The Opulent Hotel Group that recently acquired 10 acres of the delayed Kigali amusement park land worth US$1.2 million announced plans to build a Hilton brand Hotel in the country.
Hilton Hotels Corporation is a global hospitality company, with more than 3,500 hotels in 81 countries and more than 130,000 team members worldwide.
In the last 6 months, the Group has opened two world-class hotels including the Double Tree by Hilton in Dar es Salaam and a Double Tree by Hilton Resort in Zanzibar.
Hotel rooms in Rwanda grew from 651 rooms in 2001 to 4,225 rooms in 2009. Visitors are expected to rise from 689,000 last year to 750,000 this year generating $175 million and $187 million respectively.
The announcement by the Opulent Group comes after another hotel group, the Belgium based Rezidor Hotel Group announced it was set to enter the Rwanda hospitality sector through the Radisson Blu Hotel and Kigali Convention Centre.
The Group is one of the fastest growing hotel groups worldwide. The Radisson Blu Hotel with 292 rooms is scheduled to open in 2012.
The adjacent convention centre will have a net floor area of 32,000 square meters, which includes a multipurpose arena with a capacity of up to 2,600 delegates, 7 sub-divisible conference rooms and 10 smaller meeting rooms.
Another Hotel Group, the Marriot Hotels International, an American hotel chain at the end of last year entered into a management contract with New Century Development (NCD). NCD, a Chinese company and its Rwandan partners are constructing a $60 million five star hotel in Kigali. Marriott will manage the 242 rooms New Century Hotel for a period of 30 years. The rooms range from deluxe to presidential suits.
According to the chief executive officer of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Mr. John Gara, Rwanda is increasingly attracting tourists and visitors, leading to high demand for quality hotel accommodation.
Rwanda has increasingly become a popular African safari destination due to its population of mountain gorillas inhabiting the far northwest of the country.
Most visitors to Rwanda visit the country to track the endangered mountain gorillas on the slopes of the Virunga Mountains within the Volcanoes National Park Rwanda. Other adventure activities besides gorilla tracking include game viewing, cultural tours, bird watching and genocide memorial site tours.
