EZULWINI (16 February 2025): The Government has brought in the Dubai-based luxury hotels managers, Palazzo Hospitality to manage its International Convention Centre and Five Star Hotel (ICC&FISH) Ezulwini.
ICC&FISH will now be renamed Ezulwini Palazzo Hotel. In his Speech from the Throne at the opening of Parliament, His Majesty King Mswati III declared that construction of the hotel would be completed this year.
Last week, His Majesty attended the World Governments Summit (WGS) in Dubai during which the Minister of Tourism Jane Mkhonta-Simelane signed an agreement allocating the Palazzo Hospitality management operation of the ICC & FISH. The minister of Finance has indicated that the Palazzo will go into a profit-sharing arrangement with government.
Government says the new operator was chosen after a rigorous selection process in which Palazzo Hotel emerged as the top candidate. However, it is apparent that discussions with the Dubai based Palazzo which was founded in 2019 by Monther Darwish, may have been ongoing for some time. Structural work on the ICC&FISH which had been under construction since 2015 were complete when Government hired Abu Dhabi architects Atrium Designs and Decorations and paid them about USA $1.2 million to give the hotel a Mediterranean ‘look and feel.’
Up to now, the cost of the facility has reached about E9 bln. In the current budget, the minister of finance has allocated E830 million for the completion of the ICC&FISH project. Of this, E462 is going to competing construction works and professional services while E138 million will go to furnishure and interior of the ICC. The Five star hotel which is now 83% is receiving E200 million to install interior finishings including ceilings, cladding and wall plastering.
Once complete, the ICC which stands on 10,000 square metres will have capacity for hosting 4500 people while the Five start hotel will be the biggest in the country able to accompadate almost 280 people on six floors.
Palazzo Hospitality Deputy Managing Director Baraa Khawash has expressed confidence in the company’s ability to deliver a return on investment for the country, citing their extensive experience and expertise in the competitive hospitality sector.
Government started constructing the luxury ICC&FISH in October 2015, and in 2017 offered to host the African Union the Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in 2020. Delays in completing the facility in 2019 forced the withdrawal of the offer and meeting subsequently was held in Chad.
Completion of venue which has stretched for almost 6 years, is expected to make a major contribution to the country’s tourism economy. Tourism, which has almost fully recovered from the Covid-19 pall which collapsed major assets such as the Royal Swazi Sun hotels, in now a major economic growth sector. Opening of the Ezulwini Palazzo is expected make a significant contribution to the country’s 2025 projected 8.3% GDP growth announced by the minister of finance Neal Rijkenberg in his budget speech last week.
Eswatini tourism which traditionally suffered from the pass-through tourism traffic of travellers between the Kruger Park and Durban beach resorts, is increasingly benefitting from national tourism drivers such as culture. Umhlanga Reed Dance in September and the Incwala in December has been joined by the Buganu cultural later this month are now attracting tourists to stay more than one night. Easily the brightest star of the tourist attractions is the all-weekend Bushfire Festival which is drawing a global largely youth patronage that draws thousands into the Kingdom.
Government already owns one hotel – the picturesque 90-room Pigg’s Peak Hotel and Casino on the Makhonjwa Range. It assigned management of this asset to the Orion Group in the 1990s but opted to self-manage when then management contract ran out.
While the management details with Palazzo Hospitality are still being hammered out, all eyes are now on when the luxury hotel might open. Palazzo who already own hotels in near-by Sandton, are expected to hit the ground running – perhaps eyeing the Christmas 2025 season.
Jm/today/16.02.2025
