The findings of the annual Hotel Chain Development Pipeline Survey, produced by W Hospitality Group, show a surge in hotel development in Africa, with a jump in the development pipeline to 270 hotels and nearly 50,000 rooms. Sub-Saharan Africa is also exceeding North Africa by almost 70 per cent, according to the research. The data reveal a modest recovery in North Africa and increasing confidence in SSA - only two years ago the number of rooms in the North African pipeline was the same as that in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Africa Hotel Investment Forum is set to return to Addis Ababa in 2015. Following much speculation, organiser Bench Events have confirmed the premier conference will take place again at the Sheraton Hotel on September 30 October 1.

Over the past decade Bench events has launched the gold standard in hotel investment events across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Events in Berlin, Moscow, Dubai, Istanbul and Nairobi are now the definitive meeting places for the hotel investment community to learn, network, and most importantly to do deals. Here Breaking Travel News sits down with Bench chairman Jonathan Worsley to discuss the industry leading Arabian Hotel Investment Conference.

Bench Events and Questex Media Group today announced that the ninth annual Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference will take place October 21st-23rd 2013 at the Radisson Blu Resort & Congress Hotel in Sochi, Russia, site of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Sochi is undergoing a major transformation from a regional tourist hub into a global tourism destination as it gears up to host the Winter Olympic Games early next year and a number of soccer matches when the FIFA World Cup Finals come to Russia in 2018.

Africa now ranks among the fastest growing economic regions in the world, according to a recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute. The hotel sector reflects this exciting trend with established and international brands and developers entering the marketplace and developing their opportunities with long term growth prospects, including: Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International and The Rezidor Hotel Group.

Over the last couple of years there has been a dramatic change in the way investors are looking at the African continent as a place to do business. And the foundations of many of the African markets are proving to show a solid footing. Bench Events has been at the cutting edge of this trend, with the annual Hotel Investment Conference Africa, scheduled for later this year, ideally placed to allow investors access to this developing market.