Hotel group plans to expand to Ghana

Cresta, a subsidiary of diversified TA Holdings Limited, presently running 13 hotel resorts and lodges in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia, where it began operating two years ago, would begin operating in the west African nation of Ghana in the first half of 2003.

"The expansion will see three more hotels being opened during the first and second quarter of 2003 in Ghana, Malawi and Zambia," the company said in statement.

The group said the plans were part of a pan-African expansion that began with the opening of the Cresta Lodge Pandy Ondagwa in Namibia as a pilot project in April 2000.

By venturing into the three countries, the company intends to increase its revenue base and generate foreign currency that could be used to consolidate Cresta's Zimbabwe operations.

The company's local operations have been hurt by the downturn in tourist arrivals in Zimbabwe since February 2000, when violent land invasions by government supporters and the violence that preceded the June parliamentary elections savaged the country's image as a safe tourist destination.

Meanwhile, a number of Zimbabweans will be employed in the group's three new hotels and Cresta said it had resumed a management trainee programme to complement its skills base as the group gears itself for expansion in Africa.

The hotel group said it had spent $25 million in the past 24 months training staff in a skills development exercise to improve service delivery.