IN a welcome dose of good news for KwaZulu-Natal’s COVID-battered tourism industry, international hotel group Radisson has announced plans to build a hotel at Dube City next to the King Shaka International Airport.
The Park Inn by Radisson, described as an “upper midscale” hotel is scheduled to open by 2022 and will strengthens the group’s current portfolio of 15 hotels (3,007 rooms) in operation and under development in the country.
The 168-room hotel will have a lobby bar, rooftop all-day dining restaurant and rooftop pool terrace with eight different meeting and event venues. The hotel will also complement the national business circuit with a Park Inn by Radisson in each of the three major cities of South Africa – Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
It will be the first hotel in the Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone, which forms the heart of the first purpose-planned aerotropolis in Africa.
The group also announced that its Radisson Hotel and Convention Centre Johannesburg will open by the end of 2020, located on a private estate in Bredell in Kempton Park, 10 minutes’ drive away from OR Tambo International Airport.
Radisson Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer at, Elie Younes, said the two new South African hotels are among six planned for Africa and demonstrated the group’s belief in the continent’s potential.
“The addition of the six hotels, following the announcement of Radisson Hotel Saint Denis earlier this year, places us firmly on track to reach over 150 hotels in operation and under development across the continent within the next five years. The new hotel announcements include our debut in new markets, the introduction of additional brands and the strengthening of our presence in cities we’ve identified for scaled growth,” he said.
