HMCA 2026: Why improved sales, services, standards matter for competitive hotel market

…As Ghana bids to host 2027 edition

While the Nigerian hospitality industry is adjudged burgeoning, as well as resilient, it also faces some challenges, which often need industry-wide efforts to address.

One of such efforts, which has also been consistent, is the one made at each edition of Hotel Managers Conference Africa, an annual gathering of hospitality stakeholders, especially hotel managers, owners and investors across the country.

In the past seven editions, the conference has gathered critical industry stakeholders in one forum to review hotel business, learn and unlearn, get abreast with industry trends, network and form partnerships and working groups for the implementation of some of the resolutions reached.

As well, testimonies abound from the stakeholders, from better teamwork, operational efficiency, professionalism and more revenue earnings, as the conference has grown from a Nigerian forum to now a continent-wide event.

However, the HMCA, which is now in its 8th edition, also lived up to expectations this year.

Starting from the theme, “Raising the Bar; Sales, Service & Standards for a Competitive Africa”, the conference truly raised the bar for the participants with more engaging activities including speeches, presentations, masterclasses, panel discussions, networking sessions, exhibitions, product launch, awards and more.

This year, the event returned to Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, as its host for three consecutive years, offering new thrills and insights for the over 2000 participants that graced the two-day conference.

As Olugbenga Omotayo Sunday, CEO, Tojum Hospitality and the convener of the conference, pointed out in his opening speech, the conference, which started as a room of ambitious hoteliers, has today grown into a movement that is reshaping the future of African hospitality.

He noted that those gathered in the room for two days for the 2026 edition were stakeholders who are not satisfied with where the industry stands today. “I am also not satisfied where our industry stands today, and that is exactly why we are here for the HMCA 2026,” Sunday said.

The convener recalled that when the conference started eight years ago, the organisers asked a simple question: what does it take for an African hotel to compete, not just to survive, but genuinely compete on a global stage?

According to him, the question is still relevant and sharper today because of the many changes.

“The African traveller has changed, African investors have changed, and standards by which guests judge us have changed,” Sunday said.

The changes, according to him, are what this year’s theme, “Raising the Bar; Sales, Service & Standards for a Competitive Africa”, is responding to.

He also noted that the theme is timely and chosen deliberately to enable the participants to sit on its three pillars of sales, service and standards.

That insightful speech set the ball rolling and formed the nucleus of the deliberations at HMCA 2026.

Taking over from where the convener stopped, Wasiu Babalola, the keynote speaker, did justice to his paper titled, “The Future of African Hospitality: Competing Beyond Borders”.

Babalola, a lawyer and a professor of Hotel Management and Tourism, brought an uncommon blend of academic depth and industry command to his review of the African hospitality landscape.

According to him, there are new rules in the hospitality business, as hotels of the future will compete on intelligence, innovation and experience, instead of room inventory alone.

He also offered the participants five priorities for a competitive Africa: including strategic partnerships, professional leadership, service excellence, harmonised standards and digital transformation.

He also trailed his successful journey in the hospitality industry, starting as a waiter, chef, and today a professor.

OPay, the headline sponsor, had it all well for the two days, taking advantage of the conference platform to reach out to the hospitality industry with its financial services and innovative products, especially for ease of payment. The financial services provider also showcased products that are intentionally designed to ease payment and transactions in the hospitality industry.

So, also other sponsors included Huawei, Lagos Continental Hotel, Nigerian Bottling Company, Presken, among others.

The presence of Maame Efua Houadjeto, CEO, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), who led the Ghanaian delegates, made a difference in this year’s conference. In her speech, the GTA CEO, who was the special guest of honour at the conference, called for collaborations of hospitality stakeholders across the West African sub-region for more investments, better standards, excellent service delivery and coordinated marketing of tourism across the globe.

She urged Nigeria to take advantage of her strength in the global movie industry to change the narrative of Africa, while sister countries support such gestures from their areas of strength.

She thinks that Nigeria and Ghana can do more collections on food, culture and creative exchanges.

On her part, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Lagos State, who was represented at the conference, expressed appreciation for hosting many participants across Africa, while pointing to them the sustained investment in the tourism industry, which has made Lagos the foremost destination in Nigeria.

She noted that the state is open to more collaborations such as the HMCA platform, due to their huge impacts on the state’s economy and boost to its quest to become top MICE destination in Africa.

She further commended the organisers for sustaining the conference for eight years now, noting that Lagos State will always support initiatives that impact the tourism industry.

Olayiwola Awokan, director general, Nigeria Tourism Development Authority (NTDA), who also graced the conference, was excited that it drew participants from across Africa. He noted that such development is being encouraged by the government, which has recognised the importance of tourism in national development and has put in place some policies to such the industry.

In his address at the conference titled ‘Leadership, Legacy & Building Sustainable Hospitality Businesses In Africa’, Karl Hala, group general manager, Continental Hotels Nigeria, tasked the managers and other hospitality industry stakeholders present on the need to build people, who he described as the drivers of success or failure in the industry.

“Building hotels is easy, but building people is legacy,” Hala insisted, while urging the managers to build and work in harmony with their team members.

Also reflecting on his almost 50 years in the extraordinary hospitality profession, Hala, whose hotel has hosted the conference three consecutive times, said, “I have come to one conclusion. Legacy is not what you build; it is who you build”.

The conference was not all speeches as it witnessed other activities such as the graduation of students of Hotel Managers School, awards given out to distinguished industry personalities and organisations.

The excitement was heightened by the Best Traditional Dressed contest, an exciting exercise supervised by GTA, CEO and NTDA Director General. Six emerged out of over 15 that filed out on the podium, representing diverse African cultures from Cameroon, Kenya, South-East Nigeria, South-West, South-South Nigeria, and Northern Nigeria.

In the end, South-East won the contest. But the Director-General of NTDA offered the top three contestants’ free registration for next year’s event, while Elomax Hotels gave them free accommodation for next year’s event. There were also other wins for the day, including a table at Sheraton Ikeja Hotel won by three people and an OPay prize for two other people.

In the awards, Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort won the Best Holiday Resort at HMCA Awards 2026, its third industry recognition; Lagos Continental Hotel won the Best Luxury Business Hotel in Nigeria 2026, among other awards given in recognition of excellence and contributions to the growth of the industry.

Meanwhile, the HMCA 2026 ended on a good note, with Ghana offering to host next year’s edition. Speaking on the bid to host HMCA 2027, Maame Efua Houadjeto, CEO, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), explained that considering the testimonies and the huge participation at the conference, the impact across the industry is obvious; hence, Ghana wants to share in the success story of the conference by hosting it and its continent-wide participants

The organisers were excited at the early bid by the GTA for the hosting, and promised to work it out, while the participants look forward to HMCA 2027 in Accra, amid tours.