Northern tourism loses N5bn to insecurity in 4 years

With the worsening security situation in parts of northern Nigeria on account of the Boko Haram insurgency, tourism ventures in the region are fast winding up.

The region has lost over N5 billion in four years (from 2010 till date) due to the continued insurgency, according to tourism experts and a report on the rate of business confidence in states across the country.

Experts observe that within the four years, the region witnessed the lowest tourists’ arrival, unconcluded business visits, no opening of an international branded hotel, closure of amusements parks and bars, loss of revenue by government, and gross stifling of social life.

“If you add the aggregate of profit hotels would have made at a much better occupancy rate within the four years, the new ones that would have opened, the revenue from the parks, new bars and restaurants that would have opened, the revenue accruing to government as tax, and other tourism-related businesses that would have been flourishing since the four years, the loss is over N5 billion,” said Nicolas Akpan, a hospitality expert.

The loss of revenue over the four years, according to Business Confidence Report, will continue as no northern city made it to the top 15 alternative investment destinations in 2013 and as the region continues to enjoy the lion’s share of insecurity.

The most affected by the worsening security situation are amusement parks, wildlife parks, bars and restaurants, and especially indigenous hotel owners who before the insurgency recorded about 40 percent occupancy but today have less than 20 percent occupancy in cities like Kano, Kaduna, Jos and Maiduguri, with Abuja partially affected.

Most hotels in Kano are struggling to pay staff as patronage keeps declining with each bomb blast. Most of them resort to discounted rates to woo guests despite the high operational costs. Also, tourists and other guests hardly visit the popular Kano Durbar these days, which used to draw tourists but is today often cancelled for security reasons.

“We expected so many guests during the coronation of Lamido Sanusi as the Emir of Kano, but we got less. For the first time in the history of the crisis in the north, a lot of southerners are leaving and strategically moving their business out of Kano to places like Abuja,” said Ameh Bello, a hotel manager in Kano.

“About 45 percent of the over 4 million Igbos in Kano, among others southerners, are leaving, foreigners are not coming, and these people constitute our guests. When you manage to get guests, no single one of them asks after tourist sites. The situation is truly bad,” he said.

The big regret for Bello is that two international hotel brands that showed interest in Kano have left to Benin City and Ikot Ekpene because Kano is rated top among states with less business confidence for investors.

The situation in Jos, the Plateau State capital, is no different. The once thriving tourism destination has not recovered from the ethno-religious crisis that keeps recurring in the state. At present, only a few hotels are recording slightly above 20 percent occupancy rate in Jos, while some have closed down due to dwindling profit.

Before the crisis, an average hotel room in Jos cost around N10,000 because Jos is not much of a metropolitan city. Today, standard hotel rooms go as low as N5,000.

“A right-thinking investor will take his investment to Lagos or more peaceful cities where that same room can fetch as much N30,000 per night,” said a hotel staff who craved anonymity.

The insecurity which has so far killed social life in Jos has also made tourism non-existent. Jos Museums, Jos Wildlife and Amusement Park, among others, no longer see visitors trooping in.

Tyem Bulus, a staff of the park, says despite the improvement in the facilities and the introduction of new wildlife species, visitors are reluctant to come because people fear for their lives. The Yankari Game Reserve, which has not done well since being taken over by the Bauchi State government, is one of the worst hit. Its nearness to Borno State, the hotbed of the insurgency, makes tourists wary.

Tourism and recreation have likewise been crippled in Kaduna. As a result of the prevailing insecurity, many businesses, especially hotels, beer parlours, night clubs and other places of relaxation are gradually folding up as their owners count their losses.

In Maiduguri, Borno State capital, where the Boko Haram sect originated, the frequent bombings and clashes between the sect and security agents have weighed seriously on business and many people have fled the state.

Hundreds of shop owners at the Maiduguri Monday Market, especially southerners, have closed their businesses and left the troubled city. About half of the 10,000 shops in the market have been abandoned. About 1,200 hotels rooms in the state are empty.

OBINNA EMELIKE