Axum, a town known for pilgrimage and cultural heritage, welcomes a new five-star hotel built for 270 million Br.
Atranos Fantasy Hotel & Spa, a new local brand, opened its doors three weeks ago in the town located in Tigray Regional State, 1,140Km away from the capital.
Resting on 2,300Sqm of land, the building has six stories and features 83 rooms, each with its own jacuzzi. The hotel has a gym, a swimming pool and a spa. It also has cultural, modern and outdoor restaurants and two meeting halls that can accommodate 400 and 900 people at a time.
The construction of the hotel, which was finally completed by owner Solomon Teklay, took 13 years, four years behind schedule. Different sub-contractors were involved in the construction of the building, while Fasil Giorghis, a local architect, designed the building and worked as a consultant on the project.
The furniture and air conditioning equipment for the hotel were imported from Dubai and China six months ago.
The owner said he chose to invest in Axum, because the city has many tourist destinations that attract visitors, and he wanted to fill the gap in the hospitality sector to accommodate the guests.
Lack of experienced contractors and the forex crunch were the major reasons why the project was not completed according to schedule, said Solomon.
The owner secured a 133 million Br loan from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) four years ago with an interest rate of 11.5pc.
Currently, 170 employees work at the hotel, and that number will soon increase to 220.
The owner said he chose to invest in Axum, because the city has many tourist destinations that attract visitors, and he wanted to fill the gap in the hospitality sector to accommodate the guests.
During the last fiscal year, 24,000 international tourists visited Axum, generating 13.8 million dollars in spending. Besides Atranos, the city has 40 hotels, six of which are star-rated.
In this fiscal year, five new five-star hotels started providing service in Tigray Regional State, three of which are located in the regional capital, Meqelle. The city of Meqelle has 208 hotels with an average of 100 rooms each. Eight of the hotels are star-rated. In the coming years, six new hotels with more than 150 rooms each are expected to join the market.
During the last fiscal year, 91,349 international tourists visited the Regional State and generated 175.4 million dollars. In the first five months of the current fiscal year, 45,501 foreign tourists have visited the Regional State, spending 62.8 million dollars.
In the first five months of this fiscal year, 17 billion Br in capital was registered by investors in the Regional State. Out of these investors, 56pc are in the industrial sector, 18pc invested in the construction sector, and the rest are in the hotel and tourism sectors.
Nationwide, there are 600 star-rated hotels with a total of 8,000 rooms and 10,000 beds. The capital has 164 star-rated hotels and 1,129 non-star level hotels.
The number of tourists flowing into the country is also growing. Five years ago, the country generated 2.8 billion dollars from the 770,428 tourists that visited. Last year, 933,000 tourists visited, generating 3.5 billion dollars.
The owner of Atranos expects the hotel to be graded as a five-star hotel. The owner has started the process of securing the rating, which is expected to be completed in a month.
Kumneger Teketel, managing director at Ozzie Hospitality & Management Consultancy, appreciates the opening of the hotel in a tourist destination city.
But the hotel should consider the budget of the tourists, he said.
"Since tour operators bring the tourists to the area," he said, "the hotels should also communicate with the operators to notify and set prices for their services to increase the tour operators' confidence."
PUBLISHED ON
Mar 07,2020 [ VOL
20 , NO
1036]
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