While many hospitality experts project events that will shape the industry in their outlook for 2012, the expectation is high on the many new hotels that will be opening their doors to the public this year.
Of course, the biggest of them all is the long expected grand opening of the Intercontinental Hotel Lagos later this year. The event is expected to turn the table around for hospitality business in Lagos and Nigeria at large, as the global Intercontinental Hotel brand comes in with the needed difference that will benchmark standard in the industry.
At 100 metres high, one can see the 358-rooms and suites hotel from anywhere in Victoria Island. Truly, the soon-to-be-completed hotel project stands very tall above the skyline of Lagos Island, and is architectural wonder on Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island.
During a recent tour of the project site by Edem Duke, minister of tourism and culture, and his entourage comprising directors-general of three parastatals in the ministry, Ramesh Valechha, chairman, Milan Group, the promoter of the hotel, noted that the partnership between Milan Group and Intercontinental Group was possible because of the discovery that Nigeria is a fertile ground for investment, especially in the hospitality sector.
Valechha noted that Intercontinental Hotel Lagos is not just an iconic structure in Lagos but the tallest hospitality property in the whole of West Africa, and also assured that the hotel would be completed on schedule.
In his remark at the tour, the minister and representative of the Federal Government, noted that the visit was informed by the need to appreciate private sector investment such as the towering hotel project, and also to woo more investments into the hospitality sector now that the present administration was serious at gainfully engaging and partnering the private sector for development across board in the country.
“Part of the mandate of our Ministry of Tourism and Culture is to promote investments into Nigeria in hospitality, entertainment, retail and in other related sectors. We have watched with keen interest as the skyline of Lagos began to change with Intercontinental Hotel Lagos project. This is a project that is promoted by a Nigerian investor of Indian extraction. For us, the initiative or partnership with Intercontinental is breaking new grounds in hospitality investments in Nigeria,” Duke said.
While expressing the appreciation of the Nigerian government over the project, the minister also called on other investors in and outside the country to see Nigeria as a very profitable investment destination, especially in hospitality business.
“Prince Walid of Saudi Arabia, a notable global hospitality investor, was here not too long ago and he expressed that even though he has 300 hotels all over the world and 20 in Africa, and if he had not built any in Nigeria, then he has not started in Africa,” he stated.
He also hoped that the hotel will be ready by June 2012, when the ministry will be hosting 52 ministers of tourism all over Africa. “It will be my delight that this project will be ready so that we will showcase it to the rest of Africa,” Duke concluded.
The development, which is centrally located on Victoria Island, according to Peter Pedersen, the opening manager of the hotel, will cater for a steadily increasing number of business travellers arriving in Nigeria, as the country goes through a period of renewed investment in its infrastructure.
On the part of the franchise owner, the development is a clear reflection of InterContinental Hotel Group’s confidence in Lagos, a city that is seen as a thriving commercial hub of West Africa.
On completion, the Lagos hospitality market will have additional 358 rooms and suites made up of 246 standard rooms, 30 twin rooms, 17 large corner king room, 17 corner 1 bed room suites, 14 one bedroom end suites, 4 Club floor junior suites, 2 large 1 Bedroom suites (Club floors), 1 Presidential suite, 55 suites & larger rooms in total, 4 club floors with 72 club floor rooms and suites.
Other facilities include Grand African Ballroom of 1477m2 with eight branded meeting rooms, a-250m2 Intercontinental Club Lounge including meeting room facilities, 24-hour gym & health club, three SPA & massage treatment rooms, outdoor lapping pool and pool deck, roof top - Zen Garden, WIFI, branded luxury retail, and 200 underground parking spaces.
The hotel will also offer the best dining experience to guests with world-class menu and drinks under the personal touch and supervision of its highly skilled Food & Beverage department staff.
The fine dining options include ‘Ekaabo,’ an all day dining restaurant with 160 seats, SOHO, a Chinese restaurant for 90 guests, and Milano Rest & Bar, Italian bar seating between 28-60 guests.
Others include Soul Bar Lounge, an 80-seater lounge offering best of wine menu, Lobby Café for 56 guests and, of course, Poolside Café & Bar. Already, recruitment exercise is almost completed in readiness for full operation next year.
Pedersen hopes to take advantage of the inbound travel that is on the increase in the country and also to offer Nigerians and international guests the traditional Intercontinental experience which, according to him, is never rivaled anywhere in the world. For him, Intercontinental is one-stop shop hospitality experience for any guest and will remain so even in Nigeria!
Source: BusinessDay