Hotel chain development pipelines in Africa: implications for human capital development

Abstract

Purpose

Hotel development in Africa is at an all-time high, as entrepreneurs and institutional investors recognise and understand the opportunities, and as the international brands identify the gaps in their system coverage. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the chains’ future development pipelines and the requirement for human capital in those hotels.

Design/methodology/approach

Information was obtained from the international and regional (African) hotel chains that are signing deals to manage and brand new hotels in Africa, including location, number of rooms, brand and expected opening date. From this, a calculation was made regarding the number of jobs that will be created at different levels.

Findings

The findings show the number of hotels in the chains’ development pipeline in Nigeria and the human capital requirement in those hotels.

Practical implications

Governments, investors, operators and educators can benefit from the findings presented and develop relevant policies that will impact positively on human capital in Africa.

Originality/value

This paper outlines the impact of hotel growth on human capital needs in Africa.

Citation

Ward, T. (2016), "Hotel chain development pipelines in Africa: implications for human capital development", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 134-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-11-2015-0046