… re-iterates Nigeria’s position as a leading market

By Jimoh Babatunde

The new Managing Director for Africa at Radisson Hotel Group in English-speaking countries, Sandra Kneubuhler, has revealed that the group’s business school, Radisson Academy, will be berthing in Nigeria next year.

Speaking with selected journalists during her familiarisation visit to Nigeria recently, she said: “Next year, we are going to bring Radisson Academy live to Nigeria. Radisson Academy is our business school and we are focused on training and developing our teams.

“We have Radisson Academy online that has over 30,000 training courses available but the true part of our team comes in training people face-to-face. This is a face-to-face business and we are doing everything to bring Radisson Academy to Nigeria and I know our team will embrace it and make the most out of it. We are excited to be part of Nigeria’s amazing tourism story.”

According to her, the decision to bring the Radisson Academy to Nigeria was due to the inability of interested Nigerians to get visas for such training.

“If we can’t bring people there then we must bring it to the people. It’s a very practical decision,” Kneubuhler explained.

Kneubuhler, who could not hide her excitement, about the opportunities in Nigeria market, said: “Since my arrival, I’m really getting to know this market. This is a market that has great potential, it oozes opportunity. And not only to remain in our position as the market leader in Nigeria, but we are going to enhance that position. We currently have five hotels in operation and a further eight under development. By 2027, we will have 2,000 operating hotel rooms in Nigeria.

Speaking on Market Leadership and Expansion in Nigeria, she said: “Radisson Hotel Group continues to be a market leader in Nigeria, with a robust portfolio of 13 hotels currently in operation and under development. This growth trajectory underscores Radisson’s commitment to the Nigerian market, meeting increasing demand with diverse hospitality offerings.”

Noting that Radisson Hotel Group has a track record of openings in Africa, she said over the next two years, that the group is scheduled to open at least three hotels, including the official entry into Benin City, Abuja and the official debut of the RED brand in Nigeria.

On what informed the aggressiveness in building businesses in Nigeria despite the declining economy, she said: “We build businesses for the future. We have a sustainable long-term vision. So economies come and go. We operate in very volatile markets, I think the key is strong hotel development. 

You keep pushing forward and sticking with your long term strategic plan.

Sandra Kneubuhler, who is based in Johannesburg, explained that Radisson will continue to expand and develop but at the same time, “we have to constantly impact our existing product.We have a very sustainable approach to our business and bring that to every aspect of what we do.

“Strategically, we are looking to constantly grow our people because you can’t grow development if you don’t grow the people.

“We want to enhance our products. We have one of the biggest hotel equipment in Africa. We will have over 100 hotels operating in the next five years. So we have to constantly add value to our guests and have loyalty rewards.”

On what she intends to do differently during her tenure, she said with her strong commercial background, “I will rather make more revenue than think about how to cut cost and that is my general business philosophy and I have a very deep focus on making more.

“I think we can be very strategic, very smart without having to go crazy running around businesses. My big focus is on prime commercial business and I also believe we can score a 100 per cent.”

On what she intends to do about Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and exhibitions (MICE) competitions among some big hotels in Nigeria, Kneubuhler said, “Nigeria has a very robust MICE market and it has been a very good education in the last three days understanding this market. What you guys do very well in Nigeria is big volumes. What will be great is to uplift it experimentally so that we can attract more international MICE travellers.

“I believe in what I call experimentalism. There are more things we can do to make it more experiential for international travellers.”

Speaking on what she intends to do on the issue of energy which many industry owners said was taking a heavy toll on hotel businesses in Nigeria, Kneubuhler said, “The cost of energy is a problem globally and is never going to get cheaper. Across Africa, many businesses are struggling to sustain our growth. There is need to move to more sustainable energy sources. There are plans and discussions on how to move to more sustainable energy solutions. It’s a long time goal.”