Marriot to build three new hotels in Cape Town

Marriott International is planning the construction of three new hotel properties in Cape Town, in partnership with the Amdec Group, adding over 500 rooms to the city’s hotel accommodation offering.

One hotel will be developed under the company’s signature brand, Marriott Hotels, which will be the first Marriott Hotel in Cape Town.

The second will be developed under the upscale extended stay brand, Residence Inn by Marriott – a first for South Africa; while the third will be under the upper-moderate-tier lifestyle brand, AC Hotels by Marriott, which is the first hotel under this brand for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region.

The AC Hotel, adding 189 rooms, will be located at The Yacht Club in the Roggebaai precinct at the gateway to Cape Town’s waterfront, while the 200-room Cape Town Marriott Hotel Foreshore and the 150-room Residence Inn by Marriott Cape Town Foreshore will be built at the Harbour Arch.

This is an extension of Marriott’s existing partnership with the Amdec Group, initiated in 2015 with the development of the first two Marriott branded hotels in South Africa.

These properties, situated in the Melrose Arch precinct in Johannesburg, are scheduled to open in 2018, and are the Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch and the Marriott Executive Apartments Johannesburg Melrose Arch.

Amdec’s total investment in these Cape Town and Johannesburg developments amounts to over R3-billion, which will have positive economic spinoffs and impact on job creation.

It is anticipated that, during the construction phase, about 8 000 jobs will be created. Once the hotels are completed, over 700 new hospitality jobs will be created – 470 at the three new Cape Town hotels and 320 in Johannesburg.

The new developments bolster Marriott International’s robust growth strategy across the MEA region.

Marriott MEA MD Alex Kyriakidis stated that the developments in Cape Town and Johannesburg confirmed the country’s importance to the international travel market – for both the business and leisure traveller. 

“From the perspective of tourism, the addition of these hotels will strengthen the position of the city as one of the world’s top destinations and we are confident that Cape Town will gain huge benefits from the likely increase in visitor numbers expected in the future,” he added.

Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson noted that Africa was particularly important to the company’s expansion strategy as it held rapid economic growth, an expanding middle class and youth, with an attendant increase of international flights to the continent.

“With over 850-million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are enormous opportunities,” he said.

By 2025, the company aims to expand its current presence on the continent to 27 countries, with over 200 hotels and around 37 000 rooms.