Barely two years after setting foot on the Nigerian hospitality market, Marriott International, a leading global hotel brand, has seen more local partners willing to deliver its world-class offerings than other international hotel brands operating in the country.
With three ongoing five-star properties (two in Abuja and one in Lagos) expected to open before the end of 2015, and more in the pipeline across the country, Marriott hopes to usher in competitive offerings anticipated by hospitality stakeholders to crash average room rates from $300 to $200.
Expectation is also high that the coming of Marriott into the Nigerian market will bring about a paradigm shift which industry analysts expect is going to drive improved service delivery and serve as an industry benchmark.
Marriott, a leading hospitality company with more than 3,800 properties, 19 brands and associates at managed and franchised properties around the world, is headquartered in Maryland, USA. It reported revenues of nearly $12 billion in fiscal year 2012 and has been known since 1927 for a culture that puts people first, offering advantages of a strong balance sheet, sound management and a record of industry leadership.
Already, the pace of its acceptance in Nigeria, the willingness of more investors in the partnerships it offers, and ongoing developments across the country are taken very seriously by already established international brands who are now seeking more partnerships to deliver more hotels across the country. Marriott’s recently concluded purchase of the Protea Group, a regional hotel brand based in South Africa, is a further signal of its willingness to do real hotel business in Africa.
At its launch in Nigeria, Alex Kyriakidis, president and managing director, Marriott International, Middle East and Africa, said: “In Abuja, we have already signed and announced our 250-room Courtyard by Marriott Abuja, along with our 100-room Marriott Executive Apartments Abuja, in the Central Business District on Samuel Ademulegun Avenue.”
Kyriakidis said that Marriott was delighted to establish in Nigeria because of the strong economic indicators, strong hospitality sector indicators and demand generators, along with a very small existing supply of hotels, adding: “These give us confidence that this market and country, along with the rest of Africa, are ripe for development.”
Close industry watchers are quite excited with Marriott’s coming into the Nigerian market.
“We are going to see an improvement in service delivery that has been one of the drawbacks in the hospitality industry where hotels ascribe ratings; for example, you see a five-star hotel but it is not certified with services that are of world-class standards,” said Chudi Ejekam, director, real estate, Actis Nigeria.
“With these new brands coming into the marketplace, it becomes more structured in terms of what one can expect when you walk into hotels like a Marriott.”
Ejekam, who spoke in an interview with BusinessDay, added that “in terms of occupancy levels, there will be more competition, which is good for the market because people will have more options”.
He recalled that back in the mid-2000s, the occupancy levels were about 80-85 percent for the quality hotels.
Olumide Aina, representative of a franchise owner, said Marriott was the best in hospitality business across the world in terms of quality of service, facility offering, and manpower development. “Partnering the best is what we need in Nigeria to solve our infrastructure and skilled manpower deficit, and Marriott is more than willing to do so,” he said.
In his view, Ikechi Uko, a hospitality and aviation expert, said strong air links mean that 1.5 million passengers are forecast to travel through the local airports by 2015 and that means more hotel accommodation.
W. Hospitality Group, foremost Nigerian hotel management company, supported the above view, saying that despite its economic size, Nigeria has a very limited hospitality market with just over 7,000 rooms in supply, 35 percent of which come from non-branded independent hotels.
With two hotels in Abuja and one in Lagos, all billed to open before 2015, Nigerians are going to witness more Marriotts in cities such as Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kaduna and Warri, as partnership deals are underway.
By: CHUKA UROKO & OBINNA EMELIKE
