AFRICA OFFERS FERTILE GROUND FOR GROWTH

Protea Hotels significantly expands its property portfolio

Cape Town, May 2010: Protea Hotels, Africa’s largest hotel group remains committed to its expansion and investment programme beyond the needs of the World Cup happening in South Africa in 2010. Despite the challenging trading conditions in world markets, Protea has once again, turned in a solid performance opening a total of 5 new properties in South Africa alone, during the 2009 trading term. These include two luxury hotels in Cape Town – 15 on Orange Hotel and Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa; Protea Hotel Umhlanga Ridge, Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Melrose Arch and Protea Hotel OR Tambo which opened close to the newly revamped OR Tambo International Airport.

The Nigerian market is also a key focus for the group and the addition of Protea Hotel Ikeja and Protea hotel Ikoyi Westwood boosts Protea’s presence in this territory,  to 11, across the cities of Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt.

“We see continued potential for growth across the entire continent and remain committed to our development programme,” commented Danny Bryer, Sales and Marketing Director, Protea Hotels. “We are focused on expanding our brand into new emerging African countries like Angola, Botswana and Mozambique and other key nodes in South Africa to strengthen our position as Africa’s Largest and Leading Hotel Group” “We are recognized as consistently delivering a product that prioritizes guest comfort and anticipates the ever changing needs and desires of travelers across both the business and leisure markets. This is clearly reflected in the range of offerings showcased in our diverse portfolio.”