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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Health & Science

Olugbenga Sunday: Better Policies Can Unlock Nigeria’s Hospitality Potential

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Nigeria's hospitality industry has significant potential to boost tourism and create jobs but faces challenges from poor infrastructure and inconsistent policies.
  • Olugbenga Sunday, convener of Hotel Managers Conference Africa, highlighted the need for government policy reforms, including better regulations and support for enabling environments like power and roads.
  • The 8th edition of the Hotel Managers Conference Africa is scheduled for July 11-12 in Lagos, focusing on 'Raising the Bar: Sales, Service and Standards for a Competitive Africa'.

Nigeria's hospitality sector possesses vast potential to drive tourism, generate employment, and diversify the economy. However, its growth is significantly hampered by inadequate infrastructure, fluctuating government policies, and excessive taxation.

We found out that within our sector, one important thing is the people, because it’s all about service. How do we handle our guests? So capacity is key to the success of our business, from the gates, to being a porter, to receptionist, to an housekeeper, because everything we do directly affects the service we offer our guests.

— Olugbenga SundayDiscussing the importance of capacity building and skills in the hospitality sector.

Olugbenga Sunday, convener of the Hotel Managers Conference Africa, emphasized that human capital is central to the industry's success, stressing the importance of skills development for all staff, from porters to receptionists. He noted that investing in employee capacity directly improves the quality of service offered to guests.

Policy making is key, and most times, I see how they play down on policies that affect us as a sector. For instance, we talked about taxation, it’s a policy issue. We talked about monitoring, quality assurance, and quality control. Sometimes they even have those policies, but they don’t implement them.

— Olugbenga SundayHighlighting the government's role in policy-making and implementation for the hospitality sector.

Sunday also called on the government to prioritize policy-making, particularly concerning taxation, monitoring, and quality assurance. He criticized the lack of implementation of existing policies and the absence of basic regulations, such as proper restroom facilities for guests. The government, he argued, must create an enabling environment by addressing critical issues like power supply, road networks, and flood management, as unreliable power alone consumes 40% of hotel income.

Today, 40 per cent of our income go into power. This is something we’re supposed to enjoy, to run our business.

— Olugbenga SundayExplaining the significant financial burden of inadequate power supply on hotels.

Preparations are underway for the 8th edition of the Hotel Managers Conference Africa (HMCA), themed 'Raising the Bar: Sales, Service and Standards for a Competitive Africa.' The conference, set to take place in Lagos from July 11-12, aims to foster dialogue on improving sales, service, and standards within the African hospitality industry.

This year’s theme is, ‘Raising the Bar: Sales, Service and Standards for a Competitive Africa’

— Olugbenga SundayAnnouncing the theme for the 8th edition of the Hotel Managers Conference Africa.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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