A site has already been acquired for the Umhlanga property and construction is expected to begin early 2017.

 

“We would also like to have six or seven Express Inns throughout secondary cities, like Bloemfontein, Upington or Polokwane,” said Nassimov.

 

Nassimov also mentioned that there are plans to expand within regional Africa in the future. However, he added: “We don’t want to go into Africa until we’ve got a footprint around South Africa”.

 

Details of Premier's repositioning were also revealed at the gala dinner.

 

“We would like to sub-brand to get the fair share of the market because right now we offer full service, three of four star hotels,” said Nassimov.  

 

Guy Parton, from marketing and advertising agency Hippocampus, was responsible for unveiling the re-branding of Premier Hotels and Resorts.

 

A 3D effect has been added to the Premier logo and the colouring has been tweaked.  Each of the sub-brands, Splendid Inn, Express Inn, Premier Resort and East London International Convention Centre, were rebranded with a different colour to represent the different market segmentation.

 

Premier’s Pinetown, Port Edward and King David hotels will all be rebranded under the Splendid Inn brand.