Nigeria sees growth in in-bound business travels

Friday, 01 February 2013 00:00 Sade Williams & Obinna Emelike

Despite the difficulty in securing the Nigerian visa, the uncompetitive airfare, security threats and several travel warnings by most embassies to their citizens against travelling to Nigeria, the country still received more visitors in the last three years than Ghana.

Analysts, who attributed the influx to better business environment, among others things, noted that with more stability in governance, more international airlines and investors would signify interest in doing business in the country, adding that Nigerians also have started appreciating the need to travel by air as the fastest and safest means.

“Nigeria is one of the biggest markets in Africa, especially with its population. The whole Africa does not have the kind of market Nigeria has and with the number of people travelling, foreign airlines capitalise on it to apply for landing rights and domestic airlines to apply for air operator’s certificates. Also, on the domestic side, passenger traffic rises when the fare is low, with the coming of more airlines after the Dana crash, the fares dropped, while traffic is increasing,” Muhammed Tukur, secretary general of Airline Operators of Nigeria told BusinessDay.

Available records from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) show that between 2009 and 2011, at Lagos airport which is the busiest airport in the country, passenger traffic increased from 5,644,572 to 6,748,290 while aircraft movement increased from 84,588 to 105,215.

In 2010, total passenger traffic was 6,273,454, an 11.41 percent increase upon 2009.
Aircraft movement rose from 86,552 in 2009 to 96,599 in 2010 representing 11.60 percent increase.

A breakdown of 2011 report according to the annual traffic figures obtained from FAAN shows that passenger traffic at domestic wing of Abuja airport increased from 3,361,107 to 3,624,862 while at the international wing, it increased from 561,440 in 2010 to 591,285.

At Port-Harcourt domestic side, the airport witnessed traffic increase to 1,256,266 from 1,198,668 in 2010 while at the international wing, it increased from 13,148 to 90,345. At the Kano domestic, it increased from 234,996 in 2010 to 272, 911 in 2011 while it went up from 146,845 to 175,881 at the international wing. Enugu airport in 2011 played host to 301,744 passengers.

“Even when you arrive the domestic airports or you board aircraft from the domestic wings, you see a lot of foreigners and you begin to wonder where they are heading to and the kind of business they do in Nigeria. That means that they see what we cannot see in the economy,” Olumide Ohunayo, a travel analyst said.

Also, according to statistics from Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, (NTDC), the country received more business visitors than any other country in West Africa in the last three years, and is making effort to overtake the region in tourist arrival.

In recent years, Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA)signed between Nigeria and other countries are being revived and new ones signed. These agreements have seen the likes of Etihad, Delta Air, United Airlines, Rwanda Airlines, among others, express interest and receive landing rights to Nigeria’s largest international airport.

With Federal Government approval for the expansion of the departure and arrival halls of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to accommodate the ever increasing traffic at the airport, many new restaurants and duty-free stores are being opened.
Yakubu Dati, FAAN spokesman noted that the increase in traffic attests to the fact that Nigeria is truly the hub of Africa.

He said that is why the current administration sees the opportunity in remodeling the terminals and creating an enabling environment to attract more investors and traffic to the country.

“Nigeria is an investor’s haven, we have the population that loves to travel, we have all that it takes to be the hub in Africa, we also occupy a very central role; it is easier to connect other West African countries from Lagos, that is why FAAN is committed to the remodeling project. The traffic is an indication that the sector is responding positively to the changes at the terminals, just as the government is trying to restore passenger confidence. These are indicators of positive developments”, he said.

The development has led to more pressure on accommodation as most of the visitors comprising business travellers, expatriates, Nigerian Diasporas and the diplomatic community look for quality and safe accommodation for their stay in posh hotels.

Already, about 35 percent of the occupancy rate of most international hotel brands in Nigeria especially in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, is maintained by foreigners on first time visit to the country and those spending between three days to one week in the country.

In Lagos alone, the development has resulted in proliferation of hotels, especially around the airports (both international and indigenous brands) that increased total room supply from 2,994 in 2003 to 7,229 in 2010.

According to a report by W Hospitality Group, an Ikoyi-Lagos based hospitality consultancy company, total room supply in Lagos is expected to reach 11,335 by the end of 2013 as many more international branded hotels (particularly Intercontinental Hotel Lagos and Starwood Group) are set to usher in more rooms in the market this year in an effort to address shortfall in room supply.

According to the report, by the time the expected rooms are ushered into the hospitality market, the industry will be raking in over N2 billion in revenue from increased hotel occupancy and readily available rooms.

While over 2000 jobs, experts say will be generated with the development, government revenue in tax will increase, skills will improve and the cities where these hotels are domiciled will be given a facelift.

While five international brands opened over eight hotels across the country in the last three years, regional brands opened about 10 because of their size and service capacity, yet a few international brands led by Movenpick, a Swiss brand, opened shop in Ghana.

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