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Olympian Haile Gebreselassie has inaugurated his latest addition to his hotel collection, now seven, in the city of Adama. This comes when two of his hotels in Batu (Zeway) and Shashemene were recently destroyed, undermining his determination to build two dozen hotels by 2025.
“I want local residents to see these hotels as their own and to be seen as a way to create needed jobs. We have 3,500 people working for us in various divisions of our company and these people depend on us and we hope that they will also welcome us as good corporate leaders in the community, ”he said at a press conference on Thursday.
The new hotel built at a cost of 500 million birr has 106 rooms, two restaurants, a gym, a swimming pool and a personal care center and has created more than 300 jobs.
“I used to drive from Addis Ababa to Arba Minch every 15 days, to get inspired and see all the developments; And since the riots, I’ve avoided it. We have to start seeing our future within Ethiopia and not elsewhere. As a reminder, we have to see what is happening to our people in South Africa and Saudi Arabia and try to find a home base, “he added.
The legendary athlete also confirmed that he intends to rebuild his two locations, most urgently the Batu location, as long as the government can ensure security in the area. He has estimated the damage at hundreds of millions of birr.
Haile is also scheduled to open another hotel in Wolayta Sodo within a year, in addition to the ones in Konso and one in Addis Ababa that is described as “upscale which is a standard five-star hotel.”
Haile also said that he will authorize other hotels to sign into a partnership agreement with others and provide management for others. This comes when you look at opportunities in neighboring nations.
“We are aware of the fact, in other nations; competition is tough with international players on hand. But we will continue to study our perspectives and if opportunities are seized, we will use them carefully, “he concluded.
