The expression, “suffering and smiling”, appropriately describes the condition of many hoteliers in Asaba, the capital of Delta State.
Investigations by City People have revealed that there appears to a general feeling that the business has become an all-comers affair.
The increase in a number of hotels is not matched by a relative rise in patronage.
Asaba was not being a tourist destination or a conference town that attract seminars conferences or symposia or sports events.
So, it has become increasingly difficult for the hotels to break even despite spending more to raise the standard of facilities from time to.
Also, many politicians past and present political office holder, are jumping on the bandwagon as they seek an easy means to invest the fortunes they made from the government, they see hotel business as a cash cow that guarantees a quick return on investment without many hassles.
It was further gathered that the politicians own many of the new hotels in town like Swiss Spirit and Best Western Elomaz Hotels both of which are edifices to behold.
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A source said that because of their big spending owners, their strategy is to muffle competition and dominate the marked by down pricing the cost of hotel services, this unwholesome practice apart, their state-of-the-art facilities and latest industry standards and deliberately deployed to give to established brands like, Grand Hotels, Nelrose, Orchid and Hotel Benizian a run for their money.
And except for those that are guaranteed government patronage like Hotel Benizian owned by a serving commissioner in state are left out in the cold.
Some are neck-deep in debt or have been forced to close shop after taking a plunge out of ignorance, without carrying out proper feasibility study on the viability of the business in the state and the chances of balancing their books.
Hotel busiensss in Asaba has not always been a subject of attention, people now make reference to Asaba as a city of hotels, a way of casting aspersion in the situation. Before the creation of Delta State in 1991, it was easy to count the number of hotels in Asaba on one’s fingertips.
The major problems identified include the sharp fall in market patronage, heavy reliance on diesel for a regular supply of electricity and undue proliferation of hotels in Asaba.
As it stands how, there are over 300 hotels in Asaba, where an each passing day, the level of patronage is plunging.
So, business has been down. Patronage has fallen by over 70 percent from the time business started around 2006.
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