With the recent ranking of Nigeria among the ‘Top 30 Most Expensive Countries for Air Travel & Hotel Accommodation’, hospitality and travel analysts are blaming the low competitiveness of the country in the travel and hospitality industry on shortage of investments and a poor regulatory framework.
The ranking, a part of the travel price index series conducted by GoEuro.com, also revealed that Lagos ranked 29th Most Expensive Overall In 2014 Accommodation Price Index, a figure that is far ahead of Egypt, South Africa and Kenya. It means that hotel rates in Lagos are far above global standard room rate of between $100 to $200.
While the country needs more investments in the hospitality industry to shore-up room availability and reduce the high rates in the long run, the analysts observed that poor regulatory framework has also made it impossible for harmonised hospitality practice across the country.
They blame the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and the supervising Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, for failing to carry out their statutory obligations.
“Guests are constantly ripped-off here. Anybody can build a hotel anywhere and charge any amount. They can even give their hotels any star rating, not minding if the facilities and services are corresponding, because nobody does the rating and supervision, Adebanji Ademola, a hospitality analyst, says.
The poor regulatory framework, high cost of doing business in Nigeria and recently, insecurity, according to Ademola, are also reasons some hotel brands like Hyatt and Marriot among others, are yet to come to Nigeria.
Uche Omeoga, another analyst, says the era of blaming high hotel room rates on high cost running hospitality business in Nigeria is over because the industry can operate at moderate profit and still deliver standard rooms at good rates.
The issue, according to him, is the greed of most investors, especially the indigenous ones, who only care about profit at the expense of a deteriorating hotel.
“A hotel of 100 rooms cannot be fully occupied everyday. It is commonsense to sell the rooms to guests who may not have as much as you are offering, but often, the front desk will not sell because the hotel claims five-star and must charge five-star rates.
“ That is the reason boutique hotels keep wooing guests from so called big hotels. Price flexibility is key, especially in economies with weak currency”, Omeoga said.
He also argued that if government was truly giving the enabling environment it keeps promising investors, and formulating sustainable policies to protect investments, more investors, especially foreigners would be the gracing Nigerian skyline with more beautiful hotels.
“It took over a decade before Hilton Group and Starwood Group (owners of Sheraton brand) found credible partners to invest in other hotel projects across the country. They only woke when small brands like Protea, Golden Tulip and Best Western, started investing under their nose. So, why did it take them so long to find investors?” Omeoga queried.
The increased flights intothe country, according to Musa Aliyu, a travel expert, indicates that the economy is beginning to bourgeon. “All that the Nigerian government needs to do, if it were sensitive to growth, was to identify willing investors and encourage them to build hospitality infrastructure, aviation hub, and modern transportation to carry its growing visitors.
“But nobody cared, all we see is the sack of one minister and appointment of another who knows nothing about the sector”.
Omeoga said one solution for government to be sincere formulating and implementing policies that would attract foreign direct investments and still stimulate indigenous investors.
