Hotel operators in Ogun lament lull in patronage

Hotel businesses in Ogun state have continued to suffer losses due to the lockdown in the state aimed at checking the spread of the coronavirus.

A visit on Wednesday to some hotels in Abeokuta metropolis indicated that many of them did not open to customers.

The Rock City Hotel on Abiola Way, the Morkland Hotel at Ibara and the Richton Hotel and Suites at Oke-Ilewo areas of Abeokuta were all deserted.

The popular Daktad Hotels on Quarry Road was a shadow of itself as the usual hustle and bustle associated with the outlet was missing.

The few cars seen at the hotel’s car park were said to belong to the outlets’ workers while there were no signs of customers going in or out of the premises.

Similarly, it was observed that activities were at a low ebb in the few hotels that opened for business.

Hotel Manager of Conference Hotel, Sagamu, Mr Michael Osho, lamented the negative effects of the lockdown on the outlet, saying the development had impacted negatively on its fortunes.

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Osho noted that the hotel, which has about 94 rooms, often had about 70 to 80 per cent of the rooms occupied on daily basis and usually fully booked at the weekends before the lockdown.

He said that most of the hotel workers had been told to stay at home, adding that only security personnel and about four House Keepers were left to clean the compound and trim the flowers on daily basis.

On how the few workers were being protected from COVID -19, he stated that before entering the hotel gate, the workers were made to wash their hands thoroughly or use hand sanitisers.

According to him, most hotels in major cities within the state had continued to suffer the same fate.