Rwanda then becomes the 10th African country to benefit from investments in Protea Hotels services and infrastructure. The boom in Rwandan tourism is allowing Rwanda to become a tourist destination in the region and in Africa. Investors are scrambling in hospitality services and infrastructure. The South African Hospitality Giant “ProteaHotels” is following suit with the construction of a 5-star hotel in the District of Rusizi, in the west of the country, on the shores of Lake Kivu. This hotel of 15 billion Frws, or 22,058,823$, will have 76 rooms and will be completed in 2016 under the brand of “Protea Kivu Marina Resort Hotel.”.
Thus, “ProteaHotels Group”, part of “Marriott Hotels International”, one of the world’s leading hotels is also building another five-star hotel in the city of Kigali. Other internationally renowned hotels like Radisson Blu, Radisson by Park Inn, Kempinski, Sheraton and Golden Tulip are already in the market for Rwanda’s tourism and hospitality sector.
Yamina Karitanyi, Head of Tourism and Conservation at Rwanda Development Board (RDB) welcomes this new development. “We welcome investors like Protea because Rwandans will directly benefit from this partnership which will also contribute to Rwanda’s competitiveness, especially in tourism”. According to Karitanyi, “the Kuvu Belt (Kivu Bellt) is one of our priority places for the development of tourism and the diversification of the services we offer”.
ProteaHotels is a South African creation specializing in hospitality and leisure headquartered in Cape Town. It is the largest hotel company in Africa with over 126 three, four and five star hotels in 10 African countries. The majority of its hotels are in South Africa. Others are located in Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya and Ghana.