Hospitality industry upswing expected

After dropping to the lowest level this decade, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels forecasts that global hotel transaction volume will increase by 20 to 40 percent in 2010, according to initial results from the firm’s Hotel Investment Outlook 2010 report. The expected increase marks the first rise in two years.

While the outlook is more positive for this year, the firm expects the 2010 investment landscape to remain localised, characterised by ‘subdued cross-border activity’ as investors remain risk averse and favour their home markets. The exception to this, African Sun believes, is our continent, Africa. We are investing strongly across borders, we are refurbishing hotels, and leasing new properties and keeping a weather eye on OPPORTUNITY – of which there is plenty.

While much of Africa is counting on FIFA 2010 to ‘deliver the tourism goods’, we are looking beyond at how we may best serve an African market. We believe that the majority of our business is and will be derived not from off the continent, but rather from within it. 2010 will be year of upswing for the hospitality sector globally and for Africa particularly. We embrace it.