Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo – Bristol, a hotel operator from the city of Belo Horizonte, capital of the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, intends to build a hotel in Morocco, an Arab country in the north of Africa. According to the chain president, Antônio Bispo, the company has already elaborated a study for the establishment of the unit, which should start being built within a year. Bristol manages and is the investor in 21 hospitality units, among them hotels and apartment hotels, in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Goiás.
The chain hotels in Brazil are built by investors, who normally put their money in the enterprise before it is built. In Morocco, the company is first going to build the hotel, and then seek investors. According to Bispo, who is also a Bristol partner, the company already has financing available from a North American company to build the hotel in the Arab country. The chain has a collaborator in Morocco who is helping make the project possible.
The hotel will have 96 apartments and will be built in a plot covering an area of 8,000 square metres in the city of Rabat, the country capital. The built area will cover 30% of the plot of land. The hotel apartments will have one room and a living room. Some apartments will have two rooms for family use, according to Bispo. The Moroccan unit will use the same name as the units in Brazil, Bristol. The space turned to restaurants will be greater in the hotel in Morocco than in the Brazilian units. "The Moroccans usually go to restaurants at hotels," stated the businessman.
The enterprise will be classified between three and four stars. Bispo stated that this kind of hotel is lacking on the Moroccan market. "Either they are very simple, or luxury," he said. The businessman believes that the works should be completed within one year and six months after the beginning. Bispo is going to participate, between April 27 and 29, in a meeting called Vision 2010, in Morocco, in which the tourist targets of the Arab country will be discussed. He was invited by the Ministry of Tourism and, at the opportunity, should make contact with tourism operators and representatives of investment funds.
Entry into Morocco is part of a grater chain internationalisation plan. Bristol is also discussing possible investment in Algeria. The studies for the international expansion project started in 2003. The focus, according to Bispo, will be the North of Africa and the Middle East. "They are places that, in our understanding, are going to develop and offer growth opportunities," he said. The region, according to the businessman, is not yet as competitive as other parts of the world, like Europe.
Bristol has other partners, apart from Bispo. The company was established in 1987 in the city of Belo Horizonte and expanded to Espírito Santo, also in southeastern Brazil, in 1993. It is currently the largest hotel network in the state, with nine units in the cities of Vila Velha, Vitória, Guarapari and Aracruz. The company intends to build a resort, to be called Vila de Santa Luzia, in an area of 70,000 square metres. It will have a private beach and 166 apartments. Antônio Bispo is also president of the Brazil-Morocco Association.
Contact
Bristol
Telephone: (+55 27) 3315-0505
Site: www.orgbristol.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
