L-R: Daniel Sacerdoti, the Director Distribution Accounts, Expedia Global Partner Group; Tola Akerele, co-founder of Bogobiri House; Femi Akinde, CEO SlimTrader; Martin Pagel, Chief Technology Officer, SlimTrader
Nigeria’s leading technology solution provider for businesses in the Hospitality and Travel industries, SlimTrader, held its inaugural empowerment summit for owners and managers of hotels and hospitality businesses in Nigeria on June 29, 2016 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The summit with the theme ‘Positioning Your Hotel for Greater Sales’ was attended by representatives from hundreds of hotels in South-Western Nigeria. The event featured talks and workshops led by experts in the hospitality, business and finance sectors. Speakers included Daniel Sacerdoti, the Director Distribution Accounts, Expedia Global Partner Group; Akeem Lawal, the Divisional CEO, Switching and Processing, Interswitch Limited; Tola Akerele, the co-founder of Bogobiri House; Bruce Prins, Founder of Amplitude Solutions and a renowned Hospitality Operations and Training Consultant; Martin Pagel, a holder of multiple technology patents and leading hotel technology development expert as well as Mr. Anthony Shisler, General Manager, Fahrenheit Hospitality Limited (FHL).
The speakers at the summit shared strategies for improving revenue generation and cost effectiveness in hotel operations. There were also talks on payments automation, reconciliation and management for the hospitality sector. A consensus that emerged at the summit was that it is crucial for hotels in Nigeria to embrace the use of new technology in order to be well positioned to cater for the growing business and leisure travel market in Nigeria.
According to Femi Akinde, the Founder/CEO SlimTrader, the Summit is envisioned to become Nigeria’s biggest platform for hotel managers and owners to learn important strategies to make their businesses even more profitable in these dire economic times. He disclosed that to spread this important message to hotels across the country, SlimTrader would hold Hotel summits in Abuja and Port Harcourt in the coming months. Each edition would feature an insightful lineup of presentations and panel discussions ranging from what it takes for hotels in Nigeria to create visibility to specific target groups to new ways for the Nigerian hospitality sector to extend its reach to a bigger local and international audience.”
L-R: Daniel Sacerdoti, the Director Distribution Accounts, Expedia Global Partner Group; Hakeem Lawal, Divisional CEO, Switching and Processing, Interswitch Limited; Femi Akinde, CEO SlimTrader.
In a talk titled, ‘Expedia’s International Reach for Your Hotels’, Daniel Sacerdoti, Director Distribution Accounts, Expedia Global Partner Group revealed that Expedia is the biggest Online Travel Agency in the world. In his words, “Expedia facilitated $60Billion gross transactions last year. In our experience dealing with hotels around the world, we have found that it is necessary for hotels to engage with their guests before, during and post room sales”. He went on to share the most important steps that local hotels need to take to ensure that their hotel rooms are available for purchase both locally and also internationally. He concluded his talk by highlighting tips to help hotels sell their rooms with more online visibility.
The audience also enjoyed insightful talks from Mr. Shisler, the Managing Director for Fahrenheit Hospitality Group, who spoke about the importance of a deliberate branding approach for Hotels; Mrs. Tola Akerele from Bogobiri, who gave her tips for running your personal hotel business. Mr. Akeem Lawal explained how SlimTrader’s platform provides automation and easy payment reconciliation for hotels and the partnership between Interswitch and SlimTrader for the processing of payments to hotels on the platform. A talk by Mr. Bruce Prins, the CEO of Amplitude solutions prompted a lively discussion between some members of the audience on the challenges of setting pricing in the industry.
The audience at the event
SlimTrader is a company with a track record of providing a leading innovative technology platform that has helped to boost revenue for businesses across various industries.
