The American multinational hospitality company, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc is interested in setting up in Zimbabwe. This was revealed by the national tourism promotion body, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), this week.
Posting on its website, the ZTA indicated that the global hospitality group had told its (ZTA’s) Chief Executive Officer, Winnie Muchanyuka of its intention to operate in Zimbabwe during the Hotel Investment Forum held from 2 to 4 November 2022 at Fairmount Taghazout Bay Agadir in Morocco.
“While at the conference, ZTA Chief Executive Officer, Winnie Muchanyuka and her team met with various stakeholders and potential investors. An engagement with world acclaimed Hilton Group was among the most fruitful as the team met with Samantha Muna, Hilton Development Director for East Africa, who confirmed the group’s commitment to operate in Zimbabwe saying they’re already on the ground and are looking forward to ZTA’s facilitation to connect to project promoters and partner,” read part of the post.
This is not the first time that the Hilton Group has been reported to be interested in setting up in Zimbabwe.
A report by the South African-based CAJ News in July this year highlighted that the Hilton Group had entered into a US$50 million deal with the City of Victoria Falls and Lamcent Capital to build a 120-room hotel in the resort city. Under the deal, the City of Victoria Falls would provide land, which is located next to the four-star Palm River Hotel that was opened in December 2021.
In Southern Africa, the Hilton Group already operates in Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. According to hotelmanagement.net, in 2018 Hilton’s portfolio had approximately 90 hotels operating and under construction across five brands in Africa. At the time the continent had about 39 Hilton-branded hotels, five of which were in South Africa.
