
Kasada Seeks 2026 Hotel Deal in Morocco
The company expects to make its entry into North Africa's tourism industry in the first half of 2026.
The same source added that the company has already started to take action, opening of an office in Casablanca to explore opportunities present in Morocco.
Kasada's managing partner and co-Chief Executive Officer, Olivier Granet, acknowledged the group's priority is North Africa, especially Morocco, which is now the number one tourism destination on the African continent.
'For us to be the leading platform, we have to become pan African,' Granet told Bloomberg.
Morocco has been breaking records on the continent, with millions of arrivals secured in all seasons.
Morocco welcomed 17.4 million tourists, with arrivals representing a 20% increase compared to 2023. The data is unprecedented in Morocco and has exceeded the target set by the country for 2026.
The number of arrivals also made Morocco the most-visited country in all of Africa.
'Over the five years, Morocco has averaged USD 3.5 billion in FDI annually across all sectors,' UN Tourism said recently, noting that $2.2 billion was allocated to the sector between 2014 and 2023.
Reports also stressed how Morocco is outpacing Egypt to become a regional leader in the industry.
Bloomberg joined the chorus emphasizing Morocco's tourism appeal, recalling the country's assets, alongside the upcoming international competition it is hosting, like the AFCON in 2025 and the FIFA World Cup 2030.
David Damiba, Kasada's managing partner and co-chief executive officer, echoed Granet's remarks, stressing how Africa presents enormous opportunities.
'We think that there's scope to increase the scale of what we've built already by a factor of two to three times fairly easily in these markets while being concentrated to take advantage of our scale in core cities,' he said.
Beyond its interest in Morocco, Kasada is ambitious to grow its business and presence across luxury hospitality in different areas in sub-Saharan Africa, Bloomberg added. Tags: 2019 tourismAfrican tourists
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