Sun International, the hotel and resorts company based in South Africa, is seeking more tourists from the Middle East as it attempts to build up new markets during the decline in demand from Europe. There has been more interest in South Africa recently as a tourist destination. The soccer World Cup will be held there next year and the former cruise liner QE2 will be docked in Cape Town, South Africa for 18 months.
Marketing Director for Sun International Ian Anderson said the QE2 needs a lot of work. “Somebody is going to need to invest a lot of money in it. It needs serious refurbishment. We had a look at it.” Sun International owns hotels and resorts throughout Southern Africa and recently expanded into Nigeria and Chile. Mr. Anderson said he expects to see 8 to 10% growth over the next year and wants to turn the Middle East into their biggest growth market.
