The announcement of the R750 million Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel in April was, for most of the market, the moment African Rain Collection arrived. Inside the business, it was the moment a much longer plan moved into public view.
African Rain Collection is the new hospitality group behind Century City Conference Centre, Century City Hotels in Cape Town and the upcoming Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel in Johannesburg. It has been three years in the making and a deliberate, structured build of the leadership, commercial capability and operating discipline required to run a multi-asset, multi-region hospitality portfolio.
It is not a rebrand. It is the operating company that the business has been building towards.
African Rain Collection functions as a centralised operating model across its assets, aligning commercial strategy, operational systems and execution to deliver consistent performance across locations. The foundation for this approach was built in Cape Town. Over ten years, the team has operated one of the country’s largest privately-owned venues alongside a multi-property hotel and accommodation offering. That experience, across business events, leisure stays, restaurants and extended-stay accommodation, has been shaped under real trading conditions and refined over time. What has emerged is not just a successful operation, but a system.
Leadership Built for Scale
Leadership has been built deliberately to support that system at scale. The group is led by CEO Gary Koetser, whose focus is on long-term strategy, organisational culture and disciplined growth. He is supported by Chief Financial Officer Roger Watts, who has established the financial structure and controls required to support a multi-asset, multi-region business.
“Growth for us has never been about scale alone. It is about building a business that can deliver consistently, across different cities and environments, without losing what made it successful in the first place.” – Gary Koetser, CEO, African Rain Collection
A Centralised Commercial Engine
The most distinctive element of the business is its centralised commercial engine. Led by Chief Commercial Officer Kim Weber and Zandri Swartz, Head of Sales, the team spans more than 20 specialists responsible for driving revenue, distribution, and market positioning across all assets, ensuring each asset benefits from shared insight and coordinated execution.
It is what makes the next phase of expansion possible.
Waterfall City: Three Years in the Making
Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel has been in planning for the past three years. The African Rain Collection team has been actively involved as part of the development team, working alongside design and professional partners to shape the asset from the outset. Under the direction of Koetser, the focus has been on ensuring the asset is built not only for scale, but for delivery.
The leadership, financial discipline, commercial capability and operating systems are already in place. Future assets will plug into a structure that has been tested and refined over time.
For clients and partners, the message is clear. African Rain Collection is not simply growing its footprint. It is scaling a system.
