Employment in the hotel sector in Africa is set to grow substantially in the coming years, according to research by W Hospitality Group.
The consultancy, one of the founding members of Hotel Partners Africa (HPA), estimates that 136 000 new jobs will be created in 2014. The growth will continue in the coming years with 87 000 jobs created in 2015, 70 000 in 2016 and 27 000 thereafter. The figures are based on current signed contracts from international and regional brands as well as non-branded developments.
Sub-Saharan Africa is set to create 165 000 jobs over the next five years across 23 countries. HPA anticipates three major trends in this region: an influx of top management from abroad; a a battle for talented middle management positions; and substantial investment in training programmes.
“By comparison with the developed economies, where growth rates are struggling to exceed 2%, Africa is positively booming, and in an industry that is as labour intensive as hotels, that is very good news for job creation,” said Trevor Ward, MD of W Hospitality Group.
