Issue 21, February - May 2005

Traders speak to Brian Davidson, sales and marketing director of the Legacy Hotel & Resorts International group about its current and future footprint in Africa.

Please provide some insight into the history and current position of Legacy Hotels & Resorts
Legacy is a privately held company that offers a portfolio of superior four and five star hotels, resorts and bush lodges in key business and tourism locations throughout Africa. We are firmly established in both the international and national corporate, conference and leisure markets. Bart Dorrestein and the late Bruno Corte (previously managing director Southern Sun hotels) joined forces in the early 1990s to create a world-class hotel group. In 1999 the consortium bought out the Stock Group's hotel interests and the group was renamed Legacy Hotels & Resorts. Bart Dorrestein is the chairman of the company and is supported by Paddy Brearley, managing director; Neil Yates, financial director, myself as the group sales and marketing director; Barry Ross, human resources director and Dave Harris, who heads up management of the technical services and development division of the group.
The Legacy Hotel and Resorts International group boasts 8 hotels in South Africa, 2 in Namibia, 3 bush lodges in South Africa as well as 5 South African resorts. With new projects in both Africa and the Indian Ocean islands on the cards, Legacy has its roots firmly established in Africa. Aside from the hotels we own outright, we part-own several properties and have management contracts in place with others. Two of the hotels are franchises. The thread that runs throughout all our business dealings is that we are responsible for sales and marketing, management, human resources and training. We consider our sales and marketing team to be one of our strongest assets. Legacy's primary source of business is the international market, which currently represents more than 71% of total room nights sold. The international market is serviced via representatives in North America, Italy, France, Germany, the UK and Botswana.

Please give an overview of Legacy's projects in Africa?
We are currently busy with three major projects. Firstly, adjacent to the Nelson Mandela Square in Johannesburg (South Africa), we are developing the Michelangelo Towers - made up of 194 luxury suites, which will be complete in mid 2005. Secondly, also on the Nelson Mandela Square, we are developing the Raphael Penthouse Suites - 54 luxury suites and penthouses, opening on 1st May. Finally, we are in the process of acquiring a resort on the Northwest coast of Madagascar, called Nosy Iranja. This five-star resort comprises 30 chalets on the island and provides a real “get-away-from-it-all” experience.
Our strategy is to grow our portfolio into Africa, using our established foundation in South Africa and Namibia as a springboard into sub-Saharan Africa. Kate Dunstan, our business development manager for Africa, travels extensively to assess the growing potential for corporate and resort development as countries develop economically and attract more visitors. Our aim is to grow hand-in-hand with the continent.
Although we have over 2 500 members in the group, we have a very small head office which allows us to move fast; we have a great team that can think on its feet and make things happen quickly.

What is your expansion strategy?
Our priority for expansion at the moment is on Madagascar where we are busy with a corporate hotel in Antananarivo.
We also have two projects on the books for Angola; one in Luanda and the other at Ilha da Cazanga, 30 km from Luanda. Both will be five star properties - one a city hotel and the other a resort hotel. Angola is an amazing country with beautiful people and we're looking forward to operating there.
In addition, there are two projects scheduled in Nigeria, which are going to be substantial. The one is in Lagos and the other in Delta River State. This is based on a tourism concept, but will also service the economic community of the Delta. It will be developed in partnership with Delta River State itself.
There are other projects in Africa, but all are too early to mention and we are definitely on the look out for others.

How do you select the countries in which you locate your properties?
We do have a strategic direction with the opening up of Africa, but also we are approached by people who see our flagship Michelangelo Hotel and who would like to see one in their country. We get a lot of visitors from various countries in Africa and they are bowled over by what we have built here. More than that however, it is the ambience and standard that people experience when they stay with us that impresses them so much. Wherever we decide to build a hotel we do not bring in a standard concept, for example, The Michelangelo, The Commodore in Cape Town and The Windhoek Country Club Resort are all unique - each designed and built to suit the location and market for that location. As such, we design our African projects in the ethnicity of the destination itself. We have local partners and we involve local architects, designers and craftsmen in everything we do.

What advantages does Legacy offer over competitor groups?
We compete with different companies in different areas but there is no single competitor to the Legacy Group. In terms of what distinguishes us, I would have to say it is the fact that we strive to have the best hotel in the best location, with the best service. We want to be the hotel of premium choice. The success of our hotels is a combination of the concept, what we build, how we position ourselves to attract the right market, and the fact that we cater to all market segments: the international leisure market accounts for 35% of our business, the corporate market - local and international - is another 35% of our business, and then there is groups / conventions and domestic leisure.

Who would you like to target through the editorial and what message would you like to send to them?
Cross-pollination is very important for the Legacy group. We are the first hotel chain to send sales and marketing people into Africa - we go to places where others have not travelled before, as we believe that the business potential in Africa is phenomenal. Since 1994, more and more visitors from African countries are coming to South Africa - the tourism statistics are growing year on year. There is a perception that Africa is just about corporate business, which is incorrect. Africans - for the very first time - are travelling within Africa for leisure.

In your experience what are the biggest obstacles and biggest opportunities that present themselves when doing business in Africa?
In some parts of Africa bureaucracy and red tape is receding, while in others it is growing at an alarming rate e.g. taxation, visa restrictions. The sooner Africa becomes like the European Economic Union the better it will be for everybody. We need free trade access and free movement of people as we have already seen within the SADC countries. This should be an example for the rest of Africa.
To register a company can be a lengthy process in some countries. It also takes time to put finance together. It helps us that our strategy is to form local partnerships, as it is often easier for a local to sort out the red tape that we encounter than it is for a foreigner.
Despite the difficulties however, we generally find that the willingness to do business is there and most people recognise that we offer a win-win situation; we do not want to come across as “big brother” preferring rather to establish long term local partnerships.
As far as opportunities are concerned; Legacy brings international hotel expertise into Africa. In the 1960s hotel growth was moderate on the continent. After independence in many African countries, hotels became rundown, so in some locations we are literally bringing new life into the hotel industry and the old hotels. This is a great challenge. Through partnerships we hope to transfer expertise and put those destinations and the old hotels back on the map for leisure and corporate travellers.
Even countries that are already recognised as good tourist destinations can benefit from access to our marketing network, and we can partner with the country to help them deliver a good tourism product. Everyone in Africa is keen to work together. Nepad almost created a United States of Africa. People are protective of their continent and wish to do without international influence. Once they get rid of the visa restrictions and customs regulations, Africa will be a magnificent continent to travel in. The Univisa that Nepad is pursuing shows that things are moving in the right direction.

Do you wish to add anything?
In summary, we are a luxury group keen to expand, but expand selectively, into Africa. We wish to form meaningful partnerships; making profits - not only for ourselves - but for our partners as well.

For further information, contact:
Brian Davidson
Group Sales & Marketing Director
Tel: +27 11 806-6808 Fax: +27 11 806-6806

Email: bdavidson@legacyhotels.co.za
http://www.legacyhotels.co.za