Africa has seen strong growth in revenue per available room for a sustained period, according to the latest figures from STR.

Speaking at the Africa Hotel Investment Forum, STR director Thomas Emanuel said RevPAR had grown for 87 consecutive months amid a period of low supply growth and strong demand.

Using a 12-month moving average and US dollar constant currency to remove the impact of fluctuations, RevPAR in Africa was up 6.4 per cent, to US$67, as of August this year.

Average daily rate, up 3.3 per cent, has had more of an impact on that growth than occupancy (up 2.9 per cent).

“Africa has shown one of the better supply and demand balances on a global level,” Emanuel said.

“The continent’s industry continues to expand alongside rapidly developing economies and infrastructure, so there is definite investment opportunity even though finding the right opportunity is challenging.

“The prospects of greater supply growth as well as political and economic instability can also create difficult situations for the region’s hotel industry moving forward.”

During his presentation, Emanuel also pointed out that, despite its massive geographical area, Africa has just roughly 5,000 hotels.

Only four countries in Africa offer more than 50,000 rooms: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa.

He added that six years ago, there were 18 countries with no globally branded hotels.

Today, there are only seven countries in that category.