The tourism industry has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. ANEW Hotels and Resorts however, have remained resilient. The group has expanded its brand with the acquisition of six properties from Fortis Hotel Group.
The hotels and resorts are: Hunters Rest in Rustenburg, Highveld and Witbank Hotels in Emalahleni, the Capital and Manor Hatfield Hotels in Pretoria and Malaga Hotel in Sycamore. Fortis will transition to the ANEW brand over the next few months, with the first reveal on 1 September 2020.
The group has expanded its brand with the acquisition of six properties from Fortis Hotel Group.
‘The past few months have been extremely challenging as far as trading goes,’ says Clinton Armour CEO of ANEW Hotels & Resorts, ‘but we’re encouraged by the glimmers of hope we have for the ANEW brand moving forward. Over the past two years, we have been actively looking for additional properties to expand the ANEW footprint and we were determined to find the right properties and partners in order to grow the brand effectively and sustainably.’
‘We’re thrilled to announce that we have found our match in the Fortis brand and concluded an agreement this week to acquire an additional six (6) properties, bringing the ANEW stable to 10 hotels and resorts countrywide. We feel this acquisition shows confidence not only in the sector, but in the country as well.’
‘The Fortis culture is very similar to that of ANEW and the synergies of culture, people and technology, made the team-up a natural fit,’ continues Armour. ‘The Fortis portfolio is well-positioned, with the right number of hotel keys per hotel (approx.600 in total) and gives ANEW an immediate national footprint, in many key nodes, which we were after. The ANEW Group will now manage just under 1000 keys.’
‘We’ve also made a significant investment in state of the art technology and systems, providing efficiencies of scale, which can be duplicated across the group,’ adds Armour.
‘Fortis Chairman, Grant McLachlan and I have been talking for some time, about joining forces. Both groups are 3-4-Star full-service hotels and the synergy of combining the brands had merit and would better serve his six hotels for the long term.’
ANEW’s Group Operations Manager, Kevin Burley says that the new grouping strengthens the role of family-owned and run hotels, with a distinct ethos and passion for personalised service delivery.
‘Unlike many of our competitors and a lot of the more corporate groups, our structures are flat, making collaboration and the ability to make changes quickly, much easier.’
‘ANEW brings a fresh and dynamic energy and style to the Fortis brand, while learning from their successes. From a staff perspective, we’re excited at the prospects of having an additional six hotels in the ANEW portfolio, which opens up a host of new avenues to grow our staff (now approx.800) and provide career paths and development opportunities within the group.’
Image credit: Supplied
