TAKING CHARGE BY CONTROLLING OUR EATING HABITS

Not too long ago, I was meeting up with a client in a fast food restaurant somewhere in the Ikeja suburb of Lagos when a facially good looking man  walked in with a young lad in tow obviously his son as they shared so much resemblance by a mere look at them. He was a bulky sized man who could probably be in his early forties but looked much older as a result of being overweight. 

The man moved towards the counter and made his order “please can I have a portion of rice with three portions of fried plantain and a bottle of soft drink” he looked upon the little lad who was looking up at him waiting anxiously to be asked what he wanted and said “hey little man, what would you like”?

The little lad with excitement in his eyes and after a quick thought answered “daddy I want two meat pies, one doughnut and one of that thing” pointing to a couple of fiesta in an encasement on the counter. “And oh can I also have one piece of the roasted chicken” he added looking pleadingly at the dad who also nodded with approval to his request.

Seated within a short distance away from them and an earshot from where we (my client and I) sat, were two ladies. The slimmer one who looked more like a weight-watcher went thus “that’s how it all starts when they indulge them from this age with junk foods and then start complaining about their weight later on in life” as she mused over a piece of chicken she was holding.

“Why would he complain, when he himself is looking that way? I guess that was how he started with junk food now the son is ...” The second lady replied with a cynical tone of voice but hushed after she suspected that someone else could be listening to their discussion.

It is no doubt that the food sector of the hospitality industry is one of the largest employers of labour in the country and even the world at large. This has led to the rise and rise of fast food outlets and eateries of all kinds all over the place. It is now even common place to find families seated at eateries in the mornings.

Lately, there have been reports of several people in the country who have battled or are battling with different health challenges. These people include those in government, Politicians, Entrepreneurs, Celebrities, (within and outside the movie and music industry) as well the general public/masses have not been left out as well. Even though some of the causes of these health challenges are either as a result of several other factors, nevertheless, it is no surprise to mention here that eating habits have a large influence on the state of our health, hence food is in one way or the other linked to the health challenges that a lot of people are battling with presently.  

Given the poor state of medical infrastructure and facilities in the country, it behoves on every Nigerian to be cautious of what they put into their mouths or consume on a daily basis. Regardless of the fact that a lot of studies have shown a link between several of junk foods and obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, elevated cholesterol intake, related cancers, and other health problems, a lot of individuals still throw caution to the winds when it relates to their eating habits. Nowadays, it is no longer just a matter of whether one has the wherewithal to be flown abroad because one may be too unfortunate to even make it whilst being flown abroad in cases of emergencies; at the end of the day, the money would not have saved the individual.

According to a report sometime in 2010, faraway in America, a Bronx man who had become overweight and also had suffered a heart attack, wanted four famous fast food chains in America to pay for serving him the finger-licking food that gave rise to his fatness. The obese man who weighed about two hundred and seventy pounds claimed that these four famous fast food chains put his health at risk with their greasy and salty foods and hence filed a lawsuit at the New York State Supreme Court in Bronx on behalf of himself and a number of other Obese and ill New Yorkers who also feasted on fast food. His argument was that these fast foods did not properly disclose the ingredients of their food and the risks of eating too much of it. A few years earlier, McDonald’s had settled a $12 million lawsuit and apologised for wrongly describing its French fries as vegetarian. Recently the Food Standards Agency in Scotland (FSAS) announced the introduction of a new front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme to show how much fat, saturated fat, salt, sugar, energy etc is in a product so that consumers would be aware of the contents of what they are buying and thereby make healthier choices. This new initiative is colour-coded red, amber and green (just like the traffic light colours) to draw attention to the percentage of calories in a product.

“To an extent, one would agree with the obese man...” according to Dr Emmanuel Uko, a medical practitioner “especially of the same opinion with him that the fast food industry has a responsibility to notify consumers of the dangers of eating from their menu. I applaud the Food Standards Agency of Scotland for their new initiative and I hope the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Nigeria would intently follow such examples to protect Nigerian consumers”.

On the other hand, Mr Ogundare, a supervisor in one of the fast food service providers in Lagos is of the view that the obese man was just negligent of his health. In his words, “the obese man ought to have known that 99% of foods consumed in fast-food joints are high in cholesterol, fat and salt. All he needed to do was to simply discipline or control himself and his eating habit; after all he wasn’t forced to eat the food, was he”? He asked feigning annoyance.

It is noteworthy for everyone not to think that it is only at fast food restaurants that one gets to eat junk. A lot of preserved imported food items that flood our markets on a daily basis are also detrimental to our health. But because of the trending ‘foreign item’ syndrome that is all over the place, a lot of ignorant citizens prefer to eat such chemicalised and over processed/preserved food items as against our locally naturally grown foods back home.

Dr (Mrs) Uyoyo Scott a gynaecologist and paediatrician had this to say “it is not only these so-called junk foods that are disadvantageous to health. Let’s not talk about the environment where the food is prepared. Even eating too much of the so called ‘balanced diet’ could become harmful to one’s health whether imported or locally grown. When a person eats too much, he or she is prone to becoming obese. Can you imagine a person eating five fried eggs for breakfast everyday? The human body needs a bit of every good food but when you indulge too much in these foods, you are bound to becoming obese or face a health challenge. I don’t think anybody needs to be told about the effect of eating junk food or too much food especially when one is no longer a kid. However for the sake of the younger generation and those who claim ignorance of food contents, it would be worth pursuing for our Nigerian food control agency to follow suit in the steps of the FSA of Scotland by instituting a law that obligates producers of packaged food items as well as food service providers to make available a comprehensive nutritional information on their packaged items and there should also be a way to use it at the fast food restaurants and outlets wherever they are located”.

On a lighter note, Mr Demola Disu, a fitness instructor said “people tend to eat too much, especially cheap food or when the food is free. You need to see how people combine different types of food at events for instance since the food is free. I prefer to eat at the ‘mama puts’, and please when I say mama put, I mean the upgraded kind of mama put that we have around these days... “He paused with a smile and continued” ... as they prepare fresh food all day long. However on a more serious note, whether you eat a balanced diet, nutritional, junk food or excess food, the most important way to stay healthy is for you to involve yourself in some form of daily exercise or aerobics and a routine medical check up”.   

By the time we were done meeting and on our way out of the eatery, we were surprised to see the bulky looking sized man eating off some of the son’s snacks and a second look at his own empty plate left me with a nostalgic feeling that the man indeed needs help with his eating habit. My client was left with a questioning look on his face and could not say a word even when we were out of hearing and in the car park.

My solemn recommendation is, seriously this is no time to still be negligent about our eating habits irrespective of the place, at home or wherever you eat. Watch what you eat no matter what it is whether junk or nutritional foods as what we eat have both positive and adverse effects on our health, therefore “moderation and exercise” are the watchwords. With the present alarming mortality rate, let’s just try and take charge by properly controlling ourselves and staying healthy. Peace!!!

 *Let's have your thoughts and comments*

 

DEVELOPING, PROMOTING AND EXPLORING FROM WITHIN

In a short while from now, summer (hopefully the weather may improve) would eventually present itself properly all over the UK. Hmm... Did I just hear someone hum the lyrics “summer, summer, summer time” by Will Smith?  And Summer time implies loads of fun! It means a time for picnics, outdoors, all kinds of finger foods, fried or roasted (name them. Pizzas of all kinds/styles from Italian Pizzas, traditional pizzas to Chicken Satay rolled ham, Cheese flutes and scores more). 

Also apart from enjoying the finger foods, (for all those in the cold regions) it is in addition a time for all sorts of light clothing as alternative for all the warm clothing. A time to do away for the time being, the heavy coats, head/neck warmers as well as the hand gloves for lovely shorts, flip flops and what have you, as summer gives opportunities to all the fashion conscious individuals especially for those ladies who love to add a little Boho Chic to their wardrobes. In the past few weeks and days, families, loved ones, friends and fiends alike in Diaspora especially those in the UK are looking forward to the lovely weather. Social blogs will be busy with pictures of picnics and how they have welcomed the summer with so much enthusiasm. 

Back home in West Africa, finger foods are eaten on a daily basis year-in-year-out (aren’t we blessed?*smiles*).  Nonetheless, how healthy are these finger foods we eat daily? That is a topic for another day. So also we are privileged to dress up or down, wear whatever we feel like as most of the season is warm. 

In Nigeria, plans are already being put in place by the affluent and buoyant families who can afford the usual summer vacation as they wait for their wards to round off school term for the holidays. Also before and even as you read this column, embassies are being besieged by veteran travellers for renewal of visas or first timers who want to have a taste of the supposed ‘been to’ good life or time abroad on vacation.

Every year, thousands of people, predominantly Nigerians, troupe out of West Africa to different parts of the world on holidays especially at summer. In no distant time, as soon as the children go on holidays or close for the term in Nigeria, the airports will all be agog with a beehive of activities by those who want to travel to the UK, America etc. Very soon, the phones of most account officers of all those who own accounts in the banks will be buzzing unending as requests for dollars, pounds, euro etc will flow in continuously. And of course threats of accounts closure will be sent as most of the time, the account officers and their banks are unable to meet the high demands; hence the refusal of these accounts officers to pick up calls from their clients as they would have run out of flimsy excuses and reasons why they cannot give the clients the amount of Personal Travelling Allowance or Business Travelling Allowance they require. The question then, how much do we know of our own country or surrounding countries?   

There are lots of destinations with enough tourists’ attractions in several places within Nigeria and around West Africa that are barely explored by the citizens of these places. Yet a good percentage of these citizens are desperate to go outside their surroundings to other countries with so much foreign exchange when they are already endowed with both man-made as well as natural attractions all around them.  

Every now and then, we hear information about how the Government and Ministry of Tourism are making efforts to improve tourism in Nigeria as it will improve the nation’s revenue. Nevertheless, Nigerians still troop out in thousands on vacation to other parts of the world at any given opportunity even though another larger percentage lament about tough times.

A few days ago, while seeing off an Aunt, a retired civil servant in her sixties to the airport as she was on her way to the UK on holidays for a few weeks. On our way, I asked her about this idea of Nigerians always wanting to travel to other countries on holidays when they rarely know any vacation spots within the country. She alleged that it is not like she really enjoys travelling to London all the time; “left to me, I would prefer visiting places within Nigeria, for example, I have always heard about the Yankari game reserve but I have never visited as most people around me rarely seem to be interested and I do not think it will be fun going there alone”. 

She went further to say that “even Obudu Ranch is another place I would love to visit and also attend the annually held Carnival in Calabar but because I do not have any friends or family to stay with so I haven’t gone. I know there are hotels to stay, but like I said earlier, I just cannot go alone as it would be a lot more fun if I went with other people”. Just before she got off the car at the airport, she later added light-heartedly that “even this idea of travelling during the summer sometimes does not really appeal to me” laughing lightly she continued “if not that it’s a lot easier to move around in the UK during the summer, I would even prefer to travel more during the cold season as we have enough sun here to make up for the summer” she concluded. 

  

One of Nollywood’s film Producer, Mr Gordon Irole affirms that left to him, he would prefer to take his family on vacation to places within and around Nigeria because there are still lots of places that people have not been or heard about in Africa. In the Northern part of Nigeria alone, there are several beautiful places that have not been discovered or explored by loads of people and poor marketing or publicity he said could be one of the factors militating against exploration by these potential tourists/visitors.

He cited an example like the Gambia, which although is not as big as Nigeria but at the same time offers a wide variety of tourist attractions to people. Mr Irole mentioned that In the Gambia  there are a good number of beaches for several leisure activities, lovely hotels, Restaurants as well as shops for all those who love shopping and also several local night clubs for those who enjoy partying and lot more attractions. In his own words “as a matter of fact, a holiday or vacation away in the Gambia is an experience that you would never want to forget for a lifetime as there will always be the urge to revisit again”. Continuing he said “apart from the reality that it is a lot cheaper than going to the UK for instance, it also feels like home in the Gambia” he finished off.

In an interesting chat with Mr Gbenga Adesanya, the CEO of an energy services company Diekolop Konsults Limited, in his own words said that “as a Nigerian I have travelled and covered the six zones of the nation. My first local holiday was in 1975 to see historical sites in Orimedu near Epe. The three day visit was exciting but stressful as I had to return to Lagos each night due to lack of even a motel. As a lover of historical sites the joy of discovery fired my spirit on subsequent trips. Most travellers in my group often complain of poor road access, not enough air and sea travel facilities and infrastructure. Till now, an air trip to Kaduna and Sokoto via Abuja could prove costly. I had to sleep in Abuja due to breakdown of the Aircraft flying us to Sokoto at personal cost as the Airline announced the continuation of our journey was postponed till the next morning since no plane was available for that evening. A foreign airline would put you up in at least a 3 Star Hotel with apologies”!

In the course of the chat, Mr Adesanya went further to say that “the roads and waterways in Nigeria are not safe and very stressful even before the advent of the quiet Niger Delta militancy, the Boko Haram flares and the pockets of Intra ethnic clashes over boundaries and political spoils of office. Travelling from Lagos to Abuja on four occasions, proved terrifying as contending groups traded gunfire at Okene in Kogi State. The Police and the Military had to deploy combat personnel to create safe passages for us. Added on is the low budget of the average traveller as the big spenders in our hotels appear to be government officials and the Political class. The depressed and traumatized middle class cannot travel locally talk less of overseas holidays! Tinapa would have been excellent, but the services are expensive due to cost of providing electricity by the Generating sets guzzling average of six million naira of diesel monthly”. A little bit of contrast to Mr Irole, who believes that there are lots of unexplored places of attractions within Nigeria, Mr Adesanya stresses that “The Nigerian Tourism Corporation should come up with a well articulated development plan to plant more secured hotels and resorts as well as exciting parks and gardens for the enjoyment of Nigerians”.

The preceding views and opinions should serve as an eye opener and food for thought to every individual. Tunisia, one of the Afro Arab Mediterranean countries, earns 85% of her Foreign exchange from tourism with less historical sites than Nigeria. Tourism is a goldmine, Nigeria should exploit this money spinner one of the avenues to mend and develop our nation’s economy. Nigeria remains a potential world beater if only we get it right. So let us join hands in reawakening that spirit of developing, promoting and exploring within our shores before going out there. Let us attract more tourists to Africa. It can only begin with YOU! Peace!!

*We await your thoughts and comments*  

EXCELLENT QUALITY SERVICE @ GOLDEN TULIP HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTRE (FESTAC TOWN, LAGOS)

The hospitality industry which is divided into the accommodation and food sectors respectively has continued to evolve more and more over the years. In the past, consumers of the hospitality services would settle for less despite the kind of services they are being offered. Up until recently, these service providers have been able to get away with a lot of inappropriate services.

Consumers of the hospitality services are now equipped with the new buzzwords such as ‘’guest satisfaction and service quality’’. With these buzzwords, it indicates that the era where service providers get away with poor services are fast becoming extinct as the times roll by.

With the growth in technology and particularly the use of different social media blogs which has become the recent widespread trend, the era where consumers of hotel services just do nothing about a poor hotel services are over. With the use of these new social media, these consumers apart from the use of word-of-mouth are prone to air their opinions on the different blogs all over the place which in return have adverse effects on the service providers.

Bearing these in mind and in a frantic bid to retain as well as gain new customers, the serious minded service providers of the hospitality organisations  have also armed themselves with buzzwords such as ‘’continuous improvement, good service recovery and learning environment’’ hence daily strategising with ways to give the customers satisfaction and excellent quality services.

 

One of such hospitality organisations is the Golden Tulip Hotel & Conference Centre (Festac Town, Lagos).  In order to gain competitive edge over other service providers in the industry, the management of the hotel have continuously engaged in the restructuring and improvement of their organisation. From inception, the design has always being to provide their guests with a variety of business and leisure facilities one of which was the recent ground-breaking of a proposed ultra-modern shopping mall right in front of the building thereby expanding the entire facility further. 

Also, a well equipped and classic night club which is almost in conclusion with just a few finishing touches left is part of the expansion process. According to the Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr Emmanuel Ele ‘’our customers’ satisfaction is our watchword, we therefore make sure that they encounter wonderful experiences within these facilities, complimented by our international service standards and the west African gracious hospitality  without compromising in any way on excellent quality so that they get value for their money’’.

Accessibility is not a challenge as it is just a few minutes’ drive from the international airport to the hotel which is strategically located in Festac within the heart of Lagos.  From the drive up to the gate entrance, one is greeted by a collection of well-dressed professional looking guards at the gate. On entrance into the exquisite compound of the hotel is a parking lot with a capacity for up to 400 cars. Anyone would be awed by the magnificent edifice of the hotel and overwhelmed by the beautiful exterior landscape/design hence places the customer in anxiety to see what the interior looks like. Without any doubts, an impression of a world class environment is created as the hotel’s exterior complements the interior which the visitor soon acknowledges as soon as he/she steps into the hotel lobby signifying an environment with a superb, clean and breathtaking services cape with an ambience that sticks to memory for a long time.

The hotel does not only just provide the customer a clean environment, but also boast of a services cape which includes proactive, respectful and well trained staffs that are not only highly skilled but passionate about their various tasks. Due to the reality that the ‘staff’ of any organisation represents the organisation in itself, the management of Golden Tulip hotel and conference centre hold nothing back in recruiting only the best hands in the industry as well as a good welfare for them so that they give their best on the jobs in return so that their customers are assured of being handled by capable hands. It is an acknowledged fact that employees of organisations with more focused recruitment, intensive training, and better wages, are likely to be happier and provide higher-quality, customer-pleasing service on their jobs.

Unlike many other hotels in the country, the hotel offers as much as four hundred and fifty nine lovely guest rooms with different styles to suit any customer’s needs and up to twelve suites with internet facilities as well as laundry and a 24/7 room services which are all designed to provide comfortable well being for all their customers. Other structures for recreational facilities include two squash courts, two floodlit tennis courts, adults and kids’ swimming pools, sauna and steam bath as well as a gym to keep fit. Interestingly, in addition to keeping fit is the availability of a seven hectares of exotic tropical garden for meditation or for an amazing jogging experience all of which provide the perfect ambience and serene for a customer who is staying either for business or leisure.

Speaking with a returning guest at the hotel premises, he pointed out that one of the reasons why he remains a returning customer to the hotel is that the rooms are ‘’spotlessly’’ kept clean at all times. In 2012, a research survey carried out by ‘yours truly’ *winks* using the Northwest region in the UK as the sample population revealed that, 70% of people who responded rated ‘clean environment’ as the first priority when choosing a Hotel to stay. Other findings from the research also revealed that tangible and intangible factors such as security, respectful staff, good food, prompt service, quiet environment, career, age, family, purpose and lots more influence the customers’ choice of hotel. Most of these factors are what inform the practices at the Golden Tulip Hotel and Conference Centre. The guest also went further by saying that “it feels like another world entirely whenever I’m here in the hotel as it has everything that you need within the premises therefore you don’t really need to go outside except you really have to go. As for me, I can be in this hotel for a week without having to go out because most of the time I stay here because I want to rest and give myself a little bit of vacation”. Continuing, the guest went further to say “It is hotels such as Golden Tulip that one can call a vacation spot as it has everything that one thinks about when on holidays with friends or family; even for a business man...”

It is common practice for organisations to hold meetings within the premises of their offices or headquarters, however, multinationals who want to deal with serious issues hold their meetings or conferences outside their premises so as to concentrate properly on matters-arising, hence would require a serene and business environment on such occasions. The Golden Tulip hotel and conference centre as the name signifies, offers one of the largest conference facilities which is made up of nine equipped state-of-the-art Wi-Fi internet connected meeting rooms and conference halls to suite needs from small seminars to large events. It also has an outdoor functional space for up to six hundred and fifty guests for various kinds of outdoor events.

   

The Food and Beverages facilities at the hotel include two bars identified as, the Island Bar located at the pool area and the Rendez Vous Bar which is located at the colourful lobby area, both offering guests a selection of drinks and snacks all of which according to Mr Emmanuel Ele “is second to none in the industry as it also in addition, daily offers international breakfast and dinner buffets and theme nights fiestas to our growing services consumers”.

In an effort to continually meet up with the dynamic needs of their customers, as earlier mentioned, is the soon to be opened in-house night club for some of their highly sociable, eccentric and effervescent customers and even high net worth business persons who once in a while love a bit of dancing and excitement. Additional existing facilities also include an in-house clinic and ATM machines at the convenience of guests. The aforementioned and many more are the selling points of Golden Tulip hotel and conference centre.

Ultimately, it is no doubt that Golden Tulip hotel and Conference is continuously looking for ways to improve in order to meet the demands of its customer. It is always said that ‘life is in phases while men are in sizes’, this could also be said about businesses being in sizes and phases. Nevertheless, the quality of any business ultimately is an upshot of how much smart work, quality of time as well as strategies has been put in it despite the size. Therefore, because present day hospitality services consumers now crave good service quality; no matter how small that business is, it is essential that the aim and focus of any service provider in the hospitality industry should be that of constant pursuit of excellent quality service at all times. Peace!! 

WHY PEOPLE VISIT HOTELS

I remember in my days as a younger person (even though I’m still very young), hotels were rarely found in every location. However, today it is a different story entirely as in every nooks and crannies of the country (especially Lagos, Asaba and Portharcourt) there stands a hotel of one kind or the other. Sometimes, depending on the length of the street, one can even find at least five to six hotels on one street alone. 


The acquisition and restructure of small hotels by top shots in the society is on the rise. However, one of the mind boggling issues is the fact that these hotels are always booked/busy all through the week hence the question arises, who are the high patronisers of these hotels? What has given the rise to the proliferation of these hotels? 

Mr Eben Omiemie of Brandvilleq Communications assert that hotels have become a very lucrative business as a lot of hoteliers have a reason to go to bed with a smile on their faces every day/week knowing fully well that some income have gone into their accounts in the course of the day/week. He went on to say that people use hotels for different reasons both good and bad. Good in the sense that for example when a businessman travels out of his permanent location to another for an official meeting and hence would need a place to stay for the night or while he’s there. He also went  further to say that however, it could be for a bad reason for the same business man to tell his family that he’s going on a business trip consequently would be staying at a hotel whereas he’s just having a getaway with his mistress so as to sow some of his wild oats *winks*. He however concluded that good or bad, the hotel business still remains a very lucrative business as he is a great deal envious of his friends in the business. In his own words, “some of the hoteliers have even gone a bit further by setting up event halls within or next to the hotel premises as well, if I have some good money and an opportunity, I won’t even give it a second thought before I invest in it” he ended with a laugh.

A good friend of mine who I would refer to as Tola (real name withheld) agrees with Mr Eben above that indeed, hotels are patronised for positive and negative reasons. However she differs a bit as she went on to add that the percentage of the negative reasons sometimes supersede the positive reasons. She gave an account of a friend and colleague of hers who cringes at the thought and mention of a hotel due to some terrible experiences in the past. Conversely, Tola however said she always looks forward to the time spent in a particular hotel whenever her family go on vacation. She said she is always enthralled with the environment and overwhelmed by the pampering treatment she receives from the well trained staff which makes her at times wish the vacation never ends.

Nonetheless, in all of the aforementioned, Mr Ajoh, a manager in one of the existing airlines in Nigeria holds a separate view. He supports the spring up of more hotel accommodation in nearly every part of Nigeria and the world at large. He stressed that it is a welcoming development trend that should be embraced with good intention. The availability of hotels most times according to him saves him the pressure of having to welcome or entertain a visiting member of family/friend who is from out of town. This he said saves him the opportunity of not getting into any bad books with that member family/friend at the end of the day.

On one of my trips, I got talking with a fellow passenger who was seated next to me. During the 45mins – 1hr flight from Lagos to Abuja, we got talking and eventually ended up on a topic relating to hotels.  He stressed out his opinion that hoteliers go into the business for various reasons and other several motives behind those reasons ranging from moral to immoral intentions depending on who the hotelier is. He went further however to say that as a writer/author of books, one of the recent development in the society that he’s impressed about is the availability of different types of hotels at your disposal; it depends on your class, taste and of course money all of which influence your choice of hotel and most of all the purpose of patronage at any point in time. He is impressed because according to him “93% of the time I spend in hotels enable me develop my books especially when I’m about to finish up for publishing. It keeps me away from all the family or friends disturbances. Even though I know this may sound crazy, I’m actually happier in a quiet hotel room all alone once in a while than when I’m home with my family”. Hmm, different strokes for different folks one would say there.

One of the biggest hotel brand that is today known as ‘the Marriot’ was started by Mr Willard Marriott who saw a need and decided to fill it. The need was to provide accommodation for travellers to get rest and get refreshed instead of just sitting at the railways while waiting for their trains to arrive. The motive then, was for a good cause and as the years rolled by, the business grew from a nine-stool root beer stand to become what it is today. So also, many other hotels that started small have become big brands today in this contemporary period. With the increase of these hoteliers they too may or may not have had such good motives.

In conclusion, my two cents (which I hope is a lot) on this issue is that hotel business as part of the hospitality industry has come to stay and would keep evolving as long as there is patronage and of course as long as people keep travelling for leisure, pleasure or business or even events and hence require accommodation, there will continually be patronage. However it is all left to the hoteliers and patronisers whether they are into it for positive or negative reasons. Peace!! 

Let's have your feed backs/comments.