Issue 19

An unassuming, relaxed and very friendly demeanor hides a mighty passion in the person of Dillip Rajakarier. His intelligent eyes shine with enthusiasm as he starts chatting about the travel and destination opportunities Africa has to offer.

We meet on an icy cold winter's day in Johannesburg and he has just flown in from Thailand and is on his way to Cape Town again later this afternoon. He is a busy man, and no wonder. He is the CEO of Minor Hotel Group (MHG) who owns, invests and operates a portfolio of 134 hotels and resorts with 17,000 keys in 22 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, South America, Africa and the Indian Ocean. They are consolidating their growing presence in Africa with the opening of a regional office representing the group's Southern Africa portfolio.

Located in Johannesburg, South Africa, the new regional office will represent the 10 properties in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia and brings together team members from various business functions including operations, sales, marketing, finance and HR.

"This new office opening in Johannesburg represents a key step for Minor Hotel Group, demonstrating our commitment to the African market and enabling us to work more effectively within the region. We are here in Johannesburg today to celebrate the growing presence of the group in Africa with our partners, the travel trade, media and other stakeholders," says Dillip.

He is also very positive about increasing tourism to Africa from the Chinese market.

"Of course Thailand is still very popular with the Chinese travelers but we are seeing more and more discerning, affluent Chinese people looking at Africa for that 'wow' factor and as they discover more and more about the standards of luxury and service they do, of course, return. Word-of-mouth is also a very powerful marketing tool."

MHG currently has a portfolio of 26 properties in seven countries in Southern and East Africa with three of its brands represented – Anantara, AVANI and Elewana Collection. PER AQUUM, the group's boutique luxury brand, will be added early next year when Essque Zalu Zanzibar is rebranded.

At the beginning of July, five hotels in southern Africa were rebranded to MHG's upscale AVANI brand. The five properties form part of the portfolio in which MHG invested a total of R679.5 million in their strategic partnership with Sun International, announced in August last year. MHG's investment resulted in the group owning a stake in two properties in both Zambia and Lesotho and one property in Botswana and Namibia.

* The 212-key Zambezi Sun in Zambia has been rebranded to AVANI Victoria Falls Resort; the 196-key Gaborone Sun in Botswana has become AVANI Gaborone Resort & Casino; the 158-key Lesotho Sun and 105-key Maseru Sun, both in Lesotho, have been rebranded to AVANI Lesotho Hotel & Casino and AVANI Maseru Hotel respectively, and the 173-key Kalahari Sands in Namibia has reflagged to AVANI Windhoek Hotel & Casino. The sixth property in the portfolio, the well-known Royal Livingstone Resort, will not be rebranded and is being marketed through Anantara's distribution channels.

Since the partnership was formed last year, both companies' core strengths have been leveraged, with MHG assuming the hotel management, marketing and distribution of the properties, while Sun International has continued to manage the on-property casino operations.

Earlier this year MHG added six camps in Kenya, the result of two of East Africa's most prestigious property portfolios merging, following the acquisition of Cheli & Peacock Group of Companies by the Elewana Collection. The acquisition sees the six Cheli & Peacock properties, namely, Elsa's Kopje, Elephant Pepper Camp, Joy's Camp, Tortilis Camp, Kitich Camp and Lewa Safari Camp, merge under the banner of the Elewana Collection to form a comprehensive circuit of 14 properties spanning the highlights of Northern Tanzania, Kenya and Zanzibar.

In April MHG announced its first foray into North Africa through a new partnership with Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company to develop two new Anantara resorts to open in 2017 – the 93-key Anantara Tozeur Resort in the southwest of Tunisia and the 230-key Anantara Al Houara Tangier Resort in northern Morocco.

About the ELEWANA COLLECTION

The Elewana Collection in Africa delivers once-in-a-lifetime experiences in 14 exclusive lodges, camps and hotels in Tanzania and Kenya. Very recently Elewana Collection merged with Cheli & Peacock, which added six camps in Kenya to the portfolio. SkySafari by Elewana, a deluxe all-inclusive package solution, is a bespoke blend of incomparable game viewing opportunities, luxury accommodations, intimate dining choices and tailor made experiences, all combining to create a series of unsurpassable and lifelong memories of Africa.

For more information please visit www.minorinternational.com

*Additional information supplied by The Minor Hotel Group

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