It looks as if the hotel industry is clawing its way back up after several years of turmoil as local hotels will become beneficiaries of the arrival of more tourists, over the next five years, from new markets that are opening up, said Nicolette Kruger, country manager of NFS Technology, the developer and supplier of a range of software for the hospitality and leisure industry.

Formerly known as NFS Hospitality, NFS Technology is also the developer of Rendezvous, one of the leading software solutions for the conference and events industry.

“It is reassuring to note that last year total revenue from hotel rooms grew by 11,4%. Growth over the next few years will probably not be as high as this – but we are going to see single digit growth, at least,” said Kruger.

According to Nikki Foster, PwC’s leader for hospitality and gaming, hotels are going to be the fastest growing category of this sector over the next five years.

She reported that, during this period, demand for rooms would grow faster than supply and the overall occupancy rate would increase. By 2017, she said, the overall occupancy rate was expected to rise to 55.6% , while total room revenue would be R23,5 billion.

Commenting further, Kruger said there also appears to be an “uptick” in the events and conferences industries – an area where NFS Technology has a strong presence.