RTG expands footprint across Africa
THE Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) is expanding its operations across Africa through initiatives that include the acquisition of management contracts and leases.
Addressing shareholders during the group’s annual general meeting in Harare last week, RTG chief executive officer Mr Tendai Madziwanyika said the group would leverage on its strategic partnership with a European hospitality firm, Grand Metropolitan Hotels (GMH), to tap into the growth opportunities the continent presented.
“RTG entered into a strategic partnership with a renowned European hospitality company called Grand Metropolitan Hotels. The partnership was launched in Cape Town and this was in April of this year.
“The partnership involves the formation of various joint venture entities to leverage on opportunities within the hospitality and tech industries throughout the African continent.
“So, some of the main elements are hotel contracts across Africa, tech enablement and activation of Gateway Stream (a homegrown digital application platform) across Africa and the formulation of an international hospitality training school, in partnership with a reputable Swiss hospitality school,” he said.
GMH is a Dutch-registered private firm with limited liability, incorporated under Dutch law and headquartered in Roermond, The Netherlands.
Mr Madziwanyika said the establishment of the international hospitality training school was not meant to compete with tertiary institutions such as the Midlands State University and Scotts Hall.
“The aim of this is — we are taking people who have already got their hospitality degrees and want to bring them in here and want to infuse the RTG DNA because, as we start to acquire management contracts across Africa, we need to make sure the values of RTG are the DNA in the ethos of RTG.
“So, it is really something that is at another level. We will be working with hospitality schools, rather than in competition with them.
“Maybe with time, we will also take a few graduates . . . but it is not really the main focus,” he said, adding that Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is forecast to grow 10 times from the current US$3 trillion to about US$30 trillion by 2050.
“What it means, basically, is that Africa could have the same GDP as what the United States has today.”
The RTG boss noted that intra-Africa travel was forecast to grow by an average of 8 percent per annum between now and 2030, ahead of global travel forecasts of 45 percent annually.
Other opportunities on the continent compelling RTG to expand in Africa is the expected growth of tourist arrivals by 2030, with hotel establishments in the region projected to reach 124 000, from the current 52 000.
“So, you can see the immense opportunity that exists on the African continent. We would like to partake of this type of statistics that we are sharing with you. Africa’s digital economy will accelerate exponentially, springing from the current 180 billion to a trillion by 2050.
“The digital drive aimed at accelerating industrial and economic growth will see 43 percent of travel into Africa being business-driven,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the first five months of the year, RTG recorded a 36 percent growth in hotel occupancy to 60 percent, underpinned by sustained brand visibility and a buoyant domestic tourism industry.
In the corresponding period last year, RTG’s occupancy rate stood at 44 percent.
This comes after the local tourism industry experienced a remarkable increase in international tourist arrivals during the first quarter of the year.
Statistics from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency showed that 409 979 foreign travellers visited the country in the quarter to March 2024, reflecting a 94 percent jump from 211 054 in the same period last year.
Source: https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/rtg-expands-footprint-across-africa
