Kempinski
Hotels, owners of the luxury 5-star Kempinski Gold Coast City,
Accra has debunked the errors perception that the hotel is for the rich. It is
rather meant for ordinary people in Ghana who go there to even buy a drink and
have a leisure.
The Chairman of the Management
Board and CEO, Kempinski Hotels, Mr. Markus Semer, made this known in an
interview with the Chronicle at the just-ended Africa CEO Forum held in Geneva,
Switzerland.
He stressed
that, "the rich always go to bigger place and for that matter they do not
hold any special view for such places but when it serves as a memorable place
for new couples and those who go there to buy water and feel the ambience and
it stays with them forever that is what Kempinski is meant to be".
When asked
whether Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel has local partners, he answered in the
affirmative but declined to reveal them. Mr Semer, however discredited the
impulse that one political giant has share in the luxurious hotel.
He said
before Kempinski hotels operates in a country it looks out for stability, the
health of the economy but they believe that Africa has underwent a great
positive change and it will continue to do so.
Mr Semer,
indicated that their investment in Africa is going to be selective growth
because it will not be a temporary one but something that has come to stay.
According
to him, the chain hotel has a long time view for Africa and hopes for the
continent notwithstanding the believes are they cannot move quickly since it is
a long term growth and would not want to make compromises because their
products standards are very high.
“Our
hotels are very large investments", he stated.
He said,
Kempinski hotels would like to go to Ivory Coast, Senegal, South Africa, back
to Tazania and the partner investor in Accra is very visionary because he
understands that, it is not just a hotel, “Its like a lightening house",
according to him.
“You
remember Dubai, fifteen years ago nobody knew about Dubai, it was just sands
and they built the Blue Sky Hotel and all of a sudden everybody spoke about
it.” Our investments is a bit in going to be like that, it gives you vision not
only in Ghana but Africa as a whole".
Speaking on
how Ghanaians are benefiting in terms of employment, Mr. Semer, said, over 90
percent of their employees are from Ghana unlike other outfits (about 368).
“That’s
our way of giving back to the society because we are there to stay.”
Mr. Semer
however declined to comment on whether or not Kempinski Gold Coast was making
profit because according to him, his establishment is a non-list company but
assured that he has no regrets in coming to Ghana regardless of all the
challenges.
He was
quick to indicate the investments in Africa were going to be a selective growth
but they were going to make sure it fits into country and Kempinski.
Although
the Kempinski brand is European, there is not so much in common among German
and Switzerland and France, so it is very much driven by the local culture and
so they try as much to imbibed the local culture wherever they go, Mr Semer
said.
Advice
When asked
as a business person what would he do to attract more investors in Africa?
He
answered: “What can be done, obviously it is a global world and it is very
competitive but Africa has all the unique landscape and there is not much
continent that can offer such unique panorama".
There are
unique culture and landscape that can be very much exploit to its full
potential, saying business does not like to make unfruitful(stupid) investments
so if a number of investors are willing to come to Africa it means there are a
lot of potentials there.
Africa CEO
Forum
Mr. Semer,
said his company is interested in expanding its presence in the region through
selective growth based on strong local partnerships.
“At Kempinski
we take a ‘small is beautiful’ approach and the Africa CEO Forum offers a
unique, intimate space to connect directly with decision-makers for potential
opportunities in Africa, with an emphasis on building strong relationships for
the future.” He noted
He added
that, attending the Africa CEO Forum was the best thing to do, due the fact
that, they have a growth plan for Africa and it was an opportunity to meet
decision makers on one platform “If I want to do that in Africa it will
obviously take m about two months to meet them and in most cases I would never
get access to such high powered business and government decision makers because
of protocols here I wash my hands next to ministers, I have had lunch next to
investors.”
He added
that, he would continue to attend Africa CEO Forum because of the privileges
and was hopeful that it would be held in one of their hotels in Africa one day.
Instructively, Kempinski
Hotels is Europe’s oldest independent luxury hotel group, created in 1897 (this
year celebrating 120 years as a luxury hotelier)with global presence and a
portfolio of 75 hotels and residences under operation.
In 2017,
Kempinski Hotels will expand its territories by opening five new luxury
properties in destinations, Cuba, Latvia, China, Dubai and Oman
Kempinski is
committed a long-term value growth strategy to remain an independent European
luxury hotel operator
By
MaameAgyeiwaaAgyei
