Hotels as a Property Asset Class: International and South African Trends

Abstract

This article contributes to an understanding – presently undeveloped – of the production of hospitality spaces in South Africa, and in particular examines the country’s growing hotel sector. The specific focus is upon the hotel as a form of property investment and the hotel sector as a specific property asset class. Against the backdrop of an overview of existing scholarship on the hotel sector in sub-Saharan Africa and of international debates around hotels as property investment, the findings of detailed interviews undertaken with key stakeholders of South Africa’s hotel and property industry are presented. Common patterns and differences are recorded between South Africa and the situation in advanced economies concerning the hotel as a property asset class.