Tsogo Sun to take over Mount Grace, Edward and Hazyview Protea hotels

Tsogo Sun Hotels has announced it is to take over the Mount Grace in Magaliesburg, the iconic Edward in Durban and the Protea Hotel Hazyview in Mpumalanga.

This follows the announcement on Friday by global hotel group Marriott International that it was permanently closing the three hotels as a direct result of the economic fallout around Covid-19.

In a statement, Marriott said the impact of Covid-19 on the hospitality industry “has been unprecedented” and travel restrictions and social distancing efforts around the world had “resulted in weaker demand and economic uncertainty”.

“These are indeed challenging times and our thoughts are with the associates affected by this decision across the three properties. We value their hard work and dedication over the years and thank them for their service.”

“These are three great hotels,” said Marcel Von Aulock, CEO of Tsogo Sun Hotels, adding that the group was committed to their long-term sustainability.

In the short term Tsogo Sun was working with Marriott and had mobilised resources to ensure the properties were handed over, secured and maintained while they remained closed, he said.

Tsogo Sun said it had noted the distress the announcement by Marriot had caused within the travel and tourism industry and the communities where these hotels are situated, as expressed on various social media platforms.

“The hotel industry globally and in SA is undoubtably experiencing one of the most disruptive and difficult periods in its history and it will take some time to recover to its previous activity levels. With the recent announcement by President Ramaphosa of a relaxation of lockdown regulations several of our hotels have opened but are operating on limited capacity and will remain so until demand patterns and flight activities in both the domestic and ultimately the international markets begin to normalise. However, we continue to plan for a phased reactivation of properties, with the full portfolio expected to be open within 12 to 18 months and will now include these three iconic properties in our planning.

“Tsogo Sun Hotels via its subsidiary Hospitality Property Fund owns a controlling stake in the three hotels, which Marriott is terminating its relationship with. We remain committed to these properties and have full faith in their viability post the Covid-19 pandemic and are delighted that we will be able to bring them under the Tsogo management portfolio and fully integrate them into our distribution and management network once the conditions for their reactivation are achieved,” Tsogo Sun said in a statement.