African Sun in R450 million expansion

The fast-growing African Sun hotel group is planning to spend $60 million (R450 million) on expansion - much of it intended to be completed in time for the soccer World Cup in 2010, and the rest by 2012, it announced on Tuesday.Chief executive Shingi Munyeza said the decision had been taken following reports that there would be “a massive shortage of accommodation in South Africa during the World Cup, presenting hotel companies with a huge opportunity.”

African Sun has already increased its stock of hotel rooms, some of which it owns while it manages others under contract. A spokesperson said more rooms were being added to existing hotels in addition to new ones being built.

Munyeza, who is also chairman of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, said 75 percent of the additional rooms being provided would be in South Africa , Zambia and Botswana but the remaining 25 percent would be in Zimbabwe, where there were already 6 700 hotel rooms - the largest capacity after South Africa.

He said South Africa was believed to have just over 32 000 rooms at present but more than 450 000 visitors were expected for the World Cup and it was estimated that 50 000 rooms would be needed.

This meant that South Africa would be “overwhelmed by the demand for accommodation and regional countries would have to chip in.”


Guest houses, lodges and boarding houses, all of which would have to be registered after inspection, were being accepted by Match, the organisation appointed by Fifa to engage suitable accommodation.
Munyeza said negotiations with Match in Zimbabwe had collapsed after the hotel industry there disagreed with a policy of no compensation if bookings were cancelled.

But, he said, the country's tourism authority would re-engage Match “for the country to be listed among those capable of providing accommodation to World Cup fans.”

A spokesperson for the hotel group said demand for hotel rooms was already high in Victoria Falls and visits had shown that the rest of Zimbabwe was peaceful and safe, despite recent reports of violence against MDC supporters.. “The shops are fully stocked but payment is in US dollars.”

The statement said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries expected to benefit from the need for visiting teams from other parts of the world to acclimatise in countries with similar weather patterns to those in South Africa.

Fans were likely to follow their teams to watch them in training before the World Cup began.
“Against this background Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana should not be ignored as countries expected to absorb some of South Africa's spillover of demand for accommodation.”

A recent statement by the Mpumalanga tourism authority said it had recently signed an agreement of co-operation with the tourism and hotel industry in neighbouring Mozambique, where some soccer fans would stay.

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