The hospitality industry has borne the brunt of the black swan event that is Covid-19.
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Gugu Mfuphi Talks to Mark Havercroft, Minor Hotels Regional Director For Africa about The hospitality industry has borne the brunt of the black swan event that is Covid-19. Faced with global shutdowns of their properties, dominant international hotel management brands from Marriott to Raddisson and others have everything to lose if they don't get the recovery aspect of their plans right. And Africa, particularly SSA will take centre stage for all hospitality growth spend when the world gets back to business.
According to a McKinsey & Company estimate, the world’s youngest and fastest-urbanising continent, Africa, will see 24 million more people added to its total city population annually in the years to 2045 – more than India and China combined, making the continent stand out for offering the greatest potential for ROI in hospitality investments.
The race to capture the continent for the big boys of the hospitality game was already underway before the virus hit but it will only intensify now as challenger brands will be able to compete in a recovering business space where suddenly value really matters and the big brand names have been shown to be vulnerable and unable to use their dominance to protect hotel owners and investors.
One of those challenger brands in Africa is Minor Hotels. Although Minor Hotels is one of the largest hospitality and leisure companies in the Asia Pacific region with 537 hotels in operation in 55 countries it is a relative newcomer to the continent and has its sights firmly on eating the lunch of the region's dominant players.
According to a McKinsey & Company estimate, the world’s youngest and fastest-urbanising continent, Africa, will see 24 million more people added to its total city population annually in the years to 2045 – more than India and China combined, making the continent stand out for offering the greatest potential for ROI in hospitality investments.
The race to capture the continent for the big boys of the hospitality game was already underway before the virus hit but it will only intensify now as challenger brands will be able to compete in a recovering business space where suddenly value really matters and the big brand names have been shown to be vulnerable and unable to use their dominance to protect hotel owners and investors.
One of those challenger brands in Africa is Minor Hotels. Although Minor Hotels is one of the largest hospitality and leisure companies in the Asia Pacific region with 537 hotels in operation in 55 countries it is a relative newcomer to the continent and has its sights firmly on eating the lunch of the region's dominant players.
