The Hospitality forum @ Akwaaba 2008

The Akwaaba Travel Market is an interactive platform that accommodates everything related to travel and holidays. The market organised by ATQ is endorsed by NTDC and listed by the World Tourism Organisation.
The 2008 edition which is the 4th in the series flagged off with a workshop for hotels, hotel owners and hotel promoters. The theme of the workshop is: The 21st Century Hotel. The forum drew participation from local and foreign tourism trade practitioners.
The technical session commenced at 2:30 pm, with the paper presentations thus:
The first paper delivered by Mr. Benjamin, dwelt on the Hotel Information System premised on current ICT needs of a modern hotel. He identified basic information standards required in hotel operation to include control, traceability, tractability, record, reduced mistakes accountability, consumer behaviour, inter connectivity etc.
He also highlighted various hotel systems at the heart of hotel operation to include the account system, property management system {PMS} and the point of sale system.
The second presentation by the General Manager of Eko Hotel & Suites was brief in deliver. Coming from a rich background of hospitality business, he expressed high hopes for the future growth of the hospitality industry in Nigeria while accepting the challenge that project development poses in the industry in terms of infrastructure and service delivery which as he said is not impressive at the moment. He concluded by commending the new drive and focus of the Nigerian tourism Development Corporation in its tourism promotion and marketing efforts.
In his presentation, the Director- General Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation paid glowing tribute to the organizers of Akwaaba for making Nigeria proud. His paper dwelt on the classification and grading of HTEs.
The DG explained that the aim is to ensure a qualitative upliftment in service delivery, facilities and maintenance for the attainment of national, local and international standards.
He berated hotels for charging higher than commensurate services with a caveat that very soon; unregistered, substandard, or fraudulent HTEs shall be sealed. He appealed to states to stop being autonomous on the issue of HTEs registration and allow NTDC to take regulatory charge as part of its statutory mandate.
He pledged to draw the sponsorship of not less than five (5) states to Akwaaba while hinting at the introduction of Tourist Visa to attract tourist influx to Nigeria.
Mr. Alex Bouake of the Ghana Tourism Board shared with the audience Ghana’s experience in classification and standardization. He highlighted the advantages of classification and standard to include statistical data collection, helps research, planning and marketing allows and for the identification of gaps and opportunities.
He explained that Harmonized standards enhance the realization of control measures. According to him Ghana’s tourism regulation begins with the registration of enterprise by the GTB involving technical assistance and inspection. Other considerations are ambience of the facility, room availability, and quality of service, security and safety measures in place, image and personnel.
Some of the control measures adopted in Ghana according to Mr. Boateng include the annual inspection which serves as the bedrock for license renewal, mid-year inspection exercise, spot checks and investigation of complaints. Violations by operators attract instant sealing, blacklisting, penalty and prosecution.
He informed the gathering that Ghana has at the moment one (5 Star Hotel), 4 (4 Star) Hotels, twenty six (3 Star) hotels and one hundred and ninety-two (1) Star Hotels. He said Ghana Tourism Board enjoys tremendous support from the government of Ghana in terms of legislation.
Eran Ketter, an Israeli Consultant dwelt extensively on media strategies for marketing places in crisis. His presentation dealt essentially on changing stereotypes by adopting counter positive image to replace negative image.
He posited four ways to create good news and influence destination marketing using the examples of the Great Ethiopian Run, hosting of opinion leaders, using films and tv shows (e.g. Namibia- A film maker’s destination) and engaging celebrities to create good news, as done in Kenya with Naomi Campbell.
Other strategies espoused by Ketter on how to improve the image of cities, countries and tourist destination included:
· Basking in the glory of world known sights
 ·  Geographical disassociation.
In order to get the message across, he recommended the use of independent, widely accessible, informative and inexpensive medium to reach out to target audience. He emphasized the importance of all-inclusive maps in information dissemination to tourists. He canvassed for the adoption of unique brand identity while not forgetting the significant role of calendar of tourism events and paying attention to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
He reminded the audience to be mindful of the aspect of security and safety as basic essentials and images to be based on facts to enhance the credibility profile of destinations.
In a brief but penetrating presentation, Mr. Trevor Ward, the MD W Hospitality Group, a consultant that specializes in hotels, spoke on the hotel management with the relationship between the hotel owner and the hotel operator as his main focus. He pointed out that the bottom-line in that relationship is all about control, expectation and perception.
The proprietress of Wavecrest College, a hospitality training school in Lagos, Mrs. Rosanna Tanner presented the seventh paper in the series. Her discussion centered on the training and manpower needs for the modern hotel. She harped on the correlation between skilled workers and the ability to successfully drive the hotel in a competitive tourism industry. In order to cope with the challenges of modern trends in hotel business, she said personnel training should be prioritized, calling on hotel owners and operators to train, retrain, retain and maintain a virile, skilled workforce at all times to remain in business.

The ideal of medicine is the prevention of disease and the necessity for curative treatment is a tacit admission of its failure.                                                                                       
Sir. George Newman

Dear Friends,
• Another year has come to an end. I guess it is time to start planning a healthier start for a new year. Judging from the questions that have come in I have no doubt in my mind people are willing to make those changes.
Compliments.   
Bon appétit,
Celiapenny Nsek                                                                                       

Dear CeliaPenny,
What Is “Zobo” drink made from and  what is the health benefit?
In Nigeria the flower, Hibiscus sabdariffa is used to prepare a popular beverage called ‘zobo’.  It is cultivated in the northern part of the country. Extracts of the flower is alkaline in nature and has been known to have cleansing properties. It helps to keep the body’s pH balanced, (without white sugar). The extract is used fresh for making wine, juice, tea, spice and the likes. The flower has pectin that CAN make a firm jelly. It can also be used raw in salads. The red flower contains antioxidants including flavonoids. The flesh Hibiscus flower is also rich in riboflavin, Vitamin C, niacin, carotene, calcium, and iron which are all nutritionally necessary.

Dear Celia Penny,                                                                                                                                                             would it be okay to substitute aspartame for sugar as a diabetic?             
Aspertame is a sweetening agent found in many diet drinks. Aspertame has no health benefit, Therefore there is no reason to take this product.
Studies show that Aspertame is especially deadly for diabetics because it keeps the blood sugar level out of control, causing many patients to go into a coma.
When the temperature of Aspartame increases beyond 30 degrees centigrade, the wood alcohol in it is said to be converted to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic problems. Formaldehyde, isn’t that similar to the stuff used in the morgue to embalm bodies?
The formaldehyde is stored in the fat cells, especially in the hips and thighs. So a diabetic who must lose fat, must by all means stay away from aspartame in any form. If you want to lose fat, diet drink containing Aspertame is not for you.
It is reported to make you crave carbohydrates and will make you fat.
Aspartame changes the brain’s chemistry. Studies show that the majority of “Aspertame caused” problems are neurological, because the aspartame destroys the nervous system.
Anyone with “Aspertame disease” sometimes suffer spasms, shooting pains, numbness in the  legs, cramps,  dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks and slurred speech.  Diabetic patients may sometimes present memory loss, confusion, blurred or loss of vision.
It could cause severe seizures and change the dopamine level in the brain.  Aspertame  can  also cause Birth Defects.
Beware of foods which carry “SUGAR FREE” on the labels—if you look closely, you will find aspartame listed on the pack.  Also watch out for health foods or supplements containing Aspertame e.g. Vit C.  Do not even consider buying them.

What is the advantage of fermented food?
Fermentation, as a result of microbial activity enhances the nutritive value of food by increasing the availability of nutrients like Vit Bs.  It has been observed in studies that the digestibility of protein is better if the food is fermented .e.g. fermented beans and milk (yogurt).

Dear Celia Penny,
Can I diet while breastfeeding?                                                                                                                              Yes! Nursing mothers can lose weight safely, slowly, without monotony and expense if, they follow some basic guidelines.                                                                                                                           *Start your dieting only when the baby is two months old.                                                                             *Eat enough calories to maintain your energy needs and milk supply, at least 1500-1800 calories per day, depending on how much activity one undergoes.                                                *Breastfeeding should not be restricted.
* 1kg a week loss is about good enough, no more.                                                                                               * No fad diet, which may affect milk supply and the health of the baby.

Hi Celia,
Is it proper to skip meals as a means of losing weight?
If you skip meals you put your body in a starvation mode.   
That means that, your body automatically grabs and holds on to nutrients, good or bad, in the end you put on weight instead of losing it.

Hello Celiapenny,
I take a lot of sugar free and low fat foods and I am putting on weight instead, why?
Sugar free labels do not always mean unsweetened. For instance the lay-man does not recognize sucrose or fructose to be sugar. There are many fruit drinks with such labels. Then you have aspartame that induces fat rather than reduce it.

Low fat foods may not be low in calories.  Calories are the real issues. Banana and mangoes may be fruits but if you need to lose fat reduce the quantity you consume.
Be wise, see a diet designer and have your diet planned to suit you. 

Diet Tips                                                                                                                                  *Drink plenty of water in between meals and first thing in the morning. 
*If you have cut down on exercise or other forms of activity, you must cut down on your foods especially the starchy ones.                                                                                                                                                                           *Eat 6 smaller meals instead of 3 big ones.                                                                                                          *Eat high quality protein before eating the starch in any meal.                                                                *Choose complex carbohydrates such as, oatmeal, yams, potatoes, beans, brown rice, ofada(with a lot of bran) and whole grains.
*Avoid refined starches and sugars ( white flour & sugar )                                                                      

What You Should Know
1. There is always the risk of side effects to every drug.
2. Drugs do not offer long-term solution to any medical problem.
3. Drugs are more dangerous than disease.

This article does not advocate any delay in medical attention when needed. Do not treat yourself with medicine, foods or supplements any illness that requires seeing a doctor. While we all must HAVE nutrients, Note that we all do not need supplements, only those diagnosed to have deficiencies. However when taking vitamins in large doses, you must consider them drugs, and therefore must take them under the direction of a competent doctor, familiar to any unfavourable side effects.

Celia-Penny Nsek is a diet designer with a passion for preventing premature ageing (a result of malnutrition). Being over 40yrs and looking great proves her point - it is doable.
For dietary help call 0803 323 1164; 01 7634592

L-R. Ikechi Uko, Marcel Andeweg, Busari Awel(VP Comm. Ethiopian Airlines) Alex Boakye(Ghana Tourist Board) Umaru Nasko (Rep. Gov. Niger State) Mrs. Garbati and  Paulos Legesse(GM Ethiopian Airlines)