New Telegraph

ATPN President, Zakari, calls for improvement of hospitality business

The interim President of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Hassan Abdullahi Zakari, has called for improvement of hospitality business in the country, saying that it plays a vital role in the tourism sector. Zakari, who is also the chief service officer of MICE and Tours Africa, noted hoteliers need to scale up their performance at par with international climes. ‘‘The development of the hospitality business in Nigeria is key to the development of tourism in Nigeria and both cannot be divorced from one another,’’ said, adding that: ‘‘As you know, hospitality product is the major component of tourism offering in any destination. Therefore, the hospitality business needs to be developed at par with international best practices.’’ He further noted that: ‘‘The hospitality business in Nigeria needs to be graded, they need to be

more open to collaborations, they need to self – regulate themselves, and they need to improve on service delivery.’’ He decried the level of professionalism and personnel, saying it is a major challenge in Nigeria. ‘‘A major challenge which also affects other sectors is personnel. Hospitality business thrives on personnel over and beyond amenities you have in the hotel, restaurant or any hospitality outfit. ‘‘If you have a shabby, un-trained, un-cultured personnel, you cannot thrive as a hospitality business. You need to have a recruitment strategy that will employ the best people with the right temperament for service. ‘‘The hospitality business in Nigeria still has a long way to go in meeting the minimum acceptable standards in the international benchmark. Quite a few are trying and getting there but a chunk are way behind.’’

One of the issues that he said need to be addressed urgently, is that of the registration, grading and classification of hotels, which ultimately confers star rating status on hotel as it is done across the world. But this has be hampered by the Supreme Court judgement on tourism of 2014, which takes the power from performing this act from the federal government to the state governments. To overcome this challenge, Zakari urged the federal and state governments to seek political solution to the problem by reaching a compromise on the best way to achieving this all important task for the benefit of the country’s tourism sector. ‘‘I know that there have been attempts in the past to grade hospitality outlets but it resulted into legal tussle between the state and federal governments, thereby, hindering the rating or grading as the case may be of hospitality outfits.

This issue is also extensively covered in the tourism master plan and I can only advise the parties to look at the recommendations in the plan and come to round table with a view to resolving any issue(s) that may have hindered it in the past.’’ The benefits derived from this, he said are so enormous to be ignored. ‘‘The benefits are enormous and in my view, ranges from standardization of operators, improved service delivery, clarity in service level offering to experiential benefits to the visitor as well as industry operators. ‘‘It also positions a destination properly in the global market place and gives it a competitive advantage over its peers or competing destinations in a particular market demography.’’

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