Eko Hotels at 50: What Africa’s Tourism Leaders Say the Continent Must Do Next
As Eko Hotels & Suites marked its 50th anniversary in Lagos recently, the Africa Legacy Summit opened broader conversations about African hospitality, tourism, regional integration and the future of indigenous enterprise on the continent.
For the hotel’s leadership, the milestone represented not only longevity, but continuity, resilience and what comes next.
The Director of Sales and Marketing, Eko Hotels, Dr Iyadunni Gbadebo, said the anniversary carried significance beyond the organisation itself.
“50 years of Eko Hotels is a blessing not just to us as an organisation, but to Lagos, to Nigeria and to Africa,” she said. “We’ve put in the work for 50 years and we couldn’t do 50 years quietly.”
For Gbadebo, the anniversary was an opportunity to look forward rather than simply celebrate the past. “It was time to cut the path for the next 50 years. And who do you do that with? The future — the generation that would stand forth and take this blueprint and move with it.”
That thinking, she said, informed the Africa Legacy Summit itself. “Reimagining the role that culture plays in Africa’s hospitality, travel and tourism — that’s what this Africa Legacy Summit was about.”
On sustaining a hospitality brand at Eko’s scale over five decades, Gbadebo was characteristically direct. “I don’t see challenges. Challenges are things that happen in life. You embrace challenges, you move on it, walk on it, and move — because there are always going to be challenges.”
General Manager of Eko Hotels, Danny Kioupoureglou, said Lagos remains one of Africa’s most promising tourism destinations. “Lagos has a lot of things to do with tourism and a lot of potential to develop tourism — to bring a lot of revenues and a lot of people to come to Lagos and experience a real African experience.”
He said the hotel has continued adapting to the expectations of younger, globally connected travellers. “At Eko Hotel we try to develop new things, new ideas, new products in order to satisfy our guests and provide the technological and other facilities requested by the modern traveller — in order to have a home away from home when they come and stay with us, while also finding better ways of presenting ourselves, attracting our customers and ensuring that they have a good time.”
Looking ahead, Kioupoureglou was clear about the institution’s direction. “The vision for the next 50 years is to remain relevant, remain pioneers, to remain at the forefront of the hospitality industry and guide the way to the future of hospitality with African warmth and international standards.”
Highlighting regional integration, he said. “Breaking down the barriers between countries will help intra-Africa travel and also help the growth and development of the hospitality and tourism industries in Africa. It is a must and it has to happen.”
He added: “Trust is what is required and I hope that our leaders will master the trust and the capacity to go ahead and arrange this — to have borderless, visa-less travel in Africa.”
On Eko Hotels’ place within the continent’s hospitality landscape, he said: “Eko Hotel has been there for 50 years and it didn’t happen accidentally. Eko is definitely an institution.” He added: “We believe that in the next 50 years we will be more than a hotel.”
Speaking on the broader opportunity, Kioupoureglou said, “Africa has not even started scratching the tourism and hospitality areas. This is a fantastic opportunity for growth and development, for employment opportunity creation, for capital flow — and I hope that in the future tourism will be a pillar in Africa’s economy.”
Tourism ambassador and Executive Director for Africa Caribbean Initiative, Crystal Cummings, brought a regional perspective to the conversation, drawing comparisons between Africa and the Caribbean.
“When you take an example from the Caribbean — where tourism is the main GDP for a lot of the islands — we have easy movement through CARICOM between different islands where we promote tourism throughout, not only to get visitors from Europe and America or Asia, but for fellow Caribbean people to visit other islands and experience the culture,” she said.
She argued Africa could replicate that model by leaning into shared culture. “Even coming to Ghana, Benin, Togo — there are Yorubas along those different countries as well. You guys actually share similar culture and tribes. There’s more in common than not in common among each of these African countries. If you focus on the commonalities, I think it will be a really good selling point to create that connection and open borders.”
On youth participation, Cummings pointed to the sector’s employment potential. “The tourism sector is one of the largest sectors that hires people — whether it’s a restaurant, a nightclub, a hotel, an airline. If young people develop their customer service skills and understand the importance of customer service while seeking experiences in the sector, it will actually help them.”
“You don’t want to bring people to these places and then the hostility — or the unwelcomeness of the people — is there. You want to be hospitable for visitors to be able to come and experience what you have to offer. If you educate people about hospitality and the way they should treat visitors, it will help boost the tourism sector.”
She highlighted customer service as one way to improve tourism on the continent. “I don’t think it’s just a private sector issue — the government on the whole should understand the importance of customer service,” she noted.
Cummings pointed to untapped potential across Nigerian states. “There are certain states — Akwa Ibom, Calabar — there’s so much natural beauty and attractions. But you need to create a culture of tourism and hospitality so that tourists will want to visit these places.”
As Eko Hotels marks 50 years, the conversations at the Africa Legacy Summit reflected a broader ambition — not only to celebrate African hospitality, but to rethink how tourism, culture and regional collaboration can shape the continent’s economic future.
