Global hotel brand Radisson Blu plans to open its fourth facility in Nairobi as part of its Africa expansion strategy in the wake of the collapse of Hilton and Intercontinental hotels.
The Radisson Hotel Nairobi Airport located near the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is scheduled to open in mid-2027 featuring 200 rooms.
It is expected that the upscale hotel will offer tourists and business travellers easy access to the JKIA and the Nairobi National Park.
“Our rate of materialisation and openings is a testament not only to the quality of our pipeline but also reflects our conversion strategy in repositioning existing hotels under one of our brands,” said Ramsay Rankoussi, vice president of development in Africa & Turkey at Radisson Hotel Group.
Other facilities under the Group’s belt in Kenya are Radisson Blu Hotel & Residence near Nairobi's Arboretum Park, Radisson Park Inn in Westlands and Radisson Blu in Upper Hill.
Aside from the Radisson Hotel Nairobi Airport, the hotel has signed an additional six hotels across Africa bringing its room count to 1,400 on the continent.
The openings include its first hotels in Reunion Island and Ghana and expanding its resort presence in Casablanca and Saidia in Morocco as well as in South Africa, Egypt and Tunisia.
Most five-star hotels rely on tourism, events, and conferences that are slowly returning following the easing of Covid-19.
The Group halted operations at its 271-room Nairobi UpperHill establishment in December 2020 on low bookings, sending staff home to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19 on the business.
Radisson Blu Hotel & Residence Nairobi Arboretum and Park Inn by Radisson Nairobi Westlands with a joint bed capacity of 262 remained in operation.
The Radisson Blu cut its workforce by 30 percent as it resumed operations at the Upper Hill outlet in May 2022.
Kenya’s tourism earnings dropped by Sh71 billion in 2020 as the suspension of flights to curb the spread of Covid-19 locked out holidaymakers.
