By Jimoh Babatunde
The hospitality trade in Nigeria sits at a fragile crossroads. On one hand, authorities establishments are pushing for larger skilled requirements to make the sector globally aggressive.
On the opposite, operators are grappling with harsh financial realities that threaten enterprise survival.
This stress got here to the fore on Tuesday in Abuja when the Nationwide Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) met with the management of the Lodge Homeowners Discussion board Abuja (HOFA).
The assembly, held at NIHOTOUR headquarters, introduced collectively senior administration of the Institute led by Director-Basic Aare Dr. Abisoye Fagade and HOFA executives led by President Mr. Emeka Ezekwesili.
At stake was a clearer understanding of NIHOTOUR’s regulatory function beneath its 2022 Institution Act and the 2025 Laws—and the way these will have an effect on operators on the bottom.
Clarifying Mandates
Dr. Fagade took pains to elucidate that NIHOTOUR’s mandate doesn’t prolong to registering resort buildings or bodily institutions, a accountability that lies with different authorities companies.
As an alternative, the Institute is tasked with coaching, certifying, and regulating the human capital—the cooks, front-desk managers, tour operators, and hospitality professionals—who finally decide service high quality and buyer expertise.
“That is about folks, not simply locations. Lodges don’t run themselves—folks do. And it’s these folks we’re dedicated to upskilling, accrediting, and empowering consistent with the regulation,” Fagade stated.
By positioning itself because the custodian of professionalism within the sector, NIHOTOUR goals to make sure that Nigerian hospitality staff meet international requirements.
However for a lot of operators, the problem lies not within the imaginative and prescient, however in the price of attaining it.
Business Pushback
HOFA President, Mr. Ezekwesili, was clear in his attraction: NIHOTOUR should keep away from turning into one other company including to the trade’s monetary burden. With rising operational prices, a number of taxation, and dwindling patronage, many resorts are already struggling to remain afloat.
“Professionalizing the sector is greatest achieved by inexpensive coaching and steady talent growth, not heavy levies or registration charges,” he argued, aligning with the long-standing place of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN).
The strongest criticism got here from HOFA’s solicitor, Barr. B.V. Inedia, who described current demand notices for N1.3 million in personnel registration charges as an “undue burden” imposed with out correct trade session.
For him and plenty of different hoteliers, such measures threaten not simply profitability but in addition employment throughout the sector.
A Sector in Transition
The Abuja assembly highlights a broader battle inside Nigeria’s hospitality and tourism ecosystem: the push to boost requirements whereas sustaining a business-friendly surroundings.
For NIHOTOUR, the professionalization of the workforce is non-negotiable if Nigeria is to compete with locations like South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt, which boast structured coaching and certification techniques.
For operators, nevertheless, survival within the present financial local weather is the precedence.
Many concern that with out cautious implementation, the NIHOTOUR Act may displace staff, undermine current {qualifications}, and make resorts much less aggressive.
The Manner Ahead
Regardless of these variations, the session ended on a conciliatory observe, with each events agreeing to arrange a Joint Implementation Committee to drive resolutions and keep open channels of communication.
Whether or not this collaboration results in a shared imaginative and prescient stays to be seen.
What is evident, nevertheless, is that the way forward for Nigeria’s hospitality trade will rely on placing the appropriate stability—between regulation and adaptability, skilled requirements and financial realities.
The NIHOTOUR–HOFA dialogue is barely the start of what guarantees to be an extended dialog about how greatest to construct a globally aggressive hospitality workforce with out crippling the companies that make use of them.
The publish NIHOTOUR, HOFA in dialogue: Balancing skilled requirements with trade realities appeared first on Vanguard Information.
