Fulfilling last year’s goal for the Kenyan market, today’s announcement focuses on the first dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels on the continent, the return of the Hyatt brand to Cairo, new Park Hyatt and Hyatt Regency hotels in Morocco, and Hyatt hotels in three new countries: Algeria, Ethiopia, and Senegal.

Africa, and particularly East Africa, remains a focus for Hyatt with an increasingly favorable business climate and heightened tourism spend, encouraged by relaxed visa rules, travel incentives, and a growing middle class. Together these factors are shaping demand for diversified accommodations, ranging from full-service luxury destinations and select-service hotels.

According to the UNWTO Tourism Highlights: 2018 Edition, international tourist arrivals in sub-Saharan Africa have grown by 5.8 percent from 2005 to 2017, which is well above the global average of 4.2 percent. Furthermore, the continent saw a sustained growth of 8.6 percent in international tourist arrivals last year.

Domestic travel is expected to grow due to the Single African Air Travel Market (SAATM) initiative that launched earlier this year. While UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2017 noted four out of 10 travelers in Africa originate from the region, this number is expected to grow with the SAATM initiative, therefore fueling demand for mid-market options in the continent’s bustling centers and regional hubs such as Nairobi, Lagos, Addis Ababa, and Johannesburg.

Leveraging global flight reservation information, travel data company Forward Keys has stated long-haul international flights to Nairobi have grown by 8 percent as businesses take advantage of the recent multi-million dollar expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and newly announced routes from Amsterdam, Paris, London, and Accra.

"At last year's Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF), Hyatt set a goal to bring Hyatt-branded hotels to Kenya and we are delighted to announce plans to deliver on that just twelve months later with additional executed hotel developments across the continent," said Tejas Shah, Hyatt's regional vice president of development for Africa. "There is huge potential for further growth in America, and our approach is to grow thoughtfully in markets where our guests are traveling."

"Strengthening our existing hotel presence in the capitals of East Africa has given Hyatt a strong foundation to continue growing our brand footprint in the rest of the continent," said Takuya Aoyama, Hyatt's vice president of development for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. "We are privileged to have an expansive network of exceptional owners and developers who are essential to fostering our momentum and powering our growth across Africa."

Of Hyatt’s expected nine new hotels, five are market entries:

• Algeria: Hyatt Regency Algiers Airport (expected to open in Q1 2019)
• Ethiopia: Hyatt Regency Addis Ababa (expected to open Q4 2018)
• Kenya: Hyatt Place Nairobi/Westlands and Hyatt House Nairobi/Westlands (expected to open in 2020)
• Senegal: Hyatt Centric Dakar (expected to open in Q1 2019)

In Africa’s established markets, Hyatt is expanding its brand footprint in:

• Cairo: Hyatt Regency Cairo West (expected to open in 2020) will mark the second Hyatt-branded hotel in Egypt and return of the Hyatt flag to Egypt’s capital
• Morocco: Park Hyatt Marrakech (expected to open in 2020) and Hyatt Regency Taghazout (expected to open in Q3 2019) will represent the third and fourth Hyatt-branded hotels in Morocco
• Tanzania: Hyatt Regency Arusha (expected to open in mid-2019) will mark the third Hyatt-branded hotel in the country

“The number of Hyatt executed franchise and management agreements in the region is a reflection of our flexibility with working with regional developers on projects ranging from new builds to adaptive reuse or even conversions of operating hotels,” continued Shah. “As part of Hyatt’s long-term plan to expand in sub-Saharan Africa, we will continue to look for further opportunities across countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, Mozambique, Namibia, Cameroon, Madagascar, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire.”