MANAGEMENT OF HOTEL PROPERTIES IN SOUTH- WESTERN NIGERIA: FACILITIES MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE

The study examined the use of facilities management as a potent management tool in hotel asset management within six States of South-Western geo-political zone of Nigeria. The aim of the study is to investigate the degree of beneficial application of facilities management principles in the management of hotel organizations in the study area with a view to curtail widespread disinvestment. The population of the study comprised of all hotels within the six States namely Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo and Oyo States. The sample frame consisted of hotels that are registered with Nigeria Tourism Board and located within the State Capitals namely Ado-Ekiti, Ikeja, Abeokuta, Oshogbo, Akure and Ibadan. Stratified sampling technique supplemented by cluster sampling was used. Stratification of hotels within the six States that formed the study area focused on the State capitals, which generally harbor the different categories of hotels under study. Using Kothari’s formula for calculating sample sizes, appropriate sample sizes of customers for each hotel was calculated at 95% level of confidence and degree of freedom. Data collection instruments included three questionnaires targeted at hotel organizations, the Facilities/Maintenance Managers and the hotel customers. These were implemented by personal interview and discussion with hotel stakeholders as identified and the study of system operations of selected hotels. Data from all the centers were analyzed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics while model for facilities management compliant hotel was validated or rejected by comparative analysis with the aid of benchmarking method. The findings of the study were that facilities provision in the hotel industry within the study area was not totally in conformity with national recommendation of Tourism Board of Nigeria especially in quality and wholeness. The degree of application of facilities management in the hotel industry in the study area is low. There were traces of facilities management features perhaps due to overlapping of maintenance management, property management and facilities management. There appeared to be a correlation between hotel management style and hotel effectiveness in service delivery while there was strong evidence indicating that facilities management, as a style of management, aids hotel effectiveness generally. Identified traits of effective facilities management driven hotel organization included a flat organization structure, process team as work units, absolute workers’ empowerments, and a multi-dimensional process team, job preparations anchored to education and training with customer based performance measurement. The executive, management and the general managers were basically leaders and facilitators while employees/staff are proactive people. Finally, accommodation and services were discovered to be customer dictated. The interaction of the major variables, the executive, the general manager, the facilities managers, the customers and the line staff, led to the development and validation of a pictorial and mathematical model for facilities management driven hotel organizations. Precisely thirteen benefits were agglomerated with extensive responsibilities and authorities for facilities managers coming first, followed by improved quality of services and then national stock of hotels worthy of presentation. Nineteen challenges were also identified with the first three being that the concern for immediate return on investment generally among the investing public, religious sentimentalism which views hotel as promoting immorality and social misbehavior; and un-conducive business environment in Nigeria with regards to poor infrastructure, epileptic power supply, policy inconsistencies and high level of corruption. Based on the findings from the research, the following conclusions were made. While the world at large has accepted facilities management for what it is, Nigeria’s responsiveness to it is slow. Having proved its efficacy in aiding hotel effectiveness in operation and service delivery in developed countries, the time is ripe for its accelerated adoption and implementation not only within hotel sector but other sectors of the economy.