Riu Hotels and Resorts, 49% owned by Tui, has purchased a 61-acre site in the Pointe Sarene area of the country.

The cash pledge covers both the purchase of the land and the funds to develop two properties on the site – the first will be an approximately 500-room hotel Riu Classic hotel, while the second will be an approximately 800-guest Riu Palace development.

Works are at a “draft planning stage” and are due to get under way in November.

Riu says it is working within the guidance laid down by Sapco, Society for the Development and Promotion of the Senegal Coast and Tourist Zone, to further the Senegalese authorities’ drive to develop tourism.

“Pointe Sarene... [is] a paradise destination that is in the midst of the tourist development process,” said Riu.

The hotel operator added its investment would “strengthen its commitment” to Africa where it currently owns six hotels, five in Cape Verde and another in Tanzania, and operates five in Morocco.

Riu added that new infrastructure developments in Senegal, including the opening in 2017 of Dakar’s new Blaise-Diagne international airport and the development of a new highway and bypass serving the destination, had boosted the region’s tourism credentials.

Each new property will sustain 300 new jobs.