reveal the qualities of each one of them while teaching them the technical skills of the luxury world through trainings and thus make the customers live a unique experience.
A befitting interior decoration
In what concern the aesthetics of the place, the design is befitting the hotelier. A refinement in harmony with the refreshing tones of the floors entirely covered with marble and the warm colours that we discover in the heart of the hotel. The whole offers a lovely marriage of style and comfort, while respecting with charm and subtlety the identity of the place.
Laurent Ebzant who worked for the biggest luxury hotels from Paris to Geneva, the former director of Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneva accepted this adventure in Africa not without apprehension in the beginning, he confides. But rising challenges and enriching his curiosity are two of his character traits. To conclude the interview when i to the native parisian to define Africa in 3 words; his response is the following :
Authenticity, Smile, Resilience.
