Mary Nnah
In the wake of the gradual return to life and resumption of business activities following the COVID-19 inspired lockdown globally to contain the spread of the deadly disease, Lagos-based firm, Digital Landlords has predicted a spike in the real estate, hospitality, and tourism sector.
This is just as more people are expected to seek the desired trip away from home to their choice holiday destinations or even a short break away from home having spent the large part of the previous year working remotely.
While hotels have taken a beating in bookings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and global lockdown, short let homes and apartments bookings have soared with the number of bookings continuing to rise as we return to normalcy.
Commenting on how his company, Digital Landlords is leading the charge to drive short let homes utilisation and investment, Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Keji Giwa, said digitisation and the huge cost of hotel rentals have created a huge opportunity for short let homes to thrive.
“Today, Lagos Island is experiencing a real estate boom driven by high yield rental income from short let opportunities. This can be seen as both a threat and an opportunity for the hospitality industry.
“The prospect of its continued expansion is clearly a timely warning to hotels offering rooms at the same rates that consumers can use to get a whole apartment and, in some cases, much lower”, he added.
Giwa stressed that the hospitality and tourism industry is evolving to meet the needs of the yearning end users, adding, “hotels can choose to evolve or compete, however with digitisation, automation and artificial intelligence, digitally focussed start-ups within the short-let rental market can create a terrifying monster for large and small hotel chains just by using technology to deliver on the go instant bookings, convenience, comfort and the use of virtual booking agents to replace human agents.”
With over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s population having internet access via their mobile devices according to a 2021 digital report by We Are Social, the country is well-positioned to benefit from the global digital opportunities.
This also affords more online rental platforms to provide an opportunity to capture demand for domestic and international bookings where affordability and luxury go hand in hand.
