The tourism/hospitality sector is a potential goldmine and can contribute immensely to the present administration’s on-going economic diversification programme. But the Federal Government will have to tap into it and build first class hospitality businesses close to tourist sites and also address the challenges facing operators, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of i-MAX Guest House & Suits, Prince Madugba Raphael Chiadikobi, has said.
He spoke to reporters in Lagos during the week at the opening of i-MAX Guest House & Suits, a 33-room five star hotel located in the serene, highbrow Apapa GRA area of Lagos.
Chiadikobi, who is an industrialist and ex-banker, said the result of a feasibility study by a firm commissioned by his company showed that tourism/hospitality business in Lagos alone can rake in over $3 billion annually, if government can fix the energy sector and address the security challenge in the country.
He said, for instance, that 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 Automated Teller Machines (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 and he is right, because you have already told him that you have 24-hour electricity supply,” he stated.
Chiadikobi also pointed out that insecurity posed a major challenge for operators. While noting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is making progress in the area of security. He said: “There is no business that can thrive when there is crisis. The moment you are able to completely sort out the issue of security, more people will have the confidence to invest.”
He said despite the challenges, the new hotel, which is a division of International Maximum Resources & Chemical Industries Limited, has come to redefine hospitality business through quality, cost-effective service delivery.
Conducting newsmen round the expansive facility, he said the hotel is categorised into Royal Apartments, Executive Rooms, Standard Rooms and Presidential Suites, all tastefully furnished and tailored the meet the needs of different categories of clients.
“Our rooms are very fantastic, expansive and affordable; we did not economise space. Our 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,” he said.
The hotelier added that apart from nine metres-deep swimming pool to add to customers’ comfort, the hotel also offers special local delicacies on weekends. He said these have ensured a steady stream of customers since February 14 this year when the hotel started a test run of its facilities.
He said the hotel, with its unique propositions, is poised to drive hospitality busniess especially in Lagos where the opportunities are huge.
The hotelier said, for instance, that as big as Apapa is, the only five star hotel there is Rockview. “As I talk with you, after Rockview we are next to them. This is not our own assessment, but of people who who have been dealing with them that came here within two months of our test run,” he said.
Chiadikobi added that because of the positive response the hotel has been getting, it plans to build an additional hotel in Lagos in the next five years. “The business is here,” he declared.
Published In August On Nation Online
Read Online: http://thenationonlineng.net/redefining-hospitality-business/