AR650m investment is set to be pumped into the central city as Tsogo Sun announced the development of a new hotel.

The new 500-bed hotel complex, consisting of two hotels, is planned on the former site of the Tulip Hotel, which was demolished earlier this year.

Construction is expected to begin next month and be completed by September 2017.

The new hotel development will include a 200-bedroom SunSquare hotel and a 300-bedroom StayEasy hotel.

The complex will offer banqueting and conference facilities.

Provincial minister of economic opportunities Alan Winde says the Cape Town International Convention Centre’s expansion means there will be an increase in demand for accommodation in the city centre.

“We will see an increase in the number and size of conferences, resulting in more business travellers to our region.

“Developments, such as Tsogo Sun’s new hotel, will cater to the Western Cape’s projected increase in business tourism,” he says.

Investment
Wesgro CEO Tim Harris says the investment is a huge confidence booster for the central city and for tourism investment in the region.

Wesgro is the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape.

“Because the two hotels are targeting the 2 to 3 star ‘value tourism’ market they will help to meet some of the excess demand for rooms in this price range and broaden the hotel product offering in the city,” he says.

The Tulip Hotel was demolished during a controlled implosion on Sunday 1 March (‘Tulip to be crushed’, People’s Post, 17 February).

Tasso Evangelinos, Central City Improvement District (CCID) chief operating officer, believes the development will bring urban renewal, as it improves on degraded and under-utilised buildings.

“International brands are moving into the city because they recognise the value of doing business here, and with about two million tourists visiting the city each year, there is a need for additional hotels,” he says.

Having international brands recognise that the central city is an ideal location for their hotels is indicative of the desirability of the area as a destination in its own right, Evangelinos believes.

“This development will also create hundreds of new jobs in the construction and hospitality sectors and attract additional spin-off businesses to the downtown area, which can only boost the local economy,” he says

Source: News24