A group of Mauritius investors invest more than Sh2.5 billion in the hospitality industry in Kenya.
This is after entering into an agreement with the Kenya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) to boost the ailing sector.
KNCCI Nakuru chapter chairman Kamau Njuguna on Wednesday said the investors were expected to start their establishment of a chain of mid-priced hotels across Kenya.
“I have engaged them in serious talks and they have done their own preliminary assessments. We are soon to finalise on the deal,” he said.
Njuguna said the consortium of investors has lined up investments of the hotels in Lamu, Naivasha, Narok and Naivasha, targeting mid-sized entrepreneurs and local holidaymakers in search of affordable accommodation.
In the deal, the foreign investors will also widen the Nakuru county tourism sector by building a five-star hotel in Naivasha.
The move is aimed at shaking up and expanding the tourism circuits in the country. According to Njuguna, the investors are also looking for properties at the Coast as a way of setting up their portfolio in the region.
This comes amid the entry of several international hotel chains which have set up new units in the region, as East Africa countries plan to raise annual tourism earnings to $16 billion from $7 billion by 2020.
In the 2014 Hotel Chain Development Pipelines in Africa report by W Hospitality Group, five hotels opened shop in Kenya, increasing the countries’ room capacity by 743.
The ventures also come on the back of increased economic growth in the country that has boosted demand for goods and services, especially from existing businesses and the growing middle class.
It is this outlook that has drawn the interest of investors seeking growth in high-return frontier economies such as Kenya against marginal profitability in developed countries.