AHIF RETURNS TO NAIROBI
The Africa
Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF), which is the premier
hotel investment conference in Africa, attracting many
prominent international hotel owners, investors,
financiers, management companies and their advisers,
will head back to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi later this
year. AHIF will be held at the InterContinental Hotel
on September 30 – October 1st 2014.
Phyllis Kandie, Kenya’s Minister of Tourism, said: “I am
delighted that we have attracted Africa’s highest
profile hotel investment forum back to Nairobi. Last
year, AHIF took place at the same time as the Westgate
siege. Despite the atrocity, hardly anybody cancelled
their trip, the conference went ahead smoothly and
global tourism business leaders went out of their way to
give a public vote of confidence to Kenya. At that
moment of crisis, the hospitality industry demonstrated
what an extremely valuable asset it is – one we must not
take for granted but invest in.”
AHIF 2013 was attended by 400 delegates from 20
countries, including government ministers from four
African nations, The President and CEO of the World
Travel & Tourism Council and scores of business leaders,
representing virtually all the big players in
hospitality in Africa.
Marianne Ndegwa Jordan, CEO, Kenya’s Tourism Finance
Corporation (TFC), added: “After agriculture, Tourism is
Kenya’s most important industry. We are blessed with
fantastic natural tourism resources: spectacular
scenery, beautiful beaches and wonderful wildlife. Kenya
is the only country where you have the opportunity to
see ‘the big five’, Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Buffalo and
Leopard in their natural habitat.”
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC),
it is responsible for 19% of total exports and 10.9% of
total employment. It is also a sector that WTTC
predicts will continue to grow at 4.5% per annum over
the coming decade.
Kenya’s hospitality industry has been eager to
capitalise on the favourable tourism outlook. The
latest research by W Hospitality reveals that the
country’s hotel pipeline more than doubled recently,
from 5 hotels with 771 rooms under development in 2012
to 11 hotels with 1,469 rooms in 2013.
AHIF is organised by Bench Events, one of the world’s
leading organisers of hotel investment conferences,
co-hosting annual meetings in Germany, Russia, Turkey
and the United Arab Emirates. These events attract the
international hotel investment community, including
developers, investors, management companies, tourism
officials and leading advisers from around the globe, as
well as industry leaders locally and regionally.
Jonathan Worsley, Chairman of Bench Events concluded:
“The African economic growth story is becoming
well-known. At around 5% per annum, it is a multiple of
developed economies and that is appealing to
international investors.
In addition to TFC, confirmed sponsors of AHIF 2014 are:
Platinum Sponsors: ACCOR, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
and Mangalis Management Group. Gold Sponsors: Colliers
International, Horwath HTL, Hotel Partners Africa, Hyatt
International LLC, Inncom by Honeywell, Starwood Hotels
and Resorts International, STR Global and Wyndham Hotel
Group.
Sponsors of AHIF 2013 included: Host Partner: (KTDC)
Kenya Tourist Development Corporation. Platinum
Sponsors: ACCOR, Mangalis Management Group and Marriott
International, Inc. Gold Sponsors: AECOM Design +
Planning, Africa Export Import Bank, Carlson Rezidor
Hotel Group, Colliers International, G1 Architecture,
Golden Tulip, Grant Thornton, Hilton Worldwide, Horwath
HTL, Hotel Partners Africa, Hyatt International LLC, HVS,
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), Kempinski Hotels,
Lonrho Hotels, Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts, Ole-Sereni,
Shapooji Pallonji International, Starwood Hotels and
Resorts International, STR Global and Wyndham Hotel
Group.
ENDS
About the Tourism Finance Corporation (TFC)
TFC was
previously known as the Kenya Tourist Development
Corporation (KTDC) but it has been renamed Tourism
Finance Corporation (TFC) to comply with the new Tourism
Act that came into force last year. The agency owns
assets, including hotels and lounges. Through its
associated companies, it owned, among others, 40 per
cent of Intercontinental Hotel, 33.83 per cent of Hilton
Hotel, 39.11 per cent of Mountain Lodge Ltd and 5.64 per
cent of Ark. TFC exists to develop and diversify Kenya's
tourism industry by providing a range of advisory and
financial services to investors in tourism related
enterprises. Its vision is to be the leading and most
reliable Development Financial Institution (DFI)
providing affordable and accessible financial facilities
and advisory services to the tourism investors.
About Bench Events
In
addition to the next Africa Hotel Investment Forum,
Bench Events is one of the organisers and founders,
alongside Questex Travel + Hospitality and MEED Events,
of several well-known conferences for the hotel
investment industry including Berlin (IHIF), Dubai (AHIC),
Istanbul (CATHIC) and Moscow (RHIC). www.benchevents.com
Further Information
For
further information and high resolution images, please
contact: David Tarsh on +44 (0) 20 7602 5262, +44 (0)
7770 816 070 or email:David@Tarsh.com or
Mala Patel, on +44 (0) 7930 573621, email: mala.patel@benchevents.com
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