Hospitality industry in limbo, losses mount

• 2.5 million jobs at risk
• Zero occupancy rate

The sudden and terrifying carnage in the hotel industry is hard to grasp, especially when it’s far from over.

Many of Nigerian hotels are deserted. The once boisterous atmosphere that usually pervades hotels are absent as the big hotels have their gates locked turning potential guests away following the devastating effects of COVID-19 pandemic.

The government has effectively shut the hospitality industry like many other businesses without any support. This announcement has led to thousands of businesses closing their doors for good, and hundreds of thousands of job losses.

Over the past few weeks the industry has suffered unprecedented drops in visits and many business are already on their knees.

Just a couple months ago, the hotel industry’s story was one of growth and optimism. Currently, the industry is at standstill with zero occupancy.

Before now, all international brands Port-Harcourt, Abuja and had been lock down. While some big Big hotels are just offering skeletal services, majority others have closed their gates and put up notices that they are shut ‘until further notice”.

Tourism consultant and Publisher, African Travel Times Magazine, Mr. Lucky George whose spoke to Woleshadarenews put estimated losses of the hospitality industry at over N1 trillion. He added that the losses occasioned by Coronavirus started since the middle of January.

George disclosed that by January, 2020, most hotels in Port-Harcourt had shut down 50 per cent of their operations while enjoying just about 20 per cent occupancy.

He stated that the situation affected and still affecting them with foreign contracts severed including tours.

He further stated that Port-Harcourt, Warri were the hardest hit, hinting that gradually, the problem extended to Lagos towards the end of the month.

His words, “We are looking at projection from February to the month of June; we are expecting that the sector would have lost close to N1tr. The reason is, you know the hotel industry alone covers the food suppliers from agriculture, the entertainment, the food and beverages, drinks, water and all that. So far in Nigeria, the Bureau of Statistics is only using accommodation and food beverages. We don’t use that. Since 2018, the statistics commission has agreed that it should start from the tour package, visitation, transportation, entertainment, leisure, then shopping and all that. That is how tourism earnings are calculated”.

We need to even add agriculture. I am actually educating the NBS and they also know that that is what they are supposed to be doing. Since the leadership don’t know, it is still reduced to just accommodation and beverages. About 2.5 million jobs are to be lost. That sector is huge. If this continues, the entire sector of the country will be in trouble. It is a longer chain”, he added.

The travel expert explained that the great majority of the hotels are run independently by independent entrepreneurs, stating that there are however some chains with various number of hotels.

According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the total expected job losses in the travel and tourism industry is expected to hit 50 million.

The estimate was projected towards the end of February 2020. However, new update indicates that the figure might be higher and the recovery road could be longer.

Also, the World Tourism Forum Institute (WTFI) projected that losses in financial term could also be in excess of $1tr for the tourism industry and up to $5tr inclusive of the allied sectors.

Nigeria’s statistics according to Nigeria Travel Week and not laying out how they arrived at their figures noted that on daily basis, Nigeria is losing the N4billion to the pandemic through daily loss from tourism spend of inbound travelers; N1.1billion daily loss to international airlines, daily loss of N285 million; daily loss from tourism spend of domestic travelers N5.6 billion.

It went further stated that travel agencies and tour operators subsectors with about 50, 000 employees are the most vulnerable especially with limited support to the sector, and concluded that 25 per cent of thee about two million people employed in the tourism industry in Nigeria are expected to lose their jobs (500, 000 job losses).

Another expert who spoke on condition of anonymity said Nigeria has no substantive tourism ministry, with no special attention given to it that is second highest employer of labour after agriculture in the country.