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Tag: hospitality

  • ‘Hospitality industry in Lagos can generate over N846b yearly’

    ‘Hospitality industry in Lagos can generate over N846b yearly’

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, International Maximum Resources & Chemical Industries Ltd., Prince Madugba Raphael Chiadikobi, says Nigeria can leverage the untapped opportunities in the tourism/hospitality industry to diversify its economy. In this interview with Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA, the industrialist, ex-banker and hotelier says hospitality is lucrative, with Lagos alone capable of generating over $3 billion (about N846 billion) yearly, if the government puts the right things in place. According to him, there is a need to fix power, which is a pain in operators’ necks, and also reexamine some Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policies. 

    How would you assess the economy so far?

    To be honest with you, we are making progress in one area: security. There is no business that can thrive when there is crisis. The moment you are able to sort out the issue of security, more people will have the confidence to invest. But if there is no security you won’t dare. That is the area I can give our President and his team a pass mark. But when you come to the issue of food security, it also boils down to security, because most of the agricultural products come from up north and when there is no peace there, they will not come. Most food items are very expensive now, particularly tomatoes.

    How are operators in the hospitality industry coping with the scarcity and high price of tomatoes?  

    It’s a very bad situation. If you are making a sauce before with N2,000, you are going to make it with N4,000 now. If we served you a meal at probably N1,000 or N1,500 before and you come now and we say it’s N3,000 you will flare up. That is natural. But the reality on ground is that the government is not helping issues. The first thing I told you when you came in was that we woke up this morning to buy Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel at N180 per litre. How can you survive under this? So, if the government can get the energy sector right, leave the rest to us. If the energy sector is fixed, our problems are half-solved. Why it is not difficult, from my own perspective,is this: What is the source that we are using to generate this power? They say it is gas. And they are still flaring this gas till tomorrow, wasting it. What stops the government from building the turbines where these gases are, so that nobody will go and cut the pipe that is directing it to the power plants? That is one point. Then, we have more than eight states in Nigeria that can produce coal. What stops them from building turbines and using coal to fire them and generate electricity?

    How does the energy crisis affect operators in the hospitality industry?

    Terribly! It affects us much more than any other sector. In the banking sector, their generators will be on from probably 7.00 am  till 10.00 pm and they power down. The ATMs operate with solar. But the hospitality business is 24/7, you don’t power down. Even if it is one guest you have, he expects you to put on the light for him. So, it’s affecting us in every area; it affects our margin. Even the noise pollution alone, if not that we are using sound-proof generator; we have three generators, two are sound-proof, one is basic. The cost implication is very high, and sooner or later most of us that claim that we will give you light 24/7 will have to adjust. This is because where you bought 50 litres before probably for N6,000 we buy now it N9,000.

    Some people are calling for a review of the power sector privatisation. Do you think this is the way to go? 

    For me, it was a wrong step to privatise it in the first place. Government should have taken total control of the power sector, improve it, and then ask the citizens to pay. We are paying, but we are not getting electricity. Where I leave in Ogudu I have not experienced power  for three days, but I pay bills. Here, since yesterday, we have not seen light. So, it was a wrong step in the first place. Previous governments never planned for the rainy day. That is one of the credits I am giving to the current president because he is trying to diversify to solid minerals and agriculture, although, Return on Investment (RoI) on agriculture takes longer time. The profit is not all that fantabulous.

    How can tourism/hospitality industry contribute to economic diversification? 

    Hospitality business is a very lucrative business when things are done right. So, the government should look into it very well. In Nigeria we celebrate mediocrity more than merit. That is one of the problems we have in this country. As big as Apapa is, the only five star hotel here is Rockview. As I talk with you after that Rockview we are next to them. This is not my own assessment, but of people who have been dealing with them that came here within these two months of our test run.

    How much can the government can generate from this sector if some of these issues you highlighted are resolved?

    I cannot give you an exact figure, but within Lagos, from our own feasibility study, it’s more than $3 billion (about N846 billion) annually. This is based on the feasibility study by the firm we commissioned to do feasibility study for us.

    As a former banker, how would you assess CBN’s policies?

    The CBN policies, especially the one on foreign exchange (forex) is very oppressive and draconic in the sense that most of us that have children abroad we cannot send money to them. Not all of us are politicians and not all of us are living on stolen funds. I was calling my bank this morning that please I need to buy about $3,000 for my children; that I want to pay their rents because the month has ended, they were asking me all kinds of questions. So, the policy is very draconic in the sense that a CBN ought to just give the directive, formulate policies and allow the system to run. Like the Bible will say, let the chaff and the wheat be growing together and at the right time they will be separated. By tightening everything you are killing businesses and when there is no business to be done, the next thing is unemployment, anarchy and crime. When Sanusi was there; I so much liked his policies, honestly. Sanusi as I said was one of the best CBN governors Nigeria ever produced.

    Why do you say so?

    As an experienced banker, I was questioning people in the bank. For instance, which sectors in Nigeria were supporting all those billions net profits banks were declaring? Those were purely engineered balances, only on paper. As at 2005 when Soludo said all banks should recapitalise to N25 billion,  most of them did not capitalise, all they did was to credit shares, ask their members of staff to fill the forms that they have bought them or even given them soft loans. But when Sanusi came, he was an insider; he knew what they were doing. So, when he was telling people that a first generation bank was having problem, people never believed him. I told people that second generation bank went to the capital market in that 2005 at N10.90, almost N11. Within six months after raising the so-called N25 billion, they even claimed they raised N35 billion. Then, they went back to the market and hiked their share to N17, N25 and I said this was a lie. When they went public the first time it was sold at N10.90. I bought 100,000 unit shares. In fairness to them, two second generation bank are the only banks that are giving good returns to their shareholders. Others are balderdash. As big as one first generation bank is, it’s rubbish. I got my dividend yesterday. I have about ninety something thousand. They gave me N7,000 dividend, and these are the shares they sold N37 per unit in 2007. So, operators in the system were not honest ab initio and any foundation built on falsehood one day will crash. So, what Sanusi did was to try to clean up the system for which people castigated him that he came to witch-hunt. Today, a bank sacked 1, 040 members of staff. Last time, it was a third generation bank, about 300. So, I don’t know where we are heading to.

    Why did you veer into hospitality business after 19 years in banking?

    I was in the bank for 19 solid years, and during that time I was nursing the ambition to go into the tourism/hospitality industry. I was asking myself after bank what next? I started from the paint industry. I have a paint factory at Ogba, Lagos. We produce domestic and industrial paints and paints used for vehicles. The paints industry wasn’t all that moving properly so, I veered into another arm of the business by bringing in chemicals. That one later began to have problem as well because of the adulteration of chemicals. The China market may be a bit profitable, but the problem is that they have fake and substandard quality compared to the European market. I travelled to England with my children in 2005. I lodged in one hotel in Paddington, Central London and I loved the design and I felt I could replicate that in Nigeria. That was the motivation. You know it’s difficult to do business in Nigeria. The environment is not friendly, the government is not friendly. If you want to begin any business in Nigeria you must have nine lives to survive; it all depends on your determination, the zeal and energy you put into it.

    When did you leave banking?

    I left banking 11 years ago, precisely on May 31, 2005. While I was still in the bank, I had the paints industry. My paints industry started in 1999. So, I was working and earning salaries and investing it in the paints industry in the hope that whenever I leave I won’t start from ground zero; so that I will see where to hang because experience has shown that when a salary earner leaves employment and jumps into business the first one or two businesses he will do he may have problems because he is not used to that environment.

    What has been the response so far?

    In Apapa here, what you have mostly are brothels. This is the GRA side. Here we have a swimming pool, as deep as nine meters. When you lodge in any of our rooms, we make sure that you are comfortable. In other hotels, they just give you towels and tissue papers that is all. But here, no matter the room you’ve taken, in as much as you are parting with value to us, we provide you with the same items and even go further to give you dettol to show that we appreciate your patronage. Our rooms are very fantastic, expansive and affordable; we did not economise space. Compared with neighbours here, our standard room is their big room; they charge N15,000 per night while we charge an introductory price of N7,000 for the same room size. The one they take between N15,000 and N20,000 we take N10,000. We have 33 rooms.

  • Tourism: Lagos to take Centre stage at TIFF

    Tourism: Lagos to take Centre stage at TIFF

    • Eight Nigerians Films to Feature in Festival

    Lagos State Government on Monday said that the State’s tourism and entertainment potentials will take the centre stage at this year’s edition of the City to City Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), saying that eight films produced in the State would be selected to feature at the festival.

    The State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, his counterpart in Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, who briefed journalists alongside the Artistic Director Toronto Film Festival, Mr. Cameron Bailey, at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, said the development would help project tourism potential of Lagos to the teaming audience at the festival.

    Ayorinde said the move was in line with the State Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode’s campaign promises to make the state a hub for tourism.

    He said the eight films to be selected does not necessarily have to be about Lagos, but films produced by directors based in the State.

    According to him, “what is important is that the films that will be selected will be films by film makers that are Lagos based it won’t matter what subject matter you are dealing with, it is about the creativity the talent you are exhibiting as a Lagos based film maker that Toronto is interested in.”

    Ayorinde said the State Government would be fully involved in any collaboration to celebrate the city and market its potentials as well as appreciate the talent of the motion industry.

    “What this government policy implies is that the Government will promote any initiative that will project Lagos as the home of film making not only in Nigeria but before the entire world,” Ayorinde said.

    Folarin-Coker on his part said the move falls in line with government’s policy that entertainment can be used to drive consumption to create employment and improve the revenue generated in the State.

    “This falls clearly in line with Governor Ambode’s mantra of THESE which stands for Tourism, Hospitality, Entertainment, and Sports for Excellence,” Coker said.

    He also revealed that the long term plan of the Government is to take back dead public spaces such as under the bridges across the State and develop it for residents to exhibit and develop their talents.

    The Commissioner also informed that the State is collaborating with the Federal Government to build a car park at the new museum to help drive tourism.

    Explaining the drive behind the Lagos and Toronto spotlight for the Festival, Cameron said much of the films Lagos produces are not being showcased in Toronto, explaining that the idea is to seize the opportunity of this year’s festival to begin a new dawn for Nigerian films.

    “We have had films like Tunde Kelani’s Abeni feature at the festival as well as Half of a Yellow Sun, which is a collaboration between Nigeria and the UK, but I think this is an opportunity to do more and to go bigger. So what we are doing this year is a spotlight on the filmmakers who live and work here in Laos. We have been so impressed with the ingenuity and creativity of individual filmmakers who have made the Nigerian film industry one of the largest on the planet,” Cameron said.

    He said Lagos, like Los Angeles, Paris and Mumbai is one of the biggest capitals of film around the world.

    He said films produced in Nollywood have spread all over the world, saying though the Nigeria Film business has gone global; the next step was to fully integrate it into the international film industry.

    “The films that are bought and sold at our Festival, the films that are written about and reported on by the critics and film journalists, the audiences that embrace the films that go on to win the big prizes like the Oscars, those films should include the films from Nigeria, the films from Lagos; the heart of this industry that has become so large and dominant around the world. This is what really projects the image of Lagos and Nigeria, the stories that are being told resonate with the people whether or not they set foot on this country,” Cameron said.

  • ‘Lagos hospitality sector can generate $3b yearly’

    The hospitality industry in Lagos State can generate over $3 billion yearly if the government addresses the security and infrastructure challenges facing the sector, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, International Maximum Resources & Chemical Industries Limited, Prince Madugba Raphael, has said.

    He said a feasibility study by a firm commissioned by his company showed that tourism/hospitality business in Nigeria, especially in Lagos, is very lucrative, adding that Lagos alone is capable of earning over $3 billion yearly, if the government can fix the energy sector.

    Madugba said unlike other sectors, the hospitality industry is the most adversely affected by the crisis in the energy sector. “It (energy crisis) affects us more than any other sector. In the banking sector, their generators will be on from probably 7 o’clock till 10 o’clock and they power down.

    “The ATMs (automated teller machines) operate with solar. But the hospitality business is 24/7 run on electricity. You don’t power down. Even if it is one guest you have, he expects you to put on the generator for him and he is right, because you have already told him that you have 24-hour electricity supply. So, it’s affecting the industry in every area; it affects profit margin because of the cost implication,” he said.

    He said because of the crippling effects of high cost of operations due to lack of electricity, hotel owners have been forced to adjust. “Sooner or later most of us, who claim that we will give you light 24/7, will have to adjust because it’s difficult to survive in a situation where you buy diesel at N180 per litre,” he said, noting that 50 litres, which probably cost N6, 000 before now go for as high as N9, 000.

    “It’s difficult to do business in Nigeria. The environment is not friendly. If you want to begin any business, you must have nine lives to survive; it all depends on your determination, the zeal and energy you put into it.  In the course of that you will lose money, because there are a lot of people that will come to extort you. But if you don’t give up you will get to the Promised Land,” Madugba said.

  • Hospitality group adopts new platform

    Fahrenheit Hospitality Limited (FHL) is adopting a platform for improving its service delivery, the group, which is the parent company for the  Maison Fahrenheit Hotel and Fahrenheit Loft, has said.

    With its recent adoption of SlimTrader’s ‘MoBiashara for Hotels’ platform, according to the Managing Director of Maison Fahrenheit Hotel Mr Anthony Shishler, FHL is moving to a new era of hotel inventory management. One, which, he believes will see an improvement in their room sales and efficient hotel processes automation.

    The partnership, he said, is a part of the Fahrenheit Hospitality Limited’s efforts to subscribe to the #BuyNaijaAndGrow TheNaira movement which encourages Nigerians invest locally.

    “Before the coming of this solution; hotels in Nigeria were completely unplugged. Now, this plugs us in and more people would be able to view our rooms and book them online. It simplifies processes immensely for FHL and for our customers, who can now book and pay for our rooms anywhere in the world, and in any currency. Our hotel staff will not be bogged down with currency conversions, forex limitations or the hassle of consolidating offline with online records,” he said.

    With the Channel Manager feature, Shishler was of the view that FHL hotels’ rooms would be available for purchase on international and local online travel agencies, stating that “The platform supports both online and offline payments as well as automatic syncing and reconciliation between FHL hotels’ creditand debit card machineswith computer records”.  Commenting on the partnership, SlimTrader’s General Manager, Commercial, Mr Magaji Buba said: “SlimTrader is delighted to partner with FHL towards supporting their business and facilitating effortless transactions. We are confident that our MoBiashara for Hotels platform is a must have management system for businesses in the hospitality sector.”

     

     

     

  • Rio hospitality project is new dawn – NOA DG

    Rio hospitality project is new dawn – NOA DG

    The Director -General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mike Omeri, has described the Rio Olympic Games Nigeria House Project as a new dawn in sports business.

    Omeri made the statement during a courtesy call by the Nigeria House Committee Project on Rio 2016 Olympics in his office at the Area 1 National Secretariat.

    He said he is happy because the committee deemed it fit to visit the NOA  underscoring the importance and how strategic the agency is in mobilising Nigerians regarding the task ahead.

    “I am happy with your visit which underscores the importance of who we are and what the NOA can do. I believe if there are two members in your sub-committee one should come from the NOA because of how strategic we are to actualise this project. The NOA remains at the vanguard of promoting whatever is good about Nigeria, it’s people, culture, landscape and everything. This government had talked about employment and poverty alleviation, therefore everything we do should be targeted at escaping from poverty and our youths taken away from social vices for the good of the society. I see what you are doing as further implementing the policy of this government. If there was no policy you won’t be here.”

    Accepting to partner with the Nigeria House Project Committee, Omeri directed that a senior officer in the agency be attached to a sub-committee in the project to ensure synergy between both bodies.

    “So, we will partner and work with you to ensure that our youths who have talents and capacity in sports can do something else with their energy and engage gainfully in sports. If they cannot work in government, there is a good opportunity in sports. Some people that have become world renowned and legends in the world came through sports and gone are the days where we thought sports are for drop outs. Today, the best athletes are professionals and those who have gone to school and we have plenty of such people in Nigeria. I will immediately send a representative of our agency to join your committee because we believe in what you are doing.

    “Therefore, for me, part of the build up is to have a National Summit on National Orientation Youth Sports and Entrepreneurship so that more people can come and participate in it. I am impressed that you are planning to go to the Olympics and showcase our culture and traditional sports because when you go to the Olympics there are a lot of sports competed at that level that does not showcase our tradition and culture. So, why can’t our own traditional sports be part of them? There are so many of them better than some sports we participate in during the Olympics. I am happy and very committed to it, this Olympics will be better for Nigeria because we are experiencing a new dawn. The agency will participate actively in all the plans”

    Earlier, while briefing the DG NOA, Project Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the Nigeria House Project, Mohammed Abdullahi, told his host that the committee was there specifically to seek his agency’s support in the promotion and awareness of the hospitality business of sports through the Olympics.

    “We see the NOA as a key sector to partner with. We have a mandate to promote the image of this country through sporting activities. Olympics is a forum where you have over 205 countries coming to one venue and I think it is one of the best avenues to reach the world and project the image of the country. We also find it as a very conducive business environment to match make investors and Nigerians who also have something to offer. Countries are already on ground in Rio to secure space to do the same things we are going to do in Rio. For Nigeria, we have a lot to sell, a lot to expose and have so much aside the oil sector to showcase and this is the major aspect of the business taking us to Rio.

    “We shall also use the platform to showcase our traditional sports because if you go through the history of the Olympics and round the world, non of the 42 Olympic sports can trace its history to Africa.”

  • Expert forecasts 5.4% growth for hospitality industry in 2016

    Expert has forecasted a promising outlook for the nation’s hospitality industry in 2016. This is quite in contrast with the Central Bank of Nigeria fears of a possible recession hitting the economy by 2016.

    According to PriceWaterHouseCoopers, the global accounting firm, although the domestic market took a knock in the first half of the year, an increase in hotel bookings is projected to occur at a 6.6% compound annual rate to 2.2 million by 2019.

    While the wider economy takes a beating, stakeholders are optimistic that with infrastructure investments in technology taking centre stage, the ease of trade will turn the fate of the industry from peripheral to mainstream in the near future.

    Kushal Dutta, Managing Director of Jovago, said: “The hospitality industry has faced a lot of challenges this year but it is a tremendously resilient sector. Despite a number of regional incidents, the industry has still grown faster than the GDP by about 1 percent.

    “With this in mind, we are optimistic about its ability to compete on the international stage, adapt and succeed. There are more investments being made in the deployment of ICT and e-commerce is playing a key support role so although the yields may not be as high it has the capacity to be, but we are still likely to see some improvements in the sector,” Dutta said.

    Although a slowdown in general growth is expected to hit the country, a report released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, showed the accommodation and food services industry outperformed the wider economy raising its contributions to GDP by 5.24 percent in Q3 of 2015, giving investors some reprieve.

    In spite of the positive outlook, the government emphasises the need for better preparedness for long economic headwinds.

    Speaking to newsmen recently, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria said at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting that “the overall economic environment remains fragile. The economy further slowed in the second quarter of the year, making it the second consecutive quarterly less-than-expected performance.”

    Thankfully as the new administration has promised a revamp of dormant sectors, fueling hopes that the nation will begin to make tangible progress in line with global objectives.

  • ‘Nigeria lacks trained hospitality managers’

    Lack of trained trained hospitality personnel has been identified as a major challenge in the Nigerian hospitality business. This was made known at the Africa Technology Summit in Ghana where Femi Akinde, Chief Executive Officer, Slimtrader spoke on a panel titled ‘Marketplaces in Africa’.

    He highlighted the importance for employers to train people to achieve set business goals.

    According to him, the major challenge of running a business in this sector is talent acquisition. Akinde said “The Nigerian market doesn’t have people who are equipped with the right skills for roles in this sector, bringing to fore that as a major player in the Hospitality industry, lack of talent has hindered the growth of the sector.”

    He said Slimtrader has been able to overcome this challenge by grooming talents for the industry with a training program in partnership with West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE) to get youths equipped with the right skills for jobs in the hospitality industry.

     

  • Hospitality should partner agric sector —Mark Loxley

    Mr. Mark Loxley is the General Manager of Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos. He has been running the hotel since inception in 2009. In this interview, OKORIE UGURU, he talks about  hospitality and tourism in Nigeria and the need for the government to pay closer attention to it. Excerpts:

    Could you talk a little about what is new in Southern Sun Ikoyi?

    The hotel property opened on June I, 2009. I have been here since the beginning of 2008 and the hotel has been operating for six years. We have completed the soft renovation on our ground floor areas. We changed carpet of the entire ground floor, the restaurant, bar among others. We’ve also brought in new furniture, upgraded drop lights. We also refurbished some of the furniture downstairs as well as the upstairs.

    We intend in the next 18 months to look towards rooms, upgrading refurbishment. I think this year has been quite a challenging start for the hotel industry due to the delayed elections and global downstream in oil price. We must all be optimistic that we have a change of leadership, new government and I think the result of the election has been well received by Nigerians and the outside world. I think people are focusing and looking towards coming back to Nigeria and there would be a strong drive in developing the non oil and gas sector.

    Hotels definitely, because of the added competitive nature of the industry in the last five years, will be focusing on services and making sure the added value is in place because unlike before there is a quite selection of hotels in Lagos. By August, we expect a much better second half of this year. I think second half of this year is going to be stronger for the hotel industry and we are going to see a lot of people coming back in to the business environment. We should always remind ourselves that any element of insecurity, fuel scarcity within the last few months, delayed elections are all impacting in our business. Also, we got to be very sure that we have clean hygienic environment and safety and security is paramount for anybody traveling to anywhere in the world, including Lagos.

    What are the things that have stood the hotel out in the last couple of years?

    We focus on our basic service identity and we make sure that the facilities and services are kept and well maintained. I think it would be nice to do a site inspection to see things yourself. We have the boardroom, two meeting rooms, a fantastic gym facility among others. If you look at what is in the hotel pipeline in the next two to three years, I can tell you that would be as strong as it has been.

    Another important factor is the maintenance of  products; our public areas or places guests are exposed to. That focus is always in line with our plan and we have done some in the first quarter of this year as I pointed earlier. We are looking at doing further refurbishments in the next 18 months.

    The hotel configuration remains. We still have 195 rooms and another point worth mentioning is that Lagos State has introduced a grading system  for hotels which is to regulate hotels more than what is done before and to give the general public a better idea of the true value of hotels. So, the grading system has started and we have been successfully graded as  a four-star hotel. The annual grading inspection is expected to continue as we move on. I think they’ve been a lot of initiatives by the Lagos Sate government to make sure the industry continue to move forward not just in terms of people and structures, but also to make sure the standards are maintained. We have a proper grading council in place and we were told it is a continuous system.

    When we look at the business profile, we focus on all segments of the market, including corporate, international and domestic travelers. We continue to draw people from ECOWAS areas. We would pay more attention to local events, sports and cultural events that we come across. We want to make sure that we remain aligned with activities within Lagos. Anything on the sporting cultural and side we try to partner and we continue to seek new business ideas because that is what everyone is looking for. When you have pressure in terms of rate, you need to look at new markets which are different from your regular areas. So, we would continue to draw in new people into the environment.

    How will the recent transition in Nigeria affect the hospitality business climate?

    With the positive elections outcome as perceived by many people, I think everybody; especially the business community in general, is looking towards an improved second half of the year.  I think too we are going to see better opportunities in terms of occupancy and business activities. Though Lagos is a very resilient environment, we need to as a company improve our standards as we move forward because we have more competitors coming up. The great thing about the ongoing development of the hotel and tourism industry is that it is never intensive; hence there is a great opportunity in employment within the country. Every state is interested in attracting business into their environment. We tried to understand any new trend that is relevant to the environment and how much attention is on the non oil and gas sector, though we still have lot to do in our own environment.

    We also as a hotel make effort in terms of staff development and training. We also partner with educational institutions like YABATECH. We have like 12 students doing IT in the environment at present. We are not just committed to it but proud of the ongoing partnership. We are helping in the development of students.

    Security is the aspect that applies to any hotel anywhere in the world. I think Lagos or Nigeria is not an isolated example of a security focus because it is universal, especially when you look at the unfortunate incident in Tunisia recently. We’ve had unfortunate incidents in the shopping center in Nairobi, India a couple of years ago among others. Though we are more business focus in terms of corporate clients, we have all the appropriate security measures and actions based on sight. Also, we enjoyed a lot of support with the local police and community. We make sure we attend to issues in community and have good relationship with the DPO. Security is everybody’s responsibility and in that aspect we feel that we are on the right track. We take guidance from the local authorities too in terms of any further allegiance we need to possibly take.

    How do you see the prospect of hospitality business in Lagos?

    We are all optimistic in terms of the future growth of the industry in Lagos State, especially in Ikoyi. Even though Victoria Island is more dominance in commercial identity, we’ve seen a lot of buildings and offices coming up in Ikoyi. In the last five years we have seen offices moving to some certain areas here, especially Banana Island. I think the business community is growing and we are ready to embrace the pending competitors. I think everybody’s responsibility is to remain competitive. The world is still trying to adjust from the last economic downstream in 2008. If look at what is happening in places like Greece you would accept that there are many challenges out there. Even though we’ve had depreciation in the local currency, it is not as severe Ghana or Russia. However, everybody here is relying on the leadership of the day to make sure that we all move forward and the election is generated a lot of positive reactions from the business community outside and we want people to come back. From July, last year, it was Ebola and it wasn’t just Nigeria. Though countries like Ghana, Kenya, and the likes didn’t suffer one case, there were countries that had heavier casualties. I think that situation was handled extremely well by the Lagos State officials and it goes back to safety security and hygiene but it has always been part of our mandate as a company. The state and federal health inspections always visit. But the chapter is behind us and we have a lot more to fall too.

    We are embracing the new market tactics on social media. Asides for the corporate website there is an opportunity to market the promotional aspect of the business. The biggest challenge is the weekend and holidays and you need to attract more people into your environment. We need to bring in more business like any hotel.  We would be starting radio campaign again during the month of August. This is what we’ve done before so as to provide added value and attract people.

    The food reputation of any hotel is what would open the widow to the world. You can have fanatic rooms, uniforms and equipments but if your food quality is not to standard you going to battle to keep people in the front door. If your plate of food is not up to standard people would ask why they should spend so much money. So, we focus here to making sure our food is up to standard. We have people from different nationalities all over the world and we do special request too. We would be looking at the use of social media in the market and I think many other companies would be doing the same. We have a loyalty programme and we have hotels across Africa where you can redeem your points.

    What role do you think the tourism and hospitality industry should play in the effort to diversify the economy?

    The sector should embrace project opportunities because every hotel relies on its supplier. It would be key to support an agricultural sector where it would be more beneficial and cheaper to buy locally as opposed to imported products. I think they should naturally be partnership between the hotel industry and agricultural sector because the more we buy from them it helps the growth of another sector and it is cost effective. We can do a lot more in terms of partnering with some of the tourist facilities. There are many obvious ways the hotel could look at to support the tourist sector. In the past 8 years I have had the opportunity to travel around the country. So, there is nothing stopping us to recommend a day trip to our guests to go to Whispering Palms,  point of no return or Badagry to look at the slave trade museum. The sad the thing is that so many business people have come into this environment over the years and they’ve never been outside their hotels. They don’t get the true opportunity to look around. Though we have Lagos Water Regatta among others, those are annual events that come and go. I am talking about on a consistent basic, so it would be nice if some of the large hotels partner with some of the tourism facilities such as whispering palms among others. I am sure the big hotels would like to support this idea.

    What did you learn from the crises the sector experienced last year?

    Last year I think taught us all that we cannot rely on one particular market area. We need to be more diversified and look towards the local Nigerian community. You should look at what to do better to attract Nigerian guests into your hotel. So, when you are going through a lean period you can rely on your local content to support your business. I think a lot of hotels have realised that they must make sure the health and hygiene remains a consistent focus. We need to look at new business opportunities.

  • Oyo sanitises hospitality

    Oyo sanitises hospitality

    Oyo State government officials are inspecting  hotels, event centres, night clubs, restaurants and other public facilities.

    The move, the government said, is to boost revenue and ensure compliance with the laws guiding the operations of hotels and allied organisations in the hospitality industry.

    The visit to hotels, part of the yearly routine monitoring and inspection of establishments in the hospitality sector, was carried out by officials of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, led by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Bunmi Babalola, in Ibadan, the state capital.

    Over 20 hotels, event centres, night clubs and other hospitality enterprises were visited.

    Babalola said the operation, which is continuous, was expected to boost revenue from the hospitality sector, adding that it would ensure compliance with the law and regulations guiding the hospitality sector.

    “As the chief regulators of the industry in the state, we have to move round to ensure that standards are maintained; to re-emphasise the need for operators of this sector to report  questionable characters  to law enforcement agencies and also expedite action on the payments of all outstanding levies to the government.

    “On the issue of security, we enlightened them on the need to complement the efforts of the state government on safety of lives and properties of people in the state by their provision of a micro security arrangement that will cater for their immediate environment and the response was good as we observed that most of them are security conscious,” he added.

    The Permanent Secretary harped on the need for prompt payments of yearly renewal dues and other levies, warning that  recalcitrant operators and other defaulting establishments would be appropriately sanctioned, urging operators to do adequate checking of their customers.

    He said: “We appreciate the hoteliers and other allied enterprises in this sector for partnering with the state in the area of job creation. However, I want to say categorically that the government will not tolerate any hotel that fails to comply with the standard of operations and prompt payment of all dues. Compliance will empower the government to expedite action on the ongoing urban renewal  projects across the state, which will in turn be a boost to tourism development in the state and expectedly, a concomitant boom in hotel patronages.”

    He, however, assured that the inspection would be extended to Oke-Ogun, Ogbomoso, and other zones in the state.

  • 10,000 hospitality workers may lose jobs

    10,000 hospitality workers may lose jobs

    TEN thousand workers in the hospitality business in Ikotun Egbe, a suburb of Lagos State, may lose their jobs soon.

    Their employers, the Pilgrims Hostels Operators Association of Nigeria (PHOAN), blamed the development on the dwindling fortunes of its members.

    The group noted that its woes began shortly after a two-storey guest house owned by Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) collapsed last year.

    The chairman of the association, Prince Adekanbi  Adedayo John,  said: “Because of the lull in our business, we may have to lay off a large number of our workers, if the situation persists.

    “About 10, 000 workers may be affected by this decision. We are not happy about this because we know that it would obviously have ripple effects on the workers and their families.

    “PHOAN is the biggest employer of labour in this area for over a decade. Our business thrived all these years because of SCOAN’s popularity, which attracted visitors from all over the world to the area.

    “The church’s activities before the incident, served as the economic livewire on which PHOAN and other smaller businesses relied on.“

    A member of the group, Ozumba Sunny, said: “The chances of turning Nigeria into a religious tourist haven have been put on the line by the church’s predicament and this has brought hardship to the people, who earn a living as food vendors, drivers, mechanics etc.”

    The Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Kafaru Aminu, said: “Many of us have been struggling to feed our families and pay school fees in the last one year, yet we have huge bank loans hanging on our necks. We are on the verge of losing our investments and the only way this can be averted is if the fortunes of the church improve.”