How To Check Regulatory Environment In Nigeria’s Hospitality Industry — Audu

Nigeria’s hospitality regulatory environment is plagued by fragmented laws, overlapping jurisdictions, weak enforcement, underinvestment and insecurity, which combine to hinder the sector’s growth and ability to fully harness its economic potential, a public affairs strategist, Haroun Harry Audu, has said.

Speaking in his keynote presentation at the annual general meeting of the hotel owners’ forum in Abuja on Thursday, Audu, a marketing communications consultant and legal practitioner, also identified key problems within the hospitality regulatory environment as fragmented legal framework (multiple agencies regulating hospitality–Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism & Creative Economy, NTDC, NIHOTOUR, State Tourism boards, states and local governments, which leads to overlapping mandates and confusion.

He said manifest lack of a unified national hospitality law creates inconsistencies across states, making compliance difficult for operators, while weak enforcement and institutional gaps also constitute a problem as regulatory bodies lack the capacity, needed funding and trained patriotic manpower to genuinely enforce standards effectively.

Audu, also a director with Fraser Suites Abuja, one of the leading luxury hospitality providers in Nigeria,  added that many establishments operate informally, outside regulatory oversight, which undermines quality assurance and consumer protection even amidst overlapping jurisdictions as federal and state governments, alongside their respective MDAs, tend to frequently clash over who has the authority to regulate hotels and tourism businesses.

“This jurisdictional conflict results in duplicated taxes, levies and suffocating licensing requirements, which disrupt operations and discourage investment,” he said.

He added that despite the sector’s potential, there is low government investment in tourism infrastructure such as roads, airports, law enforcement/security and utilities, making private investors to face high costs due to poor infrastructure, which limit expansion and modernization of hospitality facilities.

“There is no denying however, that the mission of NIHOTOUR or indeed any other industry agency for that matter, to enforce standards and professionalise Nigeria’s hospitality workforce is crucial for long-term growth. The real challenge in my humble view, is how to balance regulatory enforcement with collaboration. Hospitality operators should feel supported rather than this sense of being punished and antagonised, as exemplified by the NIHOTOUR approach, now gladly suspended,” he said.

As an alternative approach to regulation within Nigeria’s hospitality space, he suggested that NIHOTOUR and other allied agencies and arms of government should aim to transform from being seen as a “pain”, to instead become beneficial partners.

He said they can do this through a collaborative reform plan built on stakeholder engagement, streamlined regulation, shared training initiatives, digital compliance systems, and public– private partnerships.

He said his proposal drew strength from an aspect of the minister’s recent statement which he quotes: “We are committed to maintaining a stable, transparent and business-friendly tourism environment. Until a full policy and operational review is completed, all NIHOTOUR enforcement activities are hereby suspended nationwide.

“The federal government assures stakeholders that every regulatory action going forward will be grounded in law, professionalism and industry-wide consultation.”

Sequel to the minister’s stand on the subject, he proposed major elements of the collaborative reform plan to include stakeholder engagement and dialogue, establishing hospitality industry roundtables where regulators, hotel owners, restaurant operators and tourism associations meet quarterly, creating feedback channels (surveys, advisory councils) so that operators have opportunity to participate in, contribute and meaningfully influence policy before enforcement.

‘This will build trust by ensuring that fees, levies, charges, taxes, regulations, etc., reflect industry realities, streamline regulation and reduced overlaps, mandate the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) and state tourism boards to work with HOFA to harmonize licensing and certification, etc,” he said.