Nigeria: Karl Hala – Our Investments in Continental Hotels Are Yielding Results

After a familiarisation tour of the new facilities in the Abuja Continental, Karl Hala, Group General Manager, Continental Hotel Group, accompanied by the General Manager, Kevin Brett, spoke about the ongoing transformation taking place in the former Sheraton Hotel. Charles Ajunwa brings excerpts

Can you throw more light on the transformation at Abuja Continental?

Truly, this is a place where we perform transformation. What you see is an acquisition where one can notice we’re here for the long term. We’re here to better the hospitality industry. And we are here to show this by example.

Of course, we want to bring back the legacy of the former hotel. It’s now the Abuja Continental. But to steer it in a direction of being a landmark beyond Abuja, beyond Nigeria, that Abuja itself can say it does have an Abuja Continental. It does have a landmark place which is comparable beyond. And it is, from its own powerhouse status, being the capital, being the government, being the body which is there to look after this wonderful country. It has the right hotel. You can come in, you can convene, have your gatherings and we are here to deliver. So, for the major part, you have 14 hectares of land. You have three towers, Atrium Towers, where it takes 200 rooms each. You have almost 2,500 square meters of convention in Ladi Kwali, where we are building because we believe we will turn this into a conference centre.

Abuja is the place to meet. It doesn’t matter from which direction. We want to be there for that. We have added three extra convention rooms already. We converted the two casinos into meeting rooms. And there was an elephant’s bar before, which also had been converted.

We’re going further, in Tower 2, where there was a gallery of shops in the Papillon Restaurant. The Papillon restaurant has been converted into a breakfast place, meaning all the terraces outside and everything will be available for full food and beverage delight. And all the shops opposite will be turned into conference rooms as well.

So, that’s just from here. We’re coming back to the conversion of the towers into the newly redesigned guest rooms. I think what you have to show afterwards is the design of the new guest rooms, which we are playing conveniently in the lobby. And the pool bar as well, which we also redesigned. This is beyond a Dubai look. Really trendy, it’s cool. Basically, you want to create something, you don’t have to meet in Oslo or anywhere else. Go for a weekend in Dubai, Abuja is the spot, that’s where you go. That’s trendy, that’s cool. That’s where the real people are. So, with the transformation of the new guest rooms in Tower 3, which we also then will convert into Abuja Continental Hotel suites, I believe so. But that might change, but it will be uplifted. And you’ve seen the second entrance we’re building there. Monumental. You’ve seen, besides this design, we started that everybody can see we are promising. And we’re actually delivering the new facade tiles outside. Orange. We just would like to stand out.

As you can see, the entire hotel will be tiled in this colour. So, you have 12,000 tiles and 800 new windows.

All the windows are double glazed, roofed and all that. So, it’s trendy. All the open atriums will be domed in, fully ventilated. So, from Tower 1, 2, 3, you can walk, you can sit. We will delight everybody with areas where you can meet, sip a coffee, meet a friend, chill yourself, welcome your guests. We’re going to the lobby redesign, which is happening as well. We are going to have the sports designs, which you have seen already. We have a new gym. I don’t know whether you had the chance to see that. As top of the art. Actually, you just have to stand on the treadmill, and it will do it for you. It’s so modern.

And you still lose weight and get fit. We’ll build extra courts, paddle courts and pickleball courts. Paddle is the fastest growing sport in Africa and Europe. Pickleball to follow. We already have four tennis courts, two squash courts and table tennis. We’re just planning from April onwards. You know the new format for the Champions League?

So, we’re going to apply the same thing for our sports here. So, we have the Continental League for tennis, paddle, squash and table tennis. It’s quite interesting. It’s fun to bring the community together. And sports is refreshing. Keeps your mind clear and brings people together. You have seen all over the landscaping. Lots of effort has gone into this. It’s actually a real walk in the park now. From all the floral arrangements, the designs and all that. It’s a brilliant picture. Wherever you go through, the transformation doesn’t stop anywhere. So, it’s all the guest rooms, it’s all the outlets, it’s all the convention centres, the recreation areas, the spires which will be added to as well, the entrances and the park.

What you’re going to see, going back a couple of years and going forward another couple of years, is constant improvement in all areas of the hotel. Constant changes and there will be activity throughout. About the three buildings being enclosed, that’s going to be very significant because for the last 41 years, we haven’t been able to use these rooms for half a year during the rainy season. So, we’re going to have more areas for our customers to meet and greet their friends and colleagues and business associates. It’s going to be good. So, we’re going to have three active lobbies in the hotel.

All three buildings will be enclosed. Tower 2, where the papier was, is redesigned, but has gotten open, will be domed in. We’ll have a new, very well-designed food and beverage area for your breakfast and a lot of square events. Kevin’s idea is also to add beddings to it, to have different receptions of all levels. It doesn’t matter. Getting together, and you know, social gatherings are very popular in Nigeria. So, we give another space.

It’s just not that we have the huge Ladi Kwali. So, you’ve seen it’s the Taj Mahal of convention centres. The lobby’s shining. All the convention areas have new carpets, new lighting, everything brought in. From the air conditioning to the walls, new toilets, name it. And so, yes, it will set a new standard.

Is there any time frame to all this renewal that you are doing around the facilities, but you just said that it’s a constant?

It is constant, and you will see, because even when we are finished, we are not finished. It never stops. It’s evolving. Like any industry, the hospitality industry is undergoing day-to-day changes. Trends in food and beverage, in new linen, IT, recreation, wellness, all of that. So, yeah, it will be. Time frames? So, if you look into Tower 2, where we will be going with the first 200 rooms, we anticipate somewhere around 18 rooms. But we take them, and then we’ll take the next and the next. What will go faster is the lobby bar. So this we do anticipate to have within the fourth quarter of this year. So this is a direct target because that’s what we want. It’s obvious. This is somewhere where people feel happy. You want to gather around. It is automatically an attraction for people to meet, to enjoy, to relax, or have time. You’ve seen the new decking of the pool? So, the pool, it’s always an area. But there you will see improvements further and further.

What are the chances of making it to the Olympic standards?

It’s not the Olympic standard.

Really?

The Olympic standard would be 50 metres.

How many metres do you have?

I think 30 something metres. There are two. You have the children’s pool, and the adults’. You know, I think everybody should focus on what you’re good at. So, the Olympic standard, we keep to the sports specialists. And our relaxation and chillaxing, you have to ask for hospitality.

There is a signpost by the swimming pool that says ‘no diving’. What informed your decision because most customers would like to dive?

No, they don’t. I can categorically say no. I’ve been doing this for 50 years. By the way, I’m 68 here. No, they don’t.

People barely go into the swimming pool from their hotel guests. It’s the people from outside. And when you swim, most people, you might also sit in there, walk too. The most disturbing factor is somebody diving in next to you. Splish-splash. You know how we men are, we don’t like that. I like diving as well.

People who don’t smoke would like to sit by the pool bar. How do you manage to give each customer the best outing without one customer disturbing the other?

It’s an open space. So, you have people not smoking. There you go. You have some issues on tables and all.

I must admit, we stopped smoking here quite a while ago. Two years ago. I was the first one in Nairobi at the time. And about 15, 16 years ago, we stopped smoking everywhere, except the outside. People automatically placed themselves. And you try to have smokers somewhere around. No disturbances. It’s really not an issue. I’ll be honest with you. I do understand the question as well. But, of course, if any of the people are sitting on the same table, then it’s their direct issue.

But we had an experience where some guys behind us smoked heavily. Don’t you think there should be a no smoking zone?

You have a point. Actually, we’ll take it up. Because with the new pool bar, we’ll have three separate areas. Two air-conditioned and one in front. Maybe something we need to do. You’re the first person to raise a concern about smoking. Because the majority of people are non-smokers. I’m sorry for your bad luck being put next to a table. But we’ll take your point. I always believe there is smoke. Literally. There’s fire. With the new design, and you’ve seen it on the clip, you do have the inside areas. And, of course, inside there’s no smoking. By default, it will happen.

When we arrived, getting into the rooms, we saw different designs and different motifs different from what you used to have in the Sheraton. From the bath, there’s a transparent glass, colourful ambiance. What is the concept of the rooms?

It’s modernity within an atmosphere where you feel you have arrived. You have a touch of home. You can touch it with a bit of work or just relax. And it’s not tightening in. It has an open aura. So, you feel at ease. And when you see the designs in the old days, it was dark, dark, dark. So, now it’s bright. It opens up. Basically, when you arrive in the room, you say, that’s cool. Good. You can do whatever you’re there for. The bathroom design simply creates more space. It has an openness. Of course, you can close it if you wish. It is an open feeling. When you come home, you feel home, right? So, we basically want your second home, whichever one you get.

Abuja is majorly a MICE centre. What are you doing to be able to accommodate more MICE events?

That’s what we’ve just done. We refurbished almost 3,000 square metres. Major investment. We put it to a standard so I don’t have to go to unnamed countries. To Cape Town, to Barcelona, wherever they are. You can come here. You have the space. We cater for that. The best of audiovisual, of the spacing, of large gatherings, of breakouts, of boards. You fit, not just what’s required here. And there’s a lot required because of governmental conditions for their meeting spaces. You have a lot of high-level meetings, conventions, gatherings, whichever way. It goes together internationally. That’s why we added extra space, giving it the idea of the way to convert the shops in Tower 2 into convention areas. There will be another, either one or three, with two partitionings.

The ones we just converted within the area here. Both of them are 150 seaters…So that’s the next thing. Is it stopping? No. We’re looking at the other areas. We have a huge land.

We’re looking into auditoriums, amphitheaters. We will have to address this. But there’s happenings in the market as well. Markets are sleeping in Abuja. So you have the renovations of a couple of the convention centres going on. And I think one of our competitors just built another one. But I believe what we have and what we know here is the top. If I have a meeting, if I am now, if it’s presidential, if there are huge corporate events, if it’s a schooling, an exhibition, a launch, we have to decide for that. It’s very strategically targeted that we can fit the top levels within the MICE business.

You talked about modernity in terms of the facilities here. Are you also thinking about enhancing the performance of your staff going by recent trends in technology?

Absolutely. So our people are our biggest asset. It’s not a building or anything. It’s all our people. And that’s why our key focus is there. And development is a big thing. By the way, it’s evolving. It never stops. So we have our internal training which is between both hotels. We have direct training for each hotel. We have programmes online, very sophisticated. Which is used not just by us but of course tailored to us but also the international bodies, everybody. Going into whichever training direction one, whether that’s how to serve a cup of tea or how can I strategically approach a client. We had a transformation training where we brought third parties in for facilitation. Citrus, which we did in both hotels for 600 of us. Transformation means how do I have the confidence as a guest to smile, to listen, to take in and to respond. And you know, you might know there’s a usual answer whatever you ask, not just anywhere. Yes, sure. Then you come back to us later. Yes.

So it’s this affirmative approach with a smile, with charm and you know they take me seriously. I’m recognised. But having said all that we are also working on Direction Academy which we are working within the basic operations of the hotel. Which means service, kitchens, cleaning, housekeeping and then anything with guest relations. We already work with institutions. So this is in the process now. I will not talk too much about it but I have already had meetings with the Minister of Education and his team. So the minister is very progressive in what they want to go forward with. And because of course we cannot do this alone, we want to be together so we will go forward to make sure we can bring in our teams that the factor that you’ll never stay still. We will develop you. We’ll give you the base and from then onwards we will develop you further. So you will have a career path coming up. It’s important that you feel that you have taken up a profession. It will take you somewhere.

To express it in a different way the country itself works on a diversification beyond gas and oil which focuses primarily at the moment in transport, the creative scene, agriculture and of course hospitality. In order to do that you have to create and incite people in a very positive way. So you go to your children and everybody does gas and oil or insurance and you join these continental guys. That’s a cool job. If you’re a waiter you can become a director of food and beverage or so you have paths you give options and with the academy what we want to achieve is that you go and you say no I don’t have to send my children to Lausanne I give them to the Abuja or Lagos hotel school. So that’s where we want to go. Now we take it step by step. We’re talking with quite a number of partners, business schools, really academic levels, Nigerian top level and we want to mingle that. We also know it needs certain other inputs but we do have the interest and I’m very enthusiastic about the response from the Ministry of Education.

I think that’s super cool. There you see this is Europe, it’s a wave we can go with. You have 100 million youths at least 20 years old. So what’s the future? We need to start, we have to address this and I guess if everybody looks in their own home turf we get along. I will set an example. We’re very serious about that. Now the next setting says that the next few weeks will be decisive for the next step. It’s all in our kids, it’s all in our staff that they have this motivation that you come into a hotel and say welcome back and the guy you see my God they enjoy it here. You’re absolutely right. Without them we go nowhere.

Your focus on summer conferencing on MICE is commendable but we also understand the hotel of this magnitude for you to also fill it up, attract the kind of MICE clientele you need there has to be an intentional campaign or approach. How are you planning to get clientele to fill up the new conference rooms?

Basically, I cannot tell you how we do it, because the competition will take it. Number one. But having said that, we are the place to meet already in Abuja. All major events, and I don’t even have to brag about that, you see it in the papers, are taking place here. Wow! What you do is, you need to be present. We have an amazing commercial team at both hotels. We need to cover Nigeria. Our strength is that we have the two powerhouses in the two power cities under our umbrella – Continental. That’s key. So, this synchronisation of our clients. How we approach the MICE business. Who are the MICE decision makers? How do we offer them the best in both places? That’s the way. And beyond. You know that tourism has been neglected over the last decade, with not one global tourism trade show exhibition attended by Nigeria. And I know the new ministry, they want to change that. But we have changed it already. We have already attended major exhibitions. And you get these feedbacks, so that means, strategically, you need to know, from a geo-perspective, where business is coming from. And that’s how you place yourself. Who do I approach? Where? If you take the market alone, Abuja alone, it’s thousands and thousands of events. Abuja itself has around 10,000 events, which take place. Massive! But Lagos is bigger for different reasons. So there is an enormous demand. And don’t forget, Nigerians celebrate. So we have a lot of social gatherings on top. Celebration does not mean it’s just my family, it’s that the diaspora is coming. And if they come in, many of them have their businesses, and their businesses are this fruitful business. And you can see this. This fruitful business is getting better and better. But you need to be around. Geographically speaking, you place yourself, your team, we know where to approach. And who? And which means? Personalised, travel, marketing campaigns. We partner with the right people, you get the right business.

When you’re doing something big like this, there’s also a little pressure on revenue. How are you balancing it to also make sure it’s not overcharged and your guests are also getting exactly what you want them to get?

Like any business, you have to have a business plan. This business plan will justify your investment. Business plan goes into the right direction, right investment is coming in, as you can see. Business plan is then taken to task with your performance, and your deliverance. So far, thanks to Kevin and the team here, we have outperformed.

The key part is, convention places play a big role. I remember when we started here two and a half years ago, we had nothing. And then we started with one national day, and I think now we have 20, 22 national days. We have official visits, delegations, and conventions. We just were with Nigeria Satcom. They have a huge formation, first, to bring everybody in, with all the satellites and all that. I will say, it’s phenomenal. It’s all happening in Nigeria, by the way. So you have all this, they bring in for the first time from all over. People in, of course, you want to bring all your satellite dishes, but they come to us because when you run, what you do, you have to trust in your supplier. In this case, the Abuja Continental. And you deliver. And of course, there’s pressure but it’s normal. If you look into any of the big companies, it doesn’t matter whether it’s in Apple, General Motors, or Mercedes. There are shareholders. Every quarter, they look at how you perform, up or down, and explain. For us, we deliver.

The investment on a step-to-step basis and the additional investments, what is coming through, is based on the improved performance of this hotel. And it has improved year on year, quarter by quarter. I think I mentioned last year, not just for us, the entire market was hit for the first seven months. You come in, and then, for whatever, you never stop your marketing efforts, by the way. Whether it’s a good season or a bad season, you continue, continue, build, develop, look. Right wrongs. You ask what can I do? Think ahead. Miles. It turned around last July. And it is a very encouraging market trend for Nigeria, where we are going to. Clearly, investment has improved means.

I base investment. I am in Abuja or Lagos. I see more and more and more construction sites. Construction sites mean the flows on the market. It’s happening. When you know the famous Detty December in Lagos. It’s increasing year after year, more and more. If we look now into our own events at the weekend, correct me if I’m wrong, but over the last eight months, six months, we didn’t double it, I must say. But we at least put another 20, 22 per cent on top.

So it’s step by step. I mean, you need to create this atmosphere that is not just a salon, it’s the whole of Abuja. And I believe Abuja has got a very nice ambience for the G-Lax weekend. You know, they have these new water parks and go-karting and golf and all that. So, yes, you’ve always been mentioned. And like a soccer coach, you win, you’re happy. You underperform. You re-strategise.

Unlike Lagos, Abuja has more space in terms of landmass to play around with. How are you taking advantage of that?

I think there’s a huge landmass here. It’s endless. From the airport to here, all over. It’s green, Graceland, if you wish. And you can see more and more constructions are coming up. There’s a lot of space. I think Abuja is pretty well planned, actually. I came here the first time in 2008 because, so you can explain, transformation, density, Lagos, move it to Abuja, build the capital with the government headquarters, presidents and all that. It’s well planned. There’s a lot of space for expansion, and you can see it’s happening. In our own sector, if you take hospitality, the number of hotels coming through or in the pipeline, if international, yes, it is there. I think we will have even growth here within the next 25, next two years, two and a half years, there should be at least five new properties coming. And if you look into this sector of new restaurants, lounges, entertainment centres, I believe there are a lot of spaces for expansion. And you need it. It’s the capital. It’s the Nigerians, the biggest country. The Presidency of ECOWAS takes place here. So you need to create the space. It’s there. And we’ll play our part, but there’s more and more coming as well. I believe it’s very positive.

We know, of course, what happens in our sector, so that’s already encouraging. If other brands, international brands, have the confidence to come in here, it’s a good sign. And as many other people want to say, we love competition. Not just because it keeps us on our toes. It gives credibility to the destination, Abuja. If you go and you sit in New York or in Paris, we have a convention or a meeting coming up wherever that’s in Abuja, and you see only two hotels as in New York. Let’s go and then see Kigali or. But if you have a few players around, which all have status, I think it looks good to have a couple of choices. So competition is, yes, you want to perform the other one, but on the whole, you need, for all of us, to create the destination reference together. Then we’re stronger. It makes Abuja stronger.

We visited one of the conference rooms where Iftar takes place on a daily basis. How will you match the concept and the results so far?

The Iftar is preferably number one and primarily to ensure, honour, respect the Ramadan fasting period. So that means you break your fast to do the Iftar. It’s not based on money. It’s based on keeping the guests we have in-house and from outside. They say I don’t have to go somewhere else to offer this to me. But the question there is, of course, we promoted it as well. So we went to many other areas. We look into the Arabic world, Muslim world. We spoke to whoever is having a clientele. They want to show, we had the, not just into the area you went, but in the bigger ones, 150, 200, you go straight to the ballroom. So we had different companies going there for their people, for their clients to entertain the Iftar directly. It’s a very pleasant season. You know, I’m a Christian, I’m a Catholic. So everybody has their own timings where you respect, you honour, you regret, whatever. But you need to honour that. And that’s the best way we can do it. Money is a secondary issue. Of course, we don’t want to make a loss either. But you set it up in a way that’s respectful. And then we market it. And I think, I don’t know, we don’t have every day, but I think today, until now, we had eight, we achieved 150 plus. It’s very interesting. I must say, this was very interesting. So yes, it’s good. No regrets. Yes, we have to deliver, regardless of what they will ask.

We have seen the innovations and investments happening here. Where exactly are you now and when should we expect the conclusion of work?

I can’t tell you. Yes, it could be six years. But as I said, it’s ongoing. We are never closing anything now. It is evolving. We just keep fixing certain areas out of direct approach…The whole plan, we have a very creative ownership. And we work very well together with the creative team, Kevin, around the freelancers. So it’s evolving again. But the number one thing is the guest rooms and the convention and the pool bar. So that’s the feeding. That’s primary. Let’s see where we go forward. Whether we’re going to have sky lounges on top of the domes or whether we’re going to have amphitheaters or we shall see. Of course, we have our priorities. Number one, property. Number three, 200 rooms. All areas.

Create the additional sweet impacts and effects. Pull back. Next, so you don’t have to travel to Dubai. It’s very big, actually. And it’s not intangible, you know. Rooms take time. Certain others you can do in a smaller period of time. So its effect comes through faster.