Radisson to open its first hotels in Tanzania as part of African expansion

Radisson Hotel Group will add seven new hotels, with more than 1 200 rooms, to its African portfolio and will open two hotels in Dar es Salaam and in Mwanza, in Tanzania, in 2025.

The new hotels have expanded the group’s footprint in Africa to nearly 100 hotels in operation and development in 30 countries, placing it well on track to reach its goal of 150 hotels within the next five years.

Tanzania has been identified as a key market in the group’s proactive expansion strategy, the company says.

“The seven new hotels align with our expansion strategy, demonstrating significant growth in key African markets such as Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia as well as our highly anticipated debut in Tanzania.

“These hotels also highlight our conversion strategy and our commitment to diversifying our portfolio by introducing new brands and cementing our presence in these important markets,” says Radisson Hotel Group Africa and Turkey development VP Ramsay Rankoussi.

The 138-room Radisson Blu Hotel & Apartments hotel in Dar es Salaam is set to open in 2025 and will have 94 guestrooms and 44 three-bedroom apartments. It will occupy the top 14 floors of a 33-floor tower as part of a mixed-use development in Dar es Salaam's central business district.

It will be within walking distance of the ferry terminal to Zanzibar Island and will offer dining, outdoor facilities, a salon, gym, meeting rooms and children's playrooms, Radisson says.

Further, the 196-room Radisson Hotel Mwanza will debut the Radisson brand in Tanzania in 2025. It will offer dining and recreation facilities, outdoor facilities and meeting and event spaces, a ballroom, business centre, gym, spa and child playground.

The group has also enhanced its 11-hotel Moroccan portfolio with a Radisson Blu Hotel & Apartments and a Radisson RED in Casa Anfa, in Casablanca Finance City, which will add 381 rooms and which are set to open in late 2027.

In addition to the five meeting rooms at the Radisson Blu Hotel & Apartments Casablanca Finance City, there will be a 1 100 m² conference centre for meetings and events, comprising an auditorium, ballroom and three meeting rooms.

Casablanca represents a strategic hub among multiple continents and the new hotels solidify the group’s ambitions to reach more than 25 hotels by 2030 across the country, Radisson says.

Meanwhile, the 305-room Radisson Blu Hotel & Conference Centre will soon debut the Radisson Blu brand in Tunis, complementing the group’s footprint in Tunisia as its seventh hotel in the country and fourth in Tunis.

The new hotel is close to the airport and will feature dining facilities, a convention centre, business centre, meeting rooms and boardrooms.

The group will open a 105-room Radisson RED Abuja in Wuse, in Abuja, in 2028, which will be its thirteenth property in Nigeria and the second Radisson RED in the country.

The new-build hotel will be surrounded by corporate offices, estates, shopping malls and nightlife venues. It will have dining facilities, a fitness facility, and 238 m² of meeting space, including three meeting rooms and a pre-function area.

The new signing of the Radisson RED Hotel Abuja has further bolstered the group’s presence in the city, bringing the total number of hotels under development in Abuja to four, the company says.

Additionally, the group is scheduled to open the 120-room Park Inn by Radisson Addis Ababa in 2025, which will be its third hotel in Ethiopia and introduce the Park Inn by Radisson brand to the country.

The hotel will have dining facilities, a conference room, meeting, co-working and events spaces, a business centre, gyms, a spa, sport facilities, retail and a children's entertainment area.

“With a strong first half of the year, we plan to continue the momentum in the second half by focusing on expanding our presence in key markets such as Morocco and South Africa, where we have recently announced our ambition to reach 25 hotels by 2030, and doubling the portfolio in both countries,” says Rankoussi.

Since 2022, the group has opened 14 new hotels. This has set a record in terms of openings and translates to 15% annual net operating growth in its African portfolio.

It also diversified its portfolio with its first safari hotel in Africa, namely the Radisson Safari Hotel Hoedspruit, in South Africa, its first resort in Livingstone, namely the Radisson Blu Resort Mosi-oa-Tunya, and its debut in Reunion Island with Radisson Hotel Saint Denis, it says.