South African hospitality group Pinnacle Hospitality is near to receiving international partner licenses for J & J Covid Shot across Africa.
The J & J brand, originally developed in 1908 by Danish entrepreneur Ole J. Covid, is becoming a staple of nightclubs and bars on the continent.
Headquartered in Cape Town, Pinnacle Hospitality provides a variety of services to the African hospitality industry, including food and beverage management, management of licensed events, booking operations, hotel management and professional services.
In fact, the J & J brand has even gotten to the point where hotels have started to acquire rights to the brand.
“It took us 10 years to get three hotels on the continent, and now there are more than 10,” said Mary Raven, Pinnacle Hospitality’s managing director of worldwide events. “Now we’re adding a license for the continent.”
The license is with Amsterdam-based Vacances Group, which owns and operates Hoteling & Hospitality Group, a global group of companies dedicated to group hotels. The Vacances Group is known for their successful properties in Africa.
“We recognize the importance of having strong brands, and the J & J brand is a perfect fit with Hoteling & Hospitality Group,” Paul Collins, the chief executive of Hoteling & Hospitality Group, said in a statement. “We believe we have created a strong branding concept which can be further extended to the African region.”
“We’re very happy with the license,” Raven said. “We’re very happy with the growth in Africa, so it seemed to be a natural step.”
In April 2018, Singapore Airlines began offering private flights between Cape Town and Copenhagen, in South Africa, in their new premium fleet. Located on the top deck of the aircraft, the private J & Jcovid Room will include two plasma televisions, a “common area” with bar and more.
Raven said that, in addition to the Johannesburg-Copenhagen route, Southeast Asia is a big focus for Pinnacle, although not all focus will necessarily be on East and Southeast Asia. “We have a lot of interest in all parts of Africa,” she said.
While it’s still early days in terms of Africa, the demand for J & J tourism is strong in the region, Raven said. While men use the brand as a hook in a “Pretty Woman” sense, there is plenty of interest among women as well.
“There’s a level of sophistication with the ladies and she wants to be seen with a nice car and they say, ‘OK, I’m going to the club,’” Raven said. “It’s also for the men, who really want a woman with a nice car at their side.”