Despite the terrible hit of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the travels and tours sector by extension the hospitality industry, the Chairman, Dover Hotel, Jackson Abbah, has revealed that the pandemic also brought a positive impact on indigenous hotels.
In a chat with newsmen in Lagos,’ Abbah disclosed that a new trend has emerged were people are reluctant to travel overseas for vacations
because of the frustration of COVID-19 protocols that entail undergoing a period of quarantine once you travel to another location.
In view of this, he explained that most people now embark on internal travels where they lodge in a hotel with their families for of one week to a month.
This, according to him has opened the eyes of many to the fact that there are indigenous hotels in Nigeria; Lagos, Owerri, Kano and Abuja
with standard competitive facilities obtainable with what they have abroad, adding that it is equally cheaper as travel cost has been considerably reduced.
His words: “Now because of COVID there’s a new trend going on, because people are frustrated by the protocols of quarantining when they travel to other countries. What are they doing then?
“They now embark on internal travels; people are now taking themselves from the East to the West, from Abuja to Lagos, etc and they lodge in hotels, it’s more like a vacation for them whether it is one week or one month.
“It is also cheaper for them in terms of cost; they save cost, air ticket going abroad and most travellers are now realising that the facilities that they could enjoy in hotels abroad can also be found in
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hotels in Lagos and Abuja, Owerri and Kano; quality hotels at rates that are far cheaper.”
He said that upsurge hotels all over the country even with high patronage is expected as long as human beings travel from one point to another because they will definitely need a place to lodge to transact their businesses.
“To answer why you have a large number of people using hotels my response is always simple, as long as human beings travel; leave their location whether for a business or leisure the fact remains that they will continue to consume hotels.
“You do not carry your accommodation to the next travel place and it is not all the time you go to a location that you’re going to see a relative or friend that can accommodate you so you are forced to patronise the hotel which is created mainly for that purpose.
“So what you see happening is that people get into a town for a burial ceremony, naming ceremony or business, they need a place to stay and depending on their budget they will look for a place that is relative to their budget.
“That is why you see a person who has a hotel charging N3, 000 he’s in business, a person who has a hotel charging N100, 000 he’s in business.
“Some people travel from West African countries to come and buy stuff in Nigeria; in Lagos, Aba, Onitcha, Kano, and wherever in Nigeria.
When they come they have to pass the night and they might not be concerned about how beautiful the hotel is but they have to pass the night relative in a place to their budget. So when you realise that you’ll know that everybody is in business and that makes the hotel business competitive,” he explained.
Continuing, Abbah pointed out that the increasing number of hotels in Nigeria is a plus to the economy as the sub-sector makes a huge contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
He explained that hotels create a chain of employment to the masses; ranging from farmers to transporters and market sellers because a greater percentage of agricultural products are consumed in hotels.
