MARRIOTT International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Hilton Worldwide are turning to Africa, where a growing middle class and rising travel are fuelling the fastest pace of hotel development in the world.Marriott has increased the number of hotel rooms it plans on the continent by 55% from last year. For Starwood, revenue per available room (Revpar) in Africa and the Middle East is the highest of any region worldwide. The high-end Transcorp Hilton Abuja, in Nigeria’s capital, commands some of the steepest management fees in the world for its operator, according to Lagos-based hotel-consulting firm W Hospitality.Hotel investors and operators, finding growth slowing in mature European and US markets, are expanding in Africa, as the continent is buoyed by increasing trade with countries including China, and rising demand for services such as lodging. More than half of Africa’s countries are expected to post gross domestic product growth of 5% annually to the end of 2016, the...
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