Hyatt Hotels is building two new hotels in Algeria and Morocco.
The Hyatt Regency Algiers Airport is part of the wider airport expansion in one of North Africa’s largest cities. The 326-room hotel will be situated directly opposite the airport’s new terminal and will be the only terminal-linked hotel. It will be centrally located at the entry to the airport.
Hyatt also will build a Park Hyatt in Marrakech, its third hotel in the country. The company plans for it to be “a personalized, luxury experience.”
The hotel will be part of the Al Maaden residential and leisure development, which is being built up in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. The development will include a Moroccan garden-inspired 18-golf course, the company said.
Nuno Galvao Pinto, who oversees development in North Africa for Hyatt, said the company already has a strong presence in North Africa, particularly Morocco. But the Algeria build will be the first in the country, Galvao Pinto told Maghreb News Wire. It is planned to open in 2019.
“This is the first one in Algeria because we were interested to see the country had a strong and growing economy,” he said.
The hotel is designed mainly for the business traveler, but Galvao Pinto said the company sees growth in tourism and leisure in the country. He expects Hyatt to grow its presence in Algeria with a second build likely outside Algiers.
Elsewhere in the region, the company will soon announce plans for a new hotel in Egypt and is keeping an eye on Tunisia, a country with “a tremendous amount to offer,” Galvoa Pinto said.
In a statement, Peter Penev, Hyatt’s vice president of acquisitions and development, said the development opportunities for Hyatt in Africa are significant.
“We see enormous potential in the region,” Penev said. “This expansion reinforces our commitment to developing our pipeline in Africa. With the introduction of a Pan-African, visa-free passport next year alongside the continued improvement in the connectivity and growth of the region’s airlines, we expect tourist and business travel will only continue to increase.”
