Hotel managers have said that double taxation and arbitrary implementation of it has made the operation of the business difficult in Nigeria.
Speaking to newsmen at the weekend, the Deputy Director, Commercial and Special Duties of BON International West Africa, Mrs Sandra Ogbahon said that double taxation has crippled hotel business in Nigeria, so making return on investment difficult.
“The most challenging part is the aspect of taxation. As we run hotels on daily basis we wake up one morning and we are hearing about one tax in place and by the time we look at it, another one is on the way.
“Take for instance, we woke up one morning and saw a tax on mask that has never been there. But nobody communicated to us about it. You suddenly discovered that the law has been enacted three years ago and the government will expect you to pay from that day the law was enacted. “This, however, thereby reduces your return on investment. How do you now go back to the previous years you have closed the account for? So, those are parts of the challenges I must say” she lamented, adding that the operators of hotels in Nigeria face a lot of infrastructure deficits such as water, electricity, roads, etc.
“There are so many challenges in every business be it micro or macro. Whatever form of business people are into the challenges are there. The one that’s more challenging is the bureaucratic one as you have to pass through some steps to get things done not to talk of the infrastructure deficits” the director explained.
In his remarks, the Deputy Director, Operations, Rudi Jonse van Rensburg said that BON International has operated in Nigeria for over 10 years and it plans to expand to all the states of the federation.
“BON International has been in operation in Nigeria for the past 10 years or so and currently operating seven hotels. We pride ourselves that we operate locally as a local company and we grow a lot of talents and we work primarily with local investors, local shareholders, local suppliers and local vendors. We pride ourselves that we are a homegrown Nigerian entity. Given the rate we are growing in Nigeria, within five years we are sure we will be operating 93 hotels in various cities. At the moment we are in 10 different states and hope to grow to 26 states in the next five to 10 years,” he said.
