Project Date: July 2023 – March 2025
Market demand and feasibility work that determined the optimal mix of hotel, ownership and rental apartments at one of South Africa’s largest coastal mixed-use developments, and ultimately led to Southern Sun’s appointment as hospitality partner for the South Tower.
The Brief
Oceans uMhlanga (Pty) Ltd engaged InnSight Advisory to conduct market demand and feasibility studies, and branding and operations strategy for the Oceans Project and South Tower, to establish the best mix of traditional hotel, ownership apartments and short and long-term rental apartments.
The studies were also required to present the market demand position to potential investors, and to establish the appropriate branding, operations and lifestyle models for the development – as well as commercial returns.
The Work
InnSight delivered a full feasibility programme: in-depth market demand studies, international brand studies, competitor analyses, research into comparable new developments, short-term rental and Airbnb insights, operational analyses, pricing, facilities and client research, all culminating in detailed financial pro forma forecasts.
The short-term rental analysis mattered more than it might appear. On the KwaZulu-Natal beachfront the informal rental market is not a footnote to the hotel case; it is the competitor that sets the price expectation for a large part of the demand, so modelling it properly is what separates a forecast that holds from one that unravels in the second year of trading.
