How Spaceet is Solving Pressing Problems in The Nigerian Hospitality Industry Through Technology

By Aladeselu Margaret Ayomikun

Two decades ago, Nigerians had a great preference for the conventional option for hospitality and short stay — hotels. Many Nigerians were convinced that only hotels would be able to meet their relaxation, business or travel needs and it is this mindset that qualified hotels as major players in the hospitality industry. However, in the earliest days of 2012, short-let businesses started gaining buzz amongst Nigerians. The short-let business in Nigeria evolved slowly into a major trend in the hospitality industry as almost everybody had direct contact with short-let agents on digital platforms like Whatsapp. Short-let industry has evolved and taken many faces since its rise to popularity in 2012.

The short-let business has gone beyond a simple transaction between an agent and a random client with hospitality needs, it is now a booming business with major demand. In recent times, short-lets have been regarded as a smarter alternative to hotels and the business has gained more prominence as a result of the ridiculous pricing system of some of these hotels.

“Spaceet is on a mission to breach the gap between affordability and luxury by meeting the hospitality needs of Nigerians in the most affordable way possible. We operate a very reasonable pricing system, it would be difficult for any short-let in Nigeria to beat it. All our apartments are luxurious and aesthetically pleasing but we do not believe in classifying luxury as an exclusive asset that low-income earners cannot afford. You would be surprised at how incredibly cheap some of these beautiful apartments are”, says Obijole Ayowole, CEO of Spaceet.

Obijole believes that luxury might be expensive but it can still be reduced to its most affordable state. Spaceet might be a startup company but they have recorded quite a sustainable level of growth and technology has been a major contributor to this growth.

“We have so many brilliant designers and developers working everyday to make our services as accessible as possible. Accessibility is a big deal to us, we want every user to feel seen. For instance, we noticed that some of our users are not huge fans of bank or card transactions, so we are currently building an improved version of our website that is going to allow our users to pay in cryptocurrencies and several other currencies which is not a feature that is common to many short-let companies. We are also working on our application that is going to have advanced features that are going to make booking as seamless as possible”, Obijole said.

Spaceet also offers property owners free marketing and promotion on all their digital platforms and according to the CEO, this one of the things that set the company apart from other companies.

“Spaceet is more than just a short-let company, we want to do more than that. We want to help property owners to build wealth by connecting them to clients. We are making this opportunity as accessible as possible for now by offering it for free. Our company was founded on the grounds of integrity and service to the people and that is why we are not only helping property owners to generate regular income, we also prioritize cooperate social responsibility”, Obijole says.

Although Spaceet is currently operating within Nigeria, the company has intentions to extend its operations across Africa. In Obijole’s words, the goal is to “set a long lasting standard for the hospitality industry in Africa”.