Harvesters Hotel is noted for its cuisine, service – GM

EKEH UCHENNA MELODY is the general manager of Harvesters Hotels and Suites, Owerri, Imo State. In this interview with Business A.M.’s DIKACHI ELEMBA, he speaks about the hotel and about the workings of the hotel and hospitality industry in Imo State

Could you share your experience in the hotel and hospitality sector?

MY NAME IS EKEH UCHENNA MEL ODY, THE GEN ERAL MANAGER OF HARVESTERS HOTELS AND SUITES LIMITED, OWERRI, IMO STATE. I have been in this industry for years, about 15 years now as a general manager, though I started as an accountant before I was given the mandate to be the general manager. I have worked in many places here in Owerri. So, I think I have acquired a lot of experiences to talk about the hotel and hospitality business in Owerri.

It is not easy to run the industry here based on the fact that there are numerous hotels here, both the small and the big, and even the middle hotels, the challenges are many. But I also thank God that, no matter how it is, we are making it because we run effective, neat, efficient and admirable services, living up to the expectations of our guests and customers.

In Imo State, Harvesters Hotels and Suites is one of the well known hotels. Is there any difference between what is offered to guests and customers here and those offered in other hotels of this standard ?

Harvesters Hotels and Suites is known for its uniqueness. It is strategically located, you can access it from anywhere in Imo state. Even to people that might find it difficult to come to Owerri from other places, the management had deemed it fit and proper and established another Harvesters Hotels and Suites in Orlu, so that people from Orlu and Anambra State and its environs can enjoy the hospitality and services we offer in Harvesters Hotels and Suites. Its uniqueness and the way the management is structured are quite different from others.

Could you also tell us about your cuisine, what’s on your menu for guests?

We offer continental dishes, African dishes. Our cooks are some of the best in the town, because we devote enough time to get the best and we make sure that we treat them very well.

How often do you train your staff?

Yes, we believe in on the job training. We also employ them, especially the good ones, and we also employ the experienced ones to come and help in the retraining in what they are supposed to know and that is why our staff are second to none.

As general manager, what’s the relationship between management and staff?

We believe in open policy and we also believe that we do not know it all. You can get knowledge from somebody you don’t expect it from and that is why we operate and run an open policy and we are open and would want to welcome anybody who can talk to us and tell us where we have got it wrong so that we can make an amendment. Also we welcome direction from experienced people or staff, so we run an open door policy in the business. We work as a team and partners in progress.

This is hotel and hospitality management, how do you prepare the staff on a daily basis for the day’s duties? Do you do daily briefing like some others do?

Yes, we do briefing. There is also a periodical briefing. We have Mondays and Fridays assembly, where we gather to pray, talk to ourselves and advise ourselves. If there are things we need to correct, we correct them there and then we continue with our work.

What are the various departments functioning in Harvesters?

In Harvesters Hotels we have a VIP bar, we also have a pool side bar, our swimming pool is very neat; our exotic cuisine and restaurant, the rooms etc. Everybody is allowed to come and enjoy the serenity, the cleanliness and also enjoy the services we render at the pool side. In the pool side also, we can serve you the local delicacies, the African

foods, like isiewu, (prepared goat head), nkwobi, catfish, etc, are available at our pool side. And I think that is why people love to come to Harvesters Hotels. We are Africans, we serve like Africans. We also have a continental chef that prepares the food we serve.

What’s the size of the hotel in terms of the number of rooms that are in use in this hotel?

We have 30 rooms here. Our Standard rooms are 10, Deluxe rooms are 15, Royal suites are five, Business suite, Superior double Ambassadorial suite and Senatorial suite.

We also have Harvesters hall with a capacity of more than 500 people and also a board room. All these are to give our guests and customers the comfort they deserve.

Being in Owerri with a lot of competition, how do you deal with that?

Yes, there is a lot of competition going on, but we do not see it as competition, we see it as a challenge we need to face. We believe that we have our own customers and others have their own, based on their standard. Some hotels have their own customers based on their level and standard. We have people who come here to patronise us. So, we do not see it as competition, we maintain our standard and we live up to expectations of our numerous guests and customers .

We always have room for feedback, when we give them services, we also expect them to give us feedback if we have served them right or there are some areas we need to touch. The results we have been getting confirmed that we are maintaining the standard for which this hotel was built.

With the years you have put in in the industry, what’s your advice to those who want to pursue a career in the in?

The hotel industry is not a place where you can go and get it wrong. You must have to be decent, you must have to be respectful for you to work in this sector. The hotel is not a place for rogues or arrogant people. Hotel is a respectful place where everyone comes and goes and they expect you to give them the services they cannot get even in their houses .

What are the challenges that you face in the sector in Imo State?

Specifically and generally, here in Imo state, we are facing a lack of government presence in this sector of the state economy. This sector is the second largest employer of labour in the state, apart from the government. This sector lays the golden egg in terms of revenue generation for the government - the internally generated revenue (IGR). We lack good roads; even the ones we try to do by ourselves, you see them coming to tax us. There are multiple taxation here and there, revenue collectors here and there, revenue touts coming around to destabilise the business and our guests. And the recent security challenges, which are affecting the generality of business in the state.

Government should come in and find ways it can solve these problems. As people from many places visit Owerri, if the government gives this sector the needed attention it deserves, Owerri will be the Paris of Africa.

Owerri is noted for its nightlife; has it deteriorated?

Owerri used to enjoy nightlife, but these days, it is no more like that because people don’t like to come to Owerri because of the fear of the unknown and of the unknown gunmen. Though the government has given assurance that very soon the situation will be normalised.