ZAMBIA WELCOMES NEW PROTEA HOTEL LUSAKA TOWER

April 7 2014: The new Protea Hotel Lusaka Tower opens its doors today, making it the fourth Protea Hotel offering in the Zambian capital and the eighth in Zambia as a whole.

Built to meet the growing demand for conference and business accommodation in Lusaka, the hotel has already received a number of forward bookings for its conference facilities as well as its rooms. The nine-storey, 137-room Protea Hotel Lusaka Tower is situated in the Arcades Shopping and Entertainment lifestyle hub opposite the Mulungushi Conference Centre.

Facilities in the elegant new property include four suites, 30 twin deluxe rooms, 103 king deluxe rooms, a swimming pool and a ninth-floor restaurant and bar with expansive views over the surrounding city. The suites and rooms are comfortable, with minimalist, but warm, décor, and the facilities

meet the needs of corporate and leisure travellers. The hotel also offers GUESTS and visitors two meeting rooms and three boardrooms rooms, to complement the conferencing facilities available at the neighbouring Protea Hotel Lusaka, which can accommodate 80 delegates.

Protea Hotels now falls within the Marriott International Hotels portfolio. Marriott International Middle East and Africa President and Managing Director Alex Kyriakidis says Protea Hotel Lusaka Tower is one of more than 20 hotels (3 000 rooms)that will be opening in sub-Saharan Africa in the next four years.

“And in the Middle East and African regions as a whole, the development pipeline extends to more than 65 hotels and 14 300 rooms between now and 2018 across the various brands in the Marriott International portfolio.” These builds are taking place in, among others, Nigeria, Gabon, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Ghana and Benin.

“And as with the decision to build Protea Hotel Lusaka Tower as the fourth Protea Hotel in the Zambian capital, these builds are driven by ever-growing demand for both quality accommodation and conferencing facilities across Africa. “We have no doubt that Protea Hotel Lusaka Tower will be successful. Lusaka is a vibrant

capital from which much of the country’s economic growth prediction of more than 6% for 2014 will stem. It has become one of Africa’s top business centres and the investment in hospitality infrastructure reflects that,” says Kyriakidis.