Members of the Hoteliers Association of Nigeria (HAN) in the Southwest have met in the historic city of Badagry to chart a new course for tourism. During the four-day event, participants harped on the economic possibilities of culture, tourism and taxation, among others, reports Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME.
From the palace of the Akran of Badagry Kingdom to the first storey building in Nigeria, enroute the Badagry heritage museum and slave route (Badagry Marina Port), delegates to the conference on tourism and hospitality had a splendid experience in the ancient town.
With the theme: The Emerging market trends in tourism and hospitality sector of the Nigerian economy, the conference’s second edition drew delegates from Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states.
Driven by the need to find proactive strategies for harnessing Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and tourism, the Hoteliers Association of Nigeria members gathered at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) Complex at Topo, for a four-day event. It brought the spotlight on the rich and economic potential of the culture and tourism industry in the face of recession.
The choice of Badagry as host-city for the conference, the organisers said, was informed by its rich cultural and tourism potential. And so, the first point of call was the palace of the Akran of Badagry Kingdom.
Reiterating the uniqueness of Badagry city to the economy of Nigeria, De Wheno Aholu Menu Toyi 1, Akran of Badagry Kingdom, who received the association’s executive officers at his palace, observed that the town, home to the biggest land port in Nigeria, will soon be home to the biggest seaport in Africa
According to the monarch, the choice of Badagry as the host of the conference reaffirms the community’s role as a hub of aquatic tourism in Africa. He noted that Badagry community is now one of the oil producing communities in Nigeria.
With a feel of the town’s abundant heritage, the innkeepers also embarked on a tour of some of the historic sites spread across the community. Places they visited included the first storey building in Nigeria, the Badagry heritage museum, slave route (Badagry Marina Port), Seriki Abass Brazillian barracoon and the site of the early Christian missionaries cemetery that houses the mass burial of over 250 foreign missionaries who died of malaria and other ecological diseases.
Speaking on the theme of the conference, Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, charged the hoteliers to take advantage of the technological revolution in the business sector to upgrade their operations, while urging them to partner with the media to project their hospitality brands to the global community.
The President of the Hoteliers Association of Nigeria, Southwest Zone, Chief Jerome Adoroh, expressed disappointment at the attitude of th government towards development of the tourism sector.
On the relevance of the culture and tourism sector on the economy, he observed that the sector is one of the world’s largest employers that has brought development and growth to both urban and rural areas. In his view, this significant role has had multiplier effects on other sectors of the economy.
“The sector over the years has been plagued by erratic power supply, lack and shortage of skilled workers, multiple taxation, cowboy tactics and antics of officials of different organs and departments, some of which have further caused untold pains and hardship for operators of the industry,” Adoroh said.
He noted that the association, which has about 70,000 corporate members, is a voice that is championing the cause of the hospitality industry, while praising the operators of hotel business in the country for demonstrating resilience, notwithstanding the turbulent economic challenges faced by the country.
“The conference is expected to serve as a veritable platform to guide them through basic knowledge and education required in fixing the day to day challenges facing the industry,” he noted.
While decrying the government’s lack of development of the sector, the innkeepers called for tax rebate and harmonisation of taxes and levies at the federal and state level. He, however, charged the government and the National Assembly to reexamine tax administration in Nigeria, particularly how it has negatively affected the tourism and hospitality industry. He further urged the Federal Government to do all it can to work on harmonising the tax system, adding that the burden is heavy on the operators amidst lack of basic social infrastructure.
Adoroh said: “As responsible corporate citizens of the country, we believe that revenue generation by the government through taxation is a veritable source of economic growth, thus our resolve to perform our civic duties. However, in doing this, our tax obligation is not supposed to be a peril to sustainability of our businesses.”
The tax session anchored by a tax commentator, Mr. Muyiwa Matuluko, which featured representatives of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and an accountant and chartered tax practitioner, Prince Thomas Olofin, shed light on certain taxation issues bedeviling the hotel industry.
The hoteliers were charged to cultivate the habit of keeping financial records as a means of reducing tax liabilities, noting that hoteliers pay more taxes and levies when services of qualified accountants are not employed.
According to Olofin, excess tax charged on hotels by tax administrators often is not commensurate with the actual sales or turnover of the hotels. He, therefore, charged the owners of hotels to employ competent accountants and keep financial records to avoid double taxation, while appealing to government at all levels to reduce hoteliers’ tax burden to encourage them to pay.
In his paper entitled: “Productivity improvement in the time of recession in Nigeria”, Mr Layi Abidoye, charged hoteliers to prioritise and isolate business opportunities that have the highest probability of resulting in sales and improved profits.
“Hoteliers are not getting basic encouragement: we are the ones providing the roads, electricity and other social service”, lamented the association’s deputy president, Prince Olufemi Egbodofo, adding: “These are things that ordinarily should have been done by the government. We are the ones creating means of livelihood to Nigerian due to this responsibility”.
He also noted that hoteliers’ role as employers needs the attention of the government, decrying that “the bills and taxes being leveled on us is daunting and has the capacity to ground the hospitality sector”.
“Recently the Federal Government promulgated a law that says 15 percent should be paid on rooms and foods used by our clients. The same government is still receiving money over the same conditions. This to us is double taxation which cannot continue. About 18 different taxes and levies are being paid to the government in some states in the Southwest. Everyday more are springing up.
The organisation’s general secretary, who is also a medical doctor, Dr Dapo Olaleye, said he ventured into the industry because of the “need for a life full of varieties”. While calling for policy change, he noted that until the right people who understand the potential of the sector are placed in positions of authority, the tourism sector will probably not witness remarkable growths.
“Nigeria’s hospitality industry needs president and governors who understand the economic benefits of tourism sector government officials have created so many problems for the hospitality sector, such that the hotels that cater for the welfare of both local and international tourists in being plagued with unfriendly and harsh government policies. Its administrators make unfriendly policies capable of wiping out the gains of the sector
“It is sad that the majority of investors in hotel business are pensioners and retired workers who are now over burdened with huge tax. Tax administrators have turned themselves into tin-Gods to frustrate those people who have divested all they have labour into the tourism sector.
The association honoured Chief Folashade Tinubu-Ojo as its Grand Matron.
