|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
When Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel opened its doors to the guests in 2006, it regarded itself as the hospitality jewel in the heart of Victoria Island’s business district in Lagos.
Down the line, VCP, as the hotel is fondly called by impressed guests, is still one of the finest luxury boutique hotels in Lagos with its 49 well-appointed full service rooms amid other facilities.
But the need to upgrade its facilities and to continually offer world-class services made it to shutdown few months last year.
However, it reopened to the public in January this year with a new name; Swiss International Victoria Crown. The rebranding, according to the hotel management, was aimed at providing better services, refreshing the hotel and tapping into Swiss International’s network.
Barely three months as Swiss International Victoria Crown, the hotel reverted to its former brand, a development that caught the attention of the hotel industry, especially in Lagos.
Brian Efa, general manager, Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel, says the reverse is necessary and good for the hotel as the Swiss International franchise was not delivering on the expectations; hence there is no need to keep operating under it.
To further clear the air on the quashed rebranding, Efa, an experienced hospitality expert, invited guests and some industry stakeholders in a the first-ever Meet & Greet event at the hotel on March 23, 2022 at the hotel’s Inspiration Pool Bar, where they were treated to light refreshment amid cool music by a live band.
Beyond clearing the air on the failed rebranding exercise, Efa says the Meet & Greet event offers the hotel opportunity to express its gratitude to all its corporate and individual guests for their patronage. “We appreciate them for patronising us”, Efa says.
Read also: Ground rent: Ebonyi seals four hotels
Speaking further, he notes, “We have changed from Swiss International, which we franchised for a few months. We are back to Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel; a name we were known for.”
He explains that there were lots of expectations, but unfortunately the expectations were not met for the few months the franchise ran.
“We discovered that we will do better being an independent hotel. That is why we came back earlier than expected.
“Right now, we have put in place the right manpower; a world-class manpower with experience in the industry including myself as the general manager. We are fortified now and ready to deliver services. We are prepared to do even better”, he says.
Now that the hotel is back to VCP, Efa assures that it is going to be more marketable and run more profitably.
“Now we can channel our marketing efforts to develop the VCP brand and bring change because we are doing the work ourselves. But when we were with Swiss International, it was just a franchise.”
To ensure that the VCP brand is truly back and taking its service and facilities offerings a notch higher, the general manager notes that the management has employed more experienced hands in key positions, and “we are able to run from there.”
In the same vein, the general manager bemoans the state of the economy and its huge impact on hospitality business in the country.
He decries that the economy is very bad now with a lot of businesses suffering and many even shutting down.
“The bad economy has forced companies to cut costs, and in the post Covid-19 era, banquet events have reduced because today, people can do meetings, conferences, trainings and workshops online among others. So, as a result there is reduction in banquet activities and revenue earning from that section as well”. Also, the erratic power supply and high cost of diesel, especially in the last six months, according to him, are affecting businesses including the hospitality sector.
“In our case, there is pressure to increase rates for rooms and services because of the increasing costs and that is where we have found ourselves. Truly, the situation is choking hospitality business across the country.”
Considering the huge impact of the high cost of operation, he says that hotel businesses need a bailout from the government like the creative industry.
“I advocate tax holidays for the hotel industry just as it is done in Niger Republic, so that we can charge less for our services. But right now, hotel businesses are suffering because people that patronize us are cutting down costs. Ultimately, we need to increase our charges and rates in order to generate income that can sustain the business”, he says.
He also expresses hope for the industry as recovery is insight.
“In recent times, banquet events are beginning to boom again as more businesses are opening, exchanges take place and the economy is recovering”, he beams with excitement.
