The events industry in Nigeria is evolving rapidly. Event planners, conference organizers, and office administrators face unprecedented pressures that demand innovative solutions. As a venue provider, we witness these challenges firsthand and continuously adapt our services to help planners succeed. Here are 10 current challenges facing event professionals, with strategic solutions from a venue provider’s perspective: 1. Post-COVID Capacity and Safety Protocol Management In our post-COVID world, event planners navigate complex attendance protocols amid ongoing health concerns and varying corporate policies on in-person gatherings. Smart planners stay updated with state event attendance guidelines and partner with venues offering flexible capacity options, innovative hybrid setups with seamless livestreaming capabilities, and transparent sanitization protocols. Choose venues that share your professionalism and can quickly reconfigure spaces while providing detailed safety documentation to reassure organizers and attendees. Review and book venues that support events with visible fire exits, medical response access, and documented safety certifications. 2. Budget Constraints and Cost Inflation Corporate budgets have tightened while venue costs, catering, and AV equipment have increased significantly. Inflation and currency fluctuations make budget adherence increasingly difficult. Consider venues offering all-inclusive packages that eliminate hidden fees and provide predictable pricing. Flexible venue packages bundling catering, AV, and […]
1. Economic and Currency Challenges The naira’s volatility makes pricing international travel packages extremely difficult, as rates can shift dramatically between booking and travel dates, affecting profit margins and client budgets. Travel agents need to hedge against FX volatility by listing rates in USD but receiving full payment in NGN equivalent at the time of payment, encouraging discounts for FX payments, and working with bank relationship managers to free up liquidity. Debt recovery is difficult due to slow legal systems, making upfront payments and solid contracts essential—don’t risk your business even with long-term customers. 2. Domestic Tourism Growth & ‘Bleisure’ Opportunities With international travel having higher costs and complexity, many Nigerians are exploring domestic destinations. Travel agents should exploit this trend which offers larger volumes, higher margins, and zero currency exchange risk. The “bleisure” trend—combining business and leisure—is rising among domestic and regional professionals. Consider creating specialized packages for destinations like Calabar, Abuja, or emerging spots like Yankari Game Reserve. 3. Infrastructure and Transportation Issues Lagos traffic congestion can cause clients to miss flights, while unreliable power supply affects office operations. Secure partnerships with hotels near airports to assist with accommodation, logistics support, long-term parking, excess luggage storage, and early/late […]
Growth in any business should be your constant target. The best way to grow your revenues and sales is to generate more leads ie. the more leads you get, the more trips you book, and the more trips you book, the more commissions you make and vis-à-vis the more revenue growth you generate. To do that you need to demonstrate the value you bring to your current and future clients especially considering how easy today’s online booking websites make it for clients to curate adventures for themselves. It’s critical to attract new clients and repeat business by showcasing the value of the services you offer. You know what value you bring, now you just have to put some effort into marketing them to the clientele. Here are 10 sure-fire ways to attract potential clients and grow your number of travel agent leads and increase your customer base: Download Some Helpful Apps to raise productivity and organisation – A good place to start is with your tech. There are some great consumer apps made to help organize your time and your files in order to positively impact your business ops and sales. Here are some sure fire-tested and guaranteed apps that […]
We live in the “the new normal”. World has been in the siege of a raging pandemic with over a million lives lost but life still has to go on. Events, Birthday, Showers etc are all key events in life that we have to gather round and socialize. We attend to see and catch up with our family and friends – and let’s face it – sometimes zoom doesn’t cut it. Sometimes you want to attend in person. We love to get all dolled up, see one another, exchange greetings and it’s just not the same when one is sat behind a computer screen. That’s begs the question ‘how do we do us’ but still remain safe during this covid 19 pandemic. On behalf of all staff and management, we wish all our patrons and vendors a truly Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year… Posted by Welcome Centre Hotels, Lagos on Thursday, December 24, 2020 If you’re considering attending an event or party during COVID, here are a few suggestions to help you focus on the health and safety of yourself and others. First decide – ‘go or no go’ – If you don’t feel comfortable attending an event or […]
Dojo@WelcomeCentre Class Times Saturday – 10.30AM to 12.00PM Mondays – 4.30PM to 5.30PM Class Venue Welcome Centre Hotels, 70 International Airport Road, Opposite Ajao Estate, Lagos Contact dojo@welcomecentrehotels.com 08161840159; 07083558867 Top 10 reasons to learn karate Training karate has numerous benefits from fitness to stress reduction, self-defense to social interaction. Find below the top 10 reasons for learning karate: Train for a strong, fit body. After a few months of practicing karate, you will notice your body feeling leaner, stronger, more flexible and more agile. Karate classes can burn 700+ calories per hour and engage all muscle groups. Karate is especially great for developing a strong core and proper posture to feel great and be healthy everyday. Develop the skill to remain calm under stress. Training relaxation is a must for effective karate technique. Relaxation isn’t just in the body, but in the mind too. Keeping a calm mind while challenging your body through combinations in a fast-paced class develops a fluid mind mentality which transfers to other areas of life as well. Live more mindfully and be more present in daily life. A form of meditation in motion, in karate, you train yourself to bring all your attention to […]
Dear Business Partner, Hotels Re-Opened for Business We are pleased to announce that after effective guidance from the federal and state authorities and our careful appraisal of the health situation in the market, we have decided that it’s time to re-commence hotel operations! Hence both Welcome Centre Hotels and Stop Over Motels operations will begin to accept and provide hotel and hall booking services. In keeping with our ethos of excellent customer service and product reliability, we will implement best practice to in regards to personal hygience and facilities cleaning. As a hotel, conference, events and sports facility we Temperature Check every guest or person visiting the hotel Make available hospital grade hand sanitizers and sanitizer signs at every entry point and key locations throughout the hotel, event venues and sports facilities. Monitor the departure points or travel origins of all our hotel guests Waive any hotel reservation cancellation fees for international travellers up to 24 hours before arrival. Increase the level of deep cleaning around the hotel especially door handles, elevator buttons, restrooms, light switches, remote controls, room keys, menus, salt and condiment shakers, furniture and table tops. Move Check in time further back from 2pm to 4pm […]
Welcome Centre Hotels wins Hotels.com ‘Loved by Guests’ Award 2020 The 4-star Welcome Centre Hotels has scooped this year’s ‘Loved by Guests’ Award from Hotels.com. The Loved by Guests Awards are granted to the highest ranked properties on Hotels.com worldwide platform. This means our guests rate the hotel very highly and want no other! The criteria for any property selected as an award-winner in 2020 was based on its high guest rating scores and a minimum of 50 guest reviews in 2019. In addition, the Welcome Centre Hotels was rated top 3 reviewed hotels out of hundreds of hotels in Lagos over the past year. Commenting on the win, Tina Fischer, Director at the Welcome Centre Hotels, said: “I am delighted to see the achievements of the team at the Welcome Centre Hotels commended in this way. It is a testament to the hard work of both the individuals within the team and the team as a whole, which I am very proud to be at the helm of. I am especially proud that this acknowledgement stems directly from our valued guests who travel and stay with us from all corners of the globe”. She also added ‘Our guests have […]