Urgent Call For In-Depth Consultation with Affected Businesses to Safeguard Thriving Tourism and Hospitality Industry Growth.
The imminent commencement of the 700km Lagos – Calabar coastal highway, although laudable project by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (the “Road”) poses potential adverse effect on the Landmark Group and the various hospitality and tourism businesses operating along the Road’s proposed right of way.
This is premised on the fact that the Landmark Group together with these businesses contribute immensely to the leisure, retail, hospitality, and tourism space in Nigeria.
The original construction plan for the Road as part of the West Africa coastal highway was to go through the Water Corporation median which to date remains undeveloped. The Landmark Group is now seeking the government’s intervention in facilitating the rerouting of just about 1.5km out of the 700km stretch of the Road to its original location on the Water Corporation Road median.
A Google Earth photo showing the proposed and original path of the Road is shown below:
About the Landmark Group
The Landmark Group is in the business of creating enabling environments for the provision of worldclass business, leisure, hospitality and tourism services within its Ecosystem known as Landmark Lagos, located along the Water Corporation Road, Victoria Island Lagos, and along the Road’s proposed right of way. Worthy of note is that there are over 80 businesses operating within its Ecosystem and these businesses in combination employ over 4,000 individuals directly and over 12,000 indirectly.
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Its Ecosystem welcomed over 3 million visitors in 2023 and a significant number of these visitors were from the diaspora or foreigners who came to enjoy “Detty December” in what is arguably the premier leisure and tourism destination along the West African coastline.
The Landmark Group remit billions of Naira in taxes to the different levels of government in the course of its business operations and has won over 30 local and international awards in recent times. It has also been consistently ranked among the best places to visit in Lagos by both local and international tourism experts and incidentally, Landmark is only one of a handful of privately owned tourism establishments showcased in the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture “Visit Lagos” promotional video.
Landmark has hosted and continues to host many multinationals and foreign companies within its Ecosystem including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hard Rock Café, Regus, Johnson & Johnson, CNN, KFC, Ansaldo Energia, Facebook, Google, IBM, Procter & Gamble etc, to mention a few.
The construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road stands out as a commendable project as it will connect vital regions of the country and contribute immensely to the growth of the economy particularly the tourism industry while enhancing employment.
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The construction of the Road as presently planned however portends the destruction of the Landmark Group with the over 80 businesses operating within its Ecosystem thus leading to the demise of a major player in the hospitality and tourism industry, mass unemployment and lost taxpayer revenue, among other socio-economic fallouts.
Government support is urgently needed to avert such a needlessly negative impact by delivering a win-win solution for all stakeholders which would involve formulating alternative means of undertaking the development of the Road while preserving the existing businesses.