Eko Hotels to leverage ‘Detty December’ to increase bi-weekly N10 billion revenue

• No intention to be global brand chain hotel- Gbadebo

One of Nigeria’s biggest hotel brands, Eko Hotels and Suites, said it plans to take advantage of the monumental success of Detty December last year to increase its over N10 billion it generates every two weeks..

‘Detty December” is a Nigerian slang term for the festive and celebratory period during December, especially from mid-December through the New Year, characterised by high energy, social gatherings, parties, and festivities.

Director of Sales and Marketing of Eko Hotels and Suites, Dr. Iyadunni Gbadebo while speaking with Aviation Metric at the 49^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA) in Lagos said Last year, the company spent N1.8 billion curating events to bring the world to Nigeria.

Gbadebo explained that many Nigerians who hitherto holiday abroad are now thinking inwards by exploring very good tourist sites in the country because of the high cost of air travel occasioned by the tough economic reality

She further disclosed that every time anybody talked about Detty December in the last three months, she owed it morally to people who have invested in making Nigeria a Detty location in December.

“I can tell you that in two weeks, we make over N10 billion. People are spending. The middle class and the upper class can no longer afford to travel. It has become necessary to ensure that you are keeping that in Nigeria. We have done ourselves and our children a disservice by exposing them to holidays outside Nigeria. Now, without them exploring holidays within Nigeria and Africa, I hope that we will wake up to the call that Nigeria is our own and it is our responsibility to put it on a global map”..

She further stated that aside from her firm, other activities helped to boost the huge revenue that accrued to Nigeria, particularly during the spectacular months that culminated in ‘Detty December’, remarking that the global export of Nigerian music today started in Eko Convention Centre.

“I think that when people are talking about everything negative about Nigeria, there is a lot to say that is positive. That’s what I was saying when I was talking about being intentional about the positive narrative to our story.

“We are making the money. You don’t even have enough hotels in Nigeria. As I speak to you today, my 850 rooms are sold out. So the market is growing. The demand is increasing. We love the branching hotels that are coming to Nigeria.”

“I am telling you that there is more than N10 billion to be made in December by us, even within one hotel. I mean, you can do what you please, but that is a lot of money .coming from dropping the pin and all the businesses have gone abroad and everybody has gone on holiday, you know, and the quiet, we cannot even go on holiday.

“I do not remember when last I went to put my family on holiday every December. I’m in Eko Hotels. If it pleases Nigeria and it puts us on that global map, then that is a sacrifice that we all have to make”.

She commended the vision of the owners for believing that investing in the country would guarantee a return on investment, stressing that starting off and remaining unbranded and globally unbranded chain was intentional.

According to her, somebody has to take on the responsibility of ensuring that Nigerian products and services have a credible legacy to pass on to the world, maintaining they have no intention of being a brand chain hotel.

Wole Shadare