Travel/Tourism
Ongoing Renovation, Public Water Shortage Affecting Our Business—Capital Hotels
By Adedapo Adesanya
The management of Capital Hotels Plc, owners of Sheraton Abuja Hotel, has assured shareholders of the hospitality company that efforts would be made to create better value for them by ensuring a better market presence for the business despite the huge challenging operational environment.
Chairman of the interim board, Mr Anthony Idigbe, gave this assurance on Monday at the company’s ‘Facts Behind the Figure’ held at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos. The team was also honoured yesterday by the NSE with the closing gong ceremony.
Addressing investment analysts at the event on Monday, including Business Post, Mr Idigbe said out of the 575 guest rooms the firm’s flagship hotel, Sheraton Abuja Hotel, has, 266 are presently undergoing renovation, but 97 rooms should be completed in the first quarter of 2020. He said these will include state-of-the-art club rooms and suites.
He express optimism that when these 97 rooms are released for customers’ use early next year, they should improve the “market share [of the company], enhance revenue [and] boost [its] presence.”
According to Mr Idigbe, “As you all know, Capital Hotels has been undergoing some transformation, we are happy we have a cohesive board for corporate governance and we have adopted many policies so as to be able to focus the components on the business.
“The result is that in the last two years, we have been able to declare profits and we hope to continue in that fashion. We have ambition to be the largest provider of leisure and business spaces in Nigeria.
“We are working very hard on refurbishing our rooms, banqueting and conferencing facilities. Also, we have returned our marketing plans and strategy and we hope to continue sustaining the current performance and even exceeding it.”
An Executive Director of Capital Hotels, Mr Robert Itawa, during his presentation, explained that the renovation was part of efforts to turnaround fortunes of the company, following decisions by the new management to commence an upgrade of some facilities in the hotel.
He assured investors that the company will improve its service delivery so as to result into more return of investment for shareholders of the hospitality firm, which was readmitted on the stock exchange in 2008.
However, Mr Itawa pointed out some factors having negative impact of the company’s numbers, which include a high operating cost. He explained that the organisation had to book the cost of implication of legacy staff schemes following an agreement with the unions. He added that the cost is expected to spread over a three-year period.
“For the past three years, this legacy cost alone is about N300 million. We have paid N110 million this year and from 2010 till date, cost associated with legacy system alone is N2.8 billion.
”That is why we have entered into negotiations with the union because we felt if we do not do something, the hotel will die and people will not get their money.
“In the next one year, we would have completed the payment of whatever that is outstanding. We have been paying massively every year since that period without fail and that is why we are experiencing industrial harmony,” Mr Itawa informed analysts present at the meeting.
Mentioning other challenges facing Capital Hotels, Mr Itawa said they include kidnapping, insurgency, institutional failure, poor transport system, power outage, public water shortage, integrity shortage amongst others.
Giving an outlook for the company in the future, he said that the firm may consider enhancing its topline by 60 percent mainly from the newly renovated 97 rooms.
While fielding questions from participants yesterday on the tenure of the present interim team, Chairman of the board, Mr Anthony Idigbe, assured that the board would ensure to complete its mandate within the time frame and not stay longer than necessary.
In his words, “I want to assure you that some of us will like to exit as quickly as possible and as soon as necessary. We continue to see it as a national service to perform this role.
“We are very proud of the work we have done so far, but be assured that we will not stay a minute longer than necessary.”
“We are happy that by the first quarter of next year, substantial progress would have been made in the decision process. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is going to ensure that rights of fair hearing are not breached. The process is very important. We are trying to get a solution that would be sustainable,” Mr Idigbe added.
SEC had on May 4, 2017, dissolved the former board of directors and appointed an interim board led by Mr Anthony Idigbe. The action was taken to protect investors of the company as well as integrity of the capital market and to restore the lost fortunes of the company in the shortest time possible.
The new interim board was mandated to oversee the conduct of a forensic investigation into the affairs of the company, considering the allegations of unauthorised sale of shares and diversion of proceeds from the sale of shares, amongst others.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A travel card designed for tourists, business visitors, Diaspora returnees has been launched by Verve in partnership with Providus Bank.
Known as the ProvidusVerve Travel Card, the Naira-based travel card will allow inbound travellers to enjoy a smooth, secure, and convenient payment experience throughout their stay in Nigeria. It was powered by Verve’s secure.
Created to support the surge of tourists, expatriates, business visitors, conference delegates, and returning diaspora expected during the festive Detty December season, the ProvidusVerve Travel Card enables seamless payments for transportation, hotels, dining, shopping, entertainment, and everyday essentials nationwide.
The card also works on select global merchant platforms that accept Verve, including Netflix, Google Play, and other digital services, ensuring travellers enjoy uninterrupted access to familiar services.
The ProvidusVerve Travel Card eliminates the hassle of sourcing naira or converting foreign currency on arrival. It enables instant, secure transactions, reduces reliance on cash, and supports compliance with the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It also mitigates the risks associated with carrying physical cash such as loss, theft, or fraud, offering a safe, regulation-aligned option for both online and in-person payments.
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card is a timely solution for inbound travellers seeking reliability, security, and simplicity while navigating Nigeria.
“Together with Providus Bank, we have created a product that eliminates the friction traditionally associated with accessing local payments.
“Whether for tourism, business, or festive activities, this card ensures a smooth financial experience from the moment visitors land,” the Vice President for Issuing and Acquiring Management for Africa at Verve International, Mr Paul Ohakim, stated.
On his part, the Divisional Head for Product Management and Solution Delivery at Interswitch, Mr Ademola Adeniran, described the partnership as a reflection of “Verve’s commitment to designing products that respond to real user needs.”
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card supports everyday experiences — from booking rides and hotels to shopping, streaming, and dining. It provides inbound travellers with a secure, compliant, digital-first way to experience Nigeria without financial barriers,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the federal government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations.
The Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation.
Speaking at the event themed “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by the airline are yet to be refunded.
He revealed that the authority suspended the operations of the airline as a matter of choice between safety and disaster.
“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as priority. The priority was safety, and we all looked at the damning reports that we had met on the table.
“It was a decision of the NCAA to suspend them, but I pushed them to say, look, these are the reports we are seeing on the table about safety record, about lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continue flying, I don’t know whether most of us will be here. Many of us would have been victims of one of those flights. God forbid.”
According to him, “I have asked Najomo (NCAA director general) to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. He has to dig deep on that.
“One solution will also be that if that same individual or those entities are trying to come back to aviation under any guise, whether to go and register a new AOC or use any business within the aviation sector, they have to go and settle their debts first.
“We should look at their assets. There are assets that are still available. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalize their revenue and pay people. Let’s find a way to go after their assets and get money to pay Nigerians who are owed.
“NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it has imposed a N5 million penalty on Qatar Airways for consumer protection violations.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu, on X, adding that there may be other sanctions depending on how the airline treats other cases.
“Glad to announce that, today, the NCAA has sanctioned @qatarairways to the tune of five million naira being penalty for consumer protection-related infractions. In addition, the letters of investigation (LOI) written to the airline over other cases may lead to further sanctions if not treated satisfactorily,” Mr Achimugu wrote.
The fine followed an incident when a Nigerian passenger was accused by a Qatar Airways cabin crew member of sexual harassment during boarding in Lagos for a flight to the United States via Doha, Qatar.
The allegation was only reported in Doha, where the passenger was arrested, detained for 18 hours, fined, and compelled to sign a document written solely in Arabic.
Qatar Airways allegedly refused to continue his journey, forcing him to purchase another ticket at considerable financial and reputational cost.
The NCAA said it invited Qatar Airways’ country manager to a meeting over the incident, but he failed to attend, sending subordinates instead.
“I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don’t even have any. This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria.
“This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for ANY Airlines not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023,” Mr Achimugu said in an earlier post.
In September, the NCAA accused Qatar Airways of mistreating Nigerian passengers and failing to comply with consumer protection regulations under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.
The regulator then threatened stiff penalties against the airline for repeatedly disregarding its directives.
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