A Comparative Analysis of the Occupancy Rate of the Various Classes of Hotels in Ikeja, Lagos

Abstract

The essence of hotels, no matter the class, is to have lodgers occupying them for various reasons amongst others. However, it has turned out that cutting across the various classes of hotels they have not been maximally occupied. Previous researches have studied various classes of hotels with respect to various issues while some others have focused on the occupancy rate of hotels notwithstanding the class. This present study assesses the occupancy rates of all the classes of hotels in the study area in a bid to determining any significant difference to enable investors to be well guided for sustainable returns. The study being a survey sampled the entire registered twenty-nine hotels in the study area cutting across the various classes as provided by the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC). Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics such as percentage and harmonic mean where it was discovered that a minimum of 70% occupancy rates was evident for all classes of hotels. The use of the Chi-Square Test at 5% level of significance revealed that with a minimum p value of 0.583 the occupancy rates of the various classes of hotel have no significant difference and as such hotels regardless of their classes are faced with the same saturated market situation or standardized service delivery depending on the choice of lodgers. This in essence has consequences for strategic decision making in the hotel industry enabling stakeholders to improve their operational plans amongst others for sustainable hotel establishment.