Hilton Garden Inn is celebrating strong growth in Africa with four open properties and an additional 14 in the pipeline just three years after opening its first hotel on the continent in 2016. Many of these properties represent first-in-country openings for Hilton Garden Inn and for the Hilton enterprise as a whole, including Botswana, Zambia and Uganda.
Speaking from Africa’s Travel Indaba, John Greenleaf, Global Head, Hilton Garden Inn said, “We have positioned Hilton Garden Inn for success in Africa with a prototype developed specifically for the region. This prototype has been curated to meet the expectations of both travelers and owners throughout Africa, while maintaining the brand’s signature light, bright and airy design as well as the consistent, core guest offerings and amenities that the brand is recognized for around the world.”
Each hotel is built in the Hilton Garden Inn tradition featuring modern guest rooms perfect for work and comfort. Guests may unwind in a relaxing social setting, enjoying handcrafted cocktails, light bites or dinner. The Shop, a 24-hour, grab-and-go retail space, offers an upscale mix of healthy, indulgent and fresh foods, varietal beverages and a self-serve specialty coffee bar.
To date, Hilton Garden Inn has four properties and nearly 800 rooms open in Africa, including:
- Morocco: Hilton Garden Inn Tanger City Center (Opened March 2016) – Hilton Garden Inn’s initial entry into Africa, this property is steps away from the beach and the famed Tanger City Mall with stunning views of the city and Mediterranean Sea
- Kenya: Hilton Garden Inn Nairobi Airport (Opened February 2018) – Hilton Garden Inn’s first property in Kenya is a welcoming oasis close to Nairobi’s international airport with a rooftop infinity pool
- Zambia: Hilton Garden Inn Lusaka Society Business Park (Opened August 2018) – Zambia’s first Hilton hotel, this Hilton Garden Inn property is centrally located in the heart of Lusaka City, perfect for business travelers
- Botswana: Hilton Garden Inn Gaborone (Opened February 2019) – Hilton’s first hotel in the country, this Hilton Garden Inn property is centrally located in the city's new Central Business District
“Countries such as Botswana and Uganda are some of the fastest growing economies in the world, with impressive visitor offerings. The Hilton Garden Inn brand appeals to the rise of middle-class travelers into and across Africa, providing an opportunity for us to open hotels and meet guest demand in key destinations,” said Jan Van Der Putten, VP Operations, Africa and Indian Ocean, Hilton.
With 14 hotels and nearly 2,400 rooms in the Africa pipeline, Hilton Garden Inn will welcome several first-in-country properties over the next few years in the region. Hilton Garden Inn Kampala in Uganda and Hilton Garden Inn Mbabane in Swaziland are in the pipeline to open this month as first-in-country properties for both Hilton Garden Inn and the Hilton enterprise. The pipeline also projects Hilton Garden Inn Windhoek in Namibia to open later this year, another first-in-country for Hilton Garden Inn. Other African countries in the Hilton Garden Inn pipeline include Malawi, Uganda, Ghana, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.
As Hilton Garden Inn expands in Africa, the Hilton enterprise as a whole also expects to double its footprint across Africa from 44 hotels today to almost 100 over the next several years. Hilton, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month, has a rich legacy of hospitality leadership in the region. As shared in The Hilton Effect, Hilton was the first international hotel brand in the newly created capital of Abuja more than 30 years ago. Hilton produced infrastructure, created sewage and electric systems, built factories, paved roads and recruited Team Members from around the world to quickly teach locals – many of whom had never set foot in a hotel – to deliver five-star service to nearly 1,000 government officials.
While Africa is a key growth region for Hilton Garden Inn, in the first quarter of 2019 the brand also continued to expand globally, opening 10 new properties in six different countries including Switzerland, Austria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Botswana and the United States.