More global hotel groups eye Kampala

KAMPALA, Uganda – Uganda remains a target for international hotel groups with Rezidor’s Radisson Blu brand the latest to announce a planned entry into the country. Information received from the recently ended Africa Hotel Investment Forum in Addis Ababa indicates that the company will be teaming up with a local partner to build and then manage a 200 bedroom hotel in the centre of Kampala.

However, some of the hotel projects announced earlier are yet to take off, such as the notoriously long delayed so called Hilton Kampala, which was launched in 2006 and was to be ready for the Commonwealth Summit in 2007. While the building which towers over the Nakasero part of Kampala seems now seems relatively complete on the outside, has other work only advanced at snail’s pace, leaving Kampaleans to wonder just how much longer it will take to open its doors, as a Hilton or under another brand. Equally has the site of former Kingdom Hotels, which was to become an InterContinental Hotel, not advanced beyond the concrete structure, with months gone by and not one worker seen on site.

The only international brand to more seriously embark on expanding their portfolio is Protea, now in the Marriott Hotels’ stable, where the Entebbe property will be expanded and another hotel in Hoima is planned. Presently Protea Hotels East Africa operates three hotels in the country, in Kampala, Entebbe and Mbale and has also announced plans for several new projects in neighbouring Rwanda.