Wyndham to Open Hotel in Ethiopian Capital in First Half of 2015

Wyndham Hotel Group, the owner of the Days Inn and Ramada chains, will open its first hotel in Ethiopia in the first half of next year as it expands the business across the continent.
The unit of U.S.-based Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (WYN) signed a management agreement with local construction company ADM Business, part of Get-AS International, Bani Haddad, vice president for the Middle East and Africa, told reporters today Addis Ababa. The 136-room Ramada Addis is on the main road to Bole International Airport in Africa’s fastest-growing economy, he said.
International hoteliers are seeking to expand in African countries to exploit an increase in travel and higher economic growth rates than in the U.S. and Europe. Marriott International Inc. (MAR), the world’s second-largest publicly traded hotel chain, bought Cape Town-based Protea Hospitality Holdings for about $200 million in April. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT), owner of the Sheraton and St Regis brands, said this month it plans to add as many as 20 hotels in Africa over the next four years.
Wyndham, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, has five African hotels across Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria. It’s working on two more in Kenya, two in Tanzania and one in Nigeria, as well as the Ethiopian project, Haddad said.
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