Karl Hala, Group General Manager, Continental Hotels
Karl Hala, Group General Manager, Continental Hotels Nigeria*, says Nigeria’s path to growing international arrivals lies in organising demand, improving access, and selling the country as one unified destination.
Addressing stakeholders at AeroWest Summit 2026 Themed : Beyond Connectivity – Building the Tourism Capacity and Experience That Make Destinations Thrive , in Lagos Hala identified “how do we actually bring people here?” as the critical commercial question linking aviation and hospitality.
“One of Nigeria’s greatest opportunities is meetings, incentives, conferences and events — MICE,” he said. “One international congress can bring 500, 1,000 or 2,000 delegates. They fill aircraft and hotels. They use restaurants and transport. They visit attractions and some return with their families.” he said
Hala argued that Nigeria needs a professional Convention Bureau with one national calendar, one bidding platform, and one coordinated interface for government, airlines, hotels, and associations.
“Today, too much business is pursued individually. A hotel bids. An airline negotiates. But successful destinations win international congresses as destinations. Nigeria needs to bid as Nigeria.”
Hala also stressed that making Nigeria easy to access is part of the tourism product.
“It is not simply: do we have a flight? It is also: can I obtain my visa easily? Can I travel seamlessly between West and Central Africa? Can a business traveller extend a two-day conference into a four-day regional experience?”
He added that Nigeria already has the ingredients to attract visitors: 250+ ethnic groups, Afrobeats, Nollywood, fashion, food, two UNESCO sites, and a vibrant creative economy in Lagos.
“We must connect these assets into experiences that are easy to discover, easy to book and worth extending a visit for,” he said. “That is how we turn an arrival into a stay — and a stay into a story worth sharing.” Hala pointed out
Continental Hotels Group, he said, is already leading this charge on the MICE front. With the iconic Ladi Kwali Conference Centre in Abuja and expansive banqueting facilities in Lagos, the Group has hosted heads of state, global summits, and major corporate AGMs.
Comment here