Tinapa Lakeside is still in business

Despite the unimpressive business activities at Tinapa Business Resort, Calabar and the economic downturn, MICHAEL IDAKWO, general manager, Tinapa Lakeside Hotel, tells OBINNA EMELIKE that he targets a monthly revenue of N100 million among others feats.

What is sustaining the hotel despite little or no business activities at Tinapa Business Resort?

We have competitive advantage, we offer emotional services, we often review our value chain for optimum productivity, and team work are top among reasons we are still in business today despite the downturn.

Competitive advantage is what gives you advantage over your competitors, but we call it emotional service here in Tinapa Lakeside Hotel. I am an incurable advocate of emotional service; this when a service provider deposits extra emotions in the customers’ emotional bank account , that is the kind of service where the hotel looks beyond feeding the stomach of the customers to feeding the soul. That is the kind of service that guarantees repeat business. Once you offer emotional service, the customer is bound to come back because our motto in this hotel is; ‘The difference you desire’. We try to bridge the gap between customers’ expectations and experience.  We try to go beyond the norm to satisfy and celebrate the customer.

What is the hotel’s selling point?

Our selling point is full inclusivity coupled with our distance from the city centre. What is the point staying in a hotel and noise, especially from uncontrolled car horns impedes your peace. While here, there is full concentration, as a matter of fact, before you get out of this place, you would have checked to review your stay and impressed with the result or satisfaction courtesy of the serenity, peace and world-class hospitality offerings here. So, that is our major selling point here, coupled with the large expanse of natural environment, which no hotel in the country can boast of even Transcorp Hilton Abuja.

When I resumed here, I wanted to be referred to as a peculiar general manager, or a different general manager. By the grace of God, and as far as Cross River State is concerned today, I think that has been achieved. I took over the mantle of leadership here in 2012, and in April of that year, I was privileged to meet the then managing director of Tinapa Business Resort and I told him that I was confident the hotel can attain a monthly revenue of N100million and the man screamed Michael, until I see it, because to him then, it was out of this world looking at the history of business in the place and where the hotel is coming from. In May 2013, the hotel recorded revenue of over N100 million, the first in Cross River State and between 2012 till date, no hotel in the state has beaten our revenue record. I say this without any fear of contradiction, not because of the number or size of our rooms, but because of our competitive advantage.

Peak periods

Here, we do not believe in off season. The business has to be there all seasons so that we can attend to customers and pay our bills. That is our goal.

What is your magic wand?

Obviously, I cannot take the place of God Almighty, God has been involved and you know, you cannot travel with God and arrive late. The grace of God is here, that is number one. The number two is that I do not know if you can explain how ants are attracted to sugar, the same way guests are attracted to good services, how they will arrive should not bother you.  As long as you do your part, guests will come and repeat businesses will be guaranteed. I believe there is no excuse in customer service. It is emotional service that gives us that competitive advantage. We have also adopted what Michael Porter called Hybrid Strategy, and it is working for us. We worked on our overall cost, improved leadership, engaged in product differentiation and focused on achieving our strategy, especially in 2015 when things were very difficult for us. Then, it was a nightmare, but we still made sure the hotel continued in business. We simply skipped the inventory and started doing what I call the ‘Just In Time’ philosophy. We skipped inventory, did direct purchase, and kept the business flowing. So, for every problem, there is a solution and man is born to solve problems.

What is happening in Tinapa Business Resort today is a paradox, the hotel was built to complement the business aspect of Tinapa, but the hotel alone has been driving the business aspect, and the water parks. So we are not dependent on the shopping malls, rather the malls and water parks are dependent on our guests, though some of the shopping malls have been closed down for some reasons.

Impact of the economic downturn?

While some organisations are talking about downsizing, we are even talking about employing more at the moment.

We have been doing yearly occupancy rate of between 30 to 35 percent; and that could be low. But when you look at the volume of rooms, 30 percent occupancy rate in a hotel of 242 rooms is different from 30 percent occupancy in a hotel of 100 rooms. If a hotel of 242 rooms is doing 30 to 35 percent occupancy, it is still high because you still attain N80 million in a month with 30 percent. Also, we do not only rely on rooms and that is why we have introduced theme nights like Calabar Night every Friday. It has become a major attraction and is well-attended. We even got a report that people travel all the way from Lagos to attend the Calabar Night. I think it is better experienced than explained because the best band and dancers in the state are here every Friday to entertain guests.

Staff strength?

We have 100 fulltime staff and 15 ad hoc ones. We have the capacity to offer world-class services and are training/re-training to maintain and improve on our standards. The trainings are systematic processes that enable the staff to acquire skills, knowledge and attitude required for their present and future tasks. The assurance of our capacity will help us handle the over flow from the neighbouring Cross River International Conference Centre (CICC). Right from the time the idea was conceived, the promoters of the centre were aware we have been enhancing the capacity of our staff to meet world-class hospitality services and offerings.

Challenges

And as you know, the hotel is a subset of Tinapa Business Resort as a whole, so whatever affects the entire Tinapa affects the hotel. But I must appreciate the efforts of Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River State. His Excellency gave us two brand new generators between the months of December and January, and that inevitably crashed our operation cost, which has been so high. Since then, our profit margin has been enhanced.

However, we still need more business because we have 242 rooms, and the task before us is to fill these rooms on a daily basis with guests. That is our goal, although it is not being achieved yet. We often have full occupancy about four times in a month, five times, and even seven times in a month when business is booming. At present, the occupancy rate is above 30 percent, but as at January, we did less than 30 percent. Occupancy has picked now. Of course, last December was full capacity. Usually June, to December is always our peak period. But in the last four years, we have recorded our highest revenue in the month of May, contrary to the myth of December breakthrough. Our patronage was overwhelming to the extent that we started distributing businesses to other hotels in Calabar. What we did was to break the jinx of waiting for November and December before you have huge volume of traffic. We choose not to wait for that period. When I took over the mantle of leadership in the hotel, I sold my philosophy to the management on the way forward.  Also, we are still the best hotel in Cross River State. Everyone is attracted to the best, and most guests are attracted here because they see what they were promised when they come here. We tried to keep our promise and the customer is excited and guarantees repeat business.

Vision for the hotel in the next five years?

In the next five years, I want Tinapa Lakeside Hotel to become the best hotel in Nigeria. I believe it is possible, the force that took us from number three hotel in Cross River to number one in less than one year, will also take us to the height of becoming the best hotel in Nigeria. It is possible.

Like I mentioned before, it is a myth that after Carnival Calabar in December, business crashes in Cross River State. We have never recorded our highest revenue in November or December since I resumed here in 2012, we have recorded our highest revenue in the month of May 2013. Emotional service is recession proof; it beats whatever happens in the economy. Even the few events that will take place in this country, some will be taking place in Tinapa Lake Hotel and with that, we will still sustain, pay our bills and remain actively in business.

OBINNA EMELIKE