Stakeholders Advocate Early Preparations for Detty December

Sustaining Detty December’s growth according to stakeholders depends on early planning, stronger supply chains, and deliberate investment long before due date, writes Charles Ajunwa

The recently organised Naija7Wonders conference put together by organisers of Akwaaba African Travel Market, brought together tourism stakeholders to assess how the end-of-year travel surge is reshaping domestic tourism, creating new economic opportunities, and positioning Nigeria as a festive-season destination on the global map.

Discussions at the forum centred on how lessons from past festive seasons can inform better coordination among suppliers, hospitality businesses, and tourism planners ahead of 2026. Participants agreed that Detty December has matured into a powerful tourism driver for Nigeria, drawing international attention and revenue.

Founder of Lion Hospitality Partner and Group CEO of Wakanow, Bayo Adedeji, revealed that Nigeria’s rapidly expanding Detty December tourism season has exposed critical gaps in supply chains and workforce readiness.

Adedeji disclosed that his network of venues — Wave Beach, Athena Beach, Kyma Beach, Unda Lounge, Lion Wonder Arena in Alausa, Egbeda and Ikorodu, as well as Doo & Shima Beach House — sold about 100,000 bottles of water in December alone, yet struggled to meet customer demand.

While much attention is often placed on the vibrant nightlife, packed beaches, and sold-out events that define Detty December, the hospitality entrepreneur highlighted the less visible operational pressures behind the scenes — particularly supply and staffing.

According to him, “Another thing is supply. We could not get our hands on good supply as we went down the road. Being able to think about supply from the month of October — not even November now — is critical. My biggest supply problem was water,” he said.

Adedeji said the scale of consumption during December overwhelmed suppliers. Despite moving roughly 100,000 bottles of water across his hospitality outlets, he said there were days customers had to be told there was no water available because suppliers could not keep up with demand.

“If you just think about it — 100,000 bottles of water — that means we could not get enough supply. There were days we were telling customers we had no water because the supplier just couldn’t keep up,” he explained.

Beyond supply constraints, staffing according to him presented another major challenge. He revealed that despite frequent complaints about unemployment in the country, hospitality operators struggled to find enough personnel to handle the seasonal rush, with some workers quitting abruptly at the peak of operations.

“We could not find enough people to work. People continue to complain there are no jobs, and yet we can’t find enough people to do the work,” he added.

Addressing concerns about price increases during the festive rush, he explained that operators are often forced into difficult decisions when demand rapidly outpaces available supply.

“As a businessman, I will be honest with you. If demand exceeds supply, we would have to raise prices. That is the reality,” he said. “You cannot judge a business only by what happens in December without understanding the losses we absorb during the rest of the year when facilities are half empty.”

To illustrate how intense the pressure became, he shared an example from his food operations across his hospitality network.

“My suya man used to do about 30 rams a week. In December, we were killing about 200 rams every week,” he revealed. “It got to a point where the suppliers came to check on us because of the volume. They thought maybe we were doing some kind of sacrifice. That was how intense the demand was.”

According to him, the situation forced operators to raise prices not just to increase margins but to slow down demand and prevent constant shortages. “We had to raise prices to draw back the demand or we would keep running out completely. The laws of demand and supply are real,” he said.

He noted that while December appears extremely profitable from the outside, the reality for many hospitality businesses becomes evident in January, when demand drops by nearly half and operators struggle to sustain wage bills.

He urged investors and policymakers to see the bigger picture and channel resources into expanding infrastructure and operational capacity before the next festive surge.

“Everybody listening should look for ways to invest so there is more supply. Without more supply, everyone will have to raise prices,” he said.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mardis Travels & Tours, Cordis Umeokoli, shared practical insights from her company’s experience hosting 30 students from Stanford University in America during the 2025 Detty December season.

According to her, the students were taken on a curated cultural and leisure tour that showcased Nigeria’s rich heritage and urban lifestyle. Destinations visited included Olumo Rock in Abeokuta, local arts and crafts markets and several beaches in Lagos. The group also experienced a train ride around Lagos, participated in traditional tie-and-dye activities and visited a local brewery that transforms into a lounge at night, offering a blend of culture, creativity and nightlife.

Cordis noted that the experience reinforced Detty December’s growing appeal to international visitors seeking authentic cultural immersion beyond concerts and nightlife.

However, she acknowledged that the tour also revealed key gaps in Nigeria’s tourism readiness. One major challenge, she said, was accommodation.

“Some of the hotels we used were not fully prepared because they were undergoing renovations,” she explained. “Such projects should be completed well ahead of December, given how critical that period has become for tourism.”

Another pressing issue highlighted was hotel pricing. Cordis disclosed that some hotels charged rates far above their usual prices without prior notice, creating budgeting challenges for tour operators and visitors alike. She called for the establishment of a regulatory or monitoring framework to check arbitrary price hikes during peak seasons, warning that unchecked pricing could undermine Nigeria’s competitiveness as a festive tourism destination.

Organiser of the tourism conference, Ikechi Uko, concurred with participants that while Detty December has unlocked enormous economic and cultural value, sustaining its success will require better planning, coordination and regulation across the tourism value chain.

As Nigeria positions Detty December as a global festive attraction, industry experts stressed the need for improved service standards, price transparency and infrastructure readiness to ensure that the phenomenon continues to deliver long-term benefits rather than short-term gains. With preparations already underway for Detty December 2026, stakeholders say lessons from recent seasons must now translate into actionable strategies that strengthen Nigeria’s place on the global tourism map.