Ambassador Invests 12.5m Br in Expansion

Jul 6 , 2019. By SELAMAWIT MENGESAHA ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

The owners of Ambassador Hotel, one of the four-star hotels in the capital, have invested 12.5 million Br to expand their facilities and upgrade services on a roughly 418Sqm area within the Hotel.

Outfitted with a new health centre, spa, swimming pool, massage and gym room, the Hotel is expected to be inaugurated by August 30, 2019. The Hotel also upgraded its in-room entertainment offerings and security facilities including luggage scanning, body scanning, radio communications and metal detectors at a cost of one million Birr.

The upgrade is expected to increase revenues of the Hotel by attracting tourists, according to Wondwossen Tegegn, general manager of the Hotel.

The Hotel opened its doors in 2008 and is located off Bole Road in front of Millennium Hall, a walking distance from Bole International Airport. Ambassador has 196 rooms including executive, junior presidential, presidential, standard, deluxe, 53 twin and 14 king rooms, all of which come equipped with satellite TV, wi-fi, room service, laundry and dry cleaning.

The Hotel has a restaurant, a bar, seven conference rooms and a coffee shop. It charges 300 dollars a night for a presidential room and 250 dollars and 100 dollars for junior presidential and standard rooms, respectively.

Ambassador Hotel has three sister companies including Ambassador Garment, which was first founded by Seid Mohammed three decades ago with a single sewing machine and 3,000 Br, Ambassador Real Estate and Ambassador Shopping Centre at Arat Kilo, which is under construction.

In 2018, the company reported that it had generated 45 million Br in revenue from 149,534 guests served at the Hotel. It also claims a 79.8pc room occupancy rate in the reported period.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the country generated 2.5 billion dollars in revenue from half a million tourists. The hotel industry is also expanding in the city, which is a seat for the African Union, the United Nation's Economic Commission for Africa and 100 diplomatic missions.

Addis Abeba has 164 star-rated hotels that have a total of 8,000 rooms and 10,000 beds. The city also has 1,129 non-star level hotels.

Upgrading the facilities and service of hotels can play a significant role in attracting more tourists to the country and the capital, according to Gezahegn Abate, deputy director-general of the Catering & Tourism Training Institute under the Ministry of Culture & Tourism.

"The presence of quality hotels will make it easier for the country to market itself as an upmarket tourist destination," he said.

PUBLISHED ON Jul 06,2019 [ VOL 20 , NO 1001]