As the call for the diversification of the Nigerian economy heightens, especially now that crude oil price keeps crashing everyday, BRIAN Efa, managing partner, Jonel Hospitality Consulting/Founder, Nigeria Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference, in this interview with OBINNA EMELIKE, explains how the investment conference can help. Excerpt.
Why Nigeria Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference?
Over the years, I have followed the statistics released by United Nations World Tourism Organisation. For instance, according the UNWTO in 2013, total export earnings generated by international tourism in 2013 reached US$ 1.4 trillion. Then, I asked myself, what is the stake of Nigeria in all these, bearing in mind that the whole of African accounted for only 3 percent of this figure.
Also, I discovered that Nigeria has over 100 natural tourism sites with the capacity to generate revenue for each states of the federation if fully developed and marketed to Nigerians and international communities. These facts prompted these questions; why are they not developed? What are the challenges and why are people not interested in investing in the sector? So, I saw the need to bring together stakeholders at the Nigeria Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (NHTIC) to a discourse to give answers to these questions. There was also the need to find out from the international community why they are not investing in the tourism and hospitality sector in Nigeria, so we extended this conference to the international community to also hear from them what the problems are.
Is the conference well-received by the Nigerian hospitality industry?
As you are already aware, Nigeria is a country that is fully dependent on oil. So, a lot of people embrace anything that has to do with oil. The hospitality and tourism sector is largely under developed, and there is very little knowledge or maybe, I should say, very little interest in understanding what benefit this kind of conference will bring to the growth of the sector. So, to answer your question, everybody we have met personally and explained the benefits of the conference has been very pleased with the conference.
Can you measure the success of the first edition?
The last edition was well attended even though it was just sectorial. Moreover, it is the success of last year’s mini- conference that has made us to go this big and international
Expectations of the 2015 edition?
NHTIC 2015 will be quite interesting. This year, we are having many investors coming from Europe, America and China. About 40 international investors have already indicated interest to participate. Also, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission is partnering with us this year and will be bringing to the conference The One Stop Investment Centre (OSIC) to help prospective investors to obtain all approvals and permits needed to operate any tourism or hospitality outfit. They will also be bringing to the fore, all incentives available to investors in the sector. We will be having an organisation from the US called KOFA International with the ability to grant long term loans at single digit to investors. So, 2015 edition will be great.
Again we will be having about seven international speakers who will be addressing various issues and challenges in the sector. They will also be sharing their experiences with regard to the growth in the sector. Therefore, it is a conference no stakeholder in the sector should avoid.
Sponsorship and target audience?
Obviously, we need as many sponsors and participants as possible. Though those that have confirmed attendance have been very impressive, we are still far from our expectation. You see, this conference is not just for hoteliers, but also for other stakeholders like the banks, architect, lawyers, suppliers, government officials and prospective investors. It will be a good forum for banks to understand the sector and key into the wide range of opportunities in the sector. So far, we have just a few sponsors two from Nigeria and one from Portugal. We are expecting more. Again, the conference will accommodate 1,000 participants.
Stakeholders keying into the conference?
NHTIC is a conference no serious minded stakeholder in the sector should miss. It is the largest and most prestigious gathering of senior hotel managers and investment executives that brings together over 1,000 national and international delegates. The conference has remained the premiere event for the industry to meet and do deals over three days.
The conference is a pre-registered event and those registering must do so online at www.nigeriahotelconference.com or send an expression of interest to registration@nigeriahotelconference.com for manual registration form. After registration, you proceed to the bank to pay the required registration fees to confirm your registration. Only those who have paid their fees will be admitted to the conference.
