By Jeleel Olawale
Ile-Ife is situated in Osun State, the Southwestern part of Nigeria. The town lies at the intersection of roads from Ibadan (40 miles (64 km) west), Ilesha, and Ondo. It is one of the larger centers and the oldest town of the Yoruba people.
According to the archeological findings, it is the holy city and the legendary birthplace of mankind. It is held to have been founded by a son of the deity Oduduwa, and is certainly the capital of a well-established kingdom by the early 11th century.
By the late 12th or early 13th century, its artisans were producing the naturalistic terra-cotta heads and bronze pieces, made by the “lost-wax” process for which the Ife Kingdom is now well known. Ife had great political and cultural influence over the Edo kingdom of Benin to the Southeast.
Ile-Ife which is regarded as a home of all natural and cultural phenomenal blessed with rich culture, hospitality and tourism where everyone desires to visit.
Its natural location is one of the most important parts of business start-up where both local and international Investors generally look out for places that will be adaptable enough for their business to thrive particularly hospitality industry. The city has a population of about 500,000 people excluding over 20,000 students.
The decision is particularly crucial when considering a multimillion naira investment like in the hospitality business because the people are friendly and accommodating.
Ile-Ife, like any other place on earth, has some peculiar natural characteristics which majorly favours its perfect configuration for certain human activities whether in business or any other field.
In the business environment and particularly in the hospitality sector, Ife can conveniently boast of a number of such favourable peculiarities or factors which make the City a golden fish for entrepreneurs in hotel industry.
Ile-Ife currently has an inventory of over a hundred hotel establishments, a clear indication of the city as a leading hospitality host in this part of the world.
Some of these hotels include Cameron, Xela, Kristcourt, De Treasure, Hilton, Hill Spring, Ife Grand Resorts and Leisure, Diganga, Harvard Continental, OAU Conference and Guest, Luxury, Milland, Celebration, Orange hotels among others.
The reason for a consistent attraction of businesses in this hotel sector into the city is not farfetched. And prominent among those factors is the relative security and peaceful atmosphere enjoyed in the city which encourages the influx of visitors and tourists alike. As a matter of fact, Ife has hardly been rated among the top crime locations in the country.
The ancient city is a suitable home for hotel business and informed by the City’s rich natural and human tourism assets. Ile-Ife is the home to a vast number of historical and cultural sites, structures, monuments and festivals, making the city one of the most visited tourist destinations in Africa.
The City’s popular and beautiful cultural festivals are another major contributing factors to the current hospitality profile of the renowned African destination.
As tourism generally provides market for the hotel business, prominent among those channels through which the market is secured are popular and widely attended cultural festivals for which Ile-Ife is noted for. The city never runs dry of visitors as it is involved in one festival or the other throughout the year.
Another advantage which makes the business flourish can also be attributed to the social factor. Ife people are largely social with a considerable love for city entertainment. This is evident in periodic social and entertainment events championed especially by the City’s younger population which attract visitors from within and the neighboring communities.
One may rightly conclude that the popularity of hotel business over some other sectors in the town recently is indeed merited.
Hotels in Ile Ife are well-maintained and perfectly situated for tourists and business travellers in a secured and serene environment in the town. They offer clean and spacious rooms as well as good and competitively priced hotel services.
And most of the hotels’ vicinity are conducive and in unique lodging environment that is good for relaxation and leisure activities. The hotels are perfectly situated within the proximity of numerous city’s attractions and landmarks. The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife has been a blessing for hotel business in the ancient town.
These hotels provide internationally benchmarked service that is competitively priced for business or leisure travelers and feature all the facilities expected in a standard hotel.
The hotels offer comforting and relaxing environment and a variety of business options. Conferences, board meetings and team building functions can be arranged with consummate professionalism and catered for in a variety of luxurious, easily configurable venues.
Here are comments of visitors and travellers who have lodged in some of the hotels in Ile-Ife.
Cameron
Wumzz A: “Rooms were extremely spacious and clean, the customer service was extremely efficient and room service was fabulous.”
KrisCourt Hotel,
Victor E: “I had a rewarding experience at Kriscourt Hotel, Courtous staff, Good services, power very stable regardless of Power situation with public power supply.Their food is also great.”
Xela Hotels & Resorts, Oluwafunmilayo: “From the moment I entered, I felt drawn to the environment. The warm reception, nice room and meals made it my best stay in Ife, so far. Electricity was okay, the environment was beautiful and calm.”
Hilton Hotels
Abimbola : “Hilton hotel is a good hotel and my first day there was good till we checked out. We didn’t really make use of room services at all. The room was quite conducive.”
OAU Conference Centre & Guest Houses
Jydeoo : “The furniture and fittings are dated though, and the TV screens are quite small. If you are visiting on a weekend, try to book ahead or arrive early, as they easily run out of rooms.”
Most of hotels in Ile-Ife are, “a home away from home,” where visitor’s future meets his/her past in the historic Ile-Ife ancestral home to all Yoruba people.
With fast growing technology, some of the hotels are gradually becoming world class Ethno-Cultural Tourism Resort, veritable relaxation and recreation centres whereas these qualities are absent in other climes.
Some of them are basically providing hospitality-care centre service, where visiting foreign tourists and the indigenous clients can enjoy the luxury of large and well-appointed rooms, professional services, and enjoy a seamless mélange of western culture and African tradition, a culinary declaration they make with delicious meals and drinks.
They have world-class amenities to the comfort of their visitors cum African Village glamour, which replicates African Village realities.
As a matter of fact, the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II who himself an hospitality investor, also added his to the already flourishing existing hotel business in the ancient town, as manifested in the planting of hospitality edifice, the Ife Grand Resort and Industrial Park.
Ooni’s Ife Grand Resort and Leisure is an enclave of Africanism based on the core cultural values of the Yoruba race which has been credited of having the most robust sense of hospitality in the world.
Some of the hotels were built with the mindset of offering the best experience to whoever that steps in.
They are set in the most luxurious and splendid facilities, beddings, pillow cases, lamp stand, light, conveniences, tea sets, toiletries and other necessities.
Also of interest is that the totality of hotels in Ile-Ife is to ensure a robust experience interaction between a visitor and pristine Yoruba values, culture norms and way of life.
The hotels’ kitchen is not only of African foods, but of essentials, of rare Yoruba meals with different soups that are autonomous to Yoruba. There are also the indigenous cooks while there are chefs too who cater for the intercontinental and inter-regional menus.
A visit to hotels in Ile-Ife is an experience in Africanism and Yoruba values and it is truly, “home away from home.”