By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Detty December season usually comes with an increase in activities across major cities in Nigeria, especially with the influx of fun and holiday seekers.
It is often characterised by busy airports, fully booked events, ranging from concerts to parties, and busy city centres filled with returning diasporans and fun lovers.
The season offers a huge profit-making opportunity for business owners, especially in the hospitality and tourism sector in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, and other bustling cities.
As the season gradually sets in, Impact Nigeria Newspaper highlights 10 businesses that consistently attract heavy patronage during the season, which business-minded people can explore.
Quick cash business
The Yuletide season often means people need quick fixes to cash shortages, a gap that quick cash points like Point of Sale (PoS) merchants can easily fill. From marketplaces, parties, transportation, and others, a PoS operator can make a quick profit from charging a fee for cash withdrawals, deposits, or transfers during the Yuletide season.
Restaurants and food vendors
Another major need that people can make a profit from while solving during the Detty December period is that of food. Apart from fully-booked high-end restaurants, street-food vendors, online food vendors, and neighbourhood food or other edibles spots also benefit from the season as most events run late into the night, necessitating patronage.
Hotels
As people move from one location to the other for fun, parties, or other events during the Yuletide season, hotel accommodation becomes indispensable. Hotels not only serve as layover spots, but they have also become an integral part of vacations, offering a blend of hospitality and tourism. Some people also prefer to host their events within hotel premises for accessibility, security, comfort, and other premium perks. Many hotels in high-end areas in Lagos, like Victoria Island, Lekki, and Ikeja, and Abuja, Port Harcourt, and others stay almost packed, as many visitors make reservations weeks ahead, and the premium rooms go first.
Short-let apartments
Similar to hotels are short-let apartments, which have been on the rise in recent years because of the homey feel, convenience, space, and privacy they offer. With increased patronage and popularity, especially among Nigerians in the diaspora, who return home for the Christmas and New Year festive season, popularly called I Just Got Back (IJGB), booking prices of short-let apartments have surged to as much as N700,000 per night. Short-let apartment rental is one business that experiences huge patronage during the Yuletide season.
Car rentals
With events and celebrations come movement and transportation. As people want to move around with ease and style, car rentals become the go-to for most people who do not own cars or those who desire comfort and style. With the surge in events and demands, the rates of car rentals sometimes double their normal price for cars like SUVs and high-end sedans, offering money-making opportunities for car rental businesses during the Yuletide season.
Event centres and concert venues
There is never a better time to own an event centre or concert venue than during the Yuletide season, as there is always one event after another, from weddings, child dedications, housewarming parties, end-of-year parties, and concerts that define the season. Event organisers often have to make reservations for event halls, open fields, and arenas long before December starts, making it one of the businesses with huge patronage during the Yuletide season.
Nightclubs and lounges
Since the Yuletide season is often a time to unwind and have fun, nightclubs and lounges witness a surge in patronage during the period. They offer the perfect avenue for night crawlers, scheduling back-to-back events. Nightclubs have sold-out table reservations during the season, and with it come huge profits. Apart from nightclub and lounge owners, waiters, waitresses, small chops makers, and cocktail experts also benefit from the surge in patronage.
Beauty, grooming, and fashion industries
Who wouldn’t want to look their best during the Yuletide season? This is where the beauty, fashion, and grooming industries come in. As most people seek to change or look their best during the season, these industries witness increased patronage during the Yuletide season. The result? Salons stay open for much longer, makeup artists get fully booked, tailors are in high demand and rush to finish outfits, stylists smile to the bank, and photographers get back-to-back bookings for photo shoots.
Beaches and resorts
Other places that people often visit for fun and recreational activities during the Yuletide season are beaches and resorts. Businesses in these lines experience increased patronage as families book private beach houses, friends plan day trips and picnics, and colleagues plan get-togethers. And because people in major cities want a break from the traffic and hassles of city life and to take in the beauty of nature, beaches and resorts see a steady rush during the Yuletide period.
Cinemas and movie premieres
It is not out of place to see fully packed cinemas during the Yuletide season. It has been observed in recent years in Nigeria that Nollywood premieres many big titles in December. To make the most of the season, families, friends, lovers, and others include a trip to the cinema in their list of fun events during the season. This translates to cinemas recording their highest foot traffic and revenue during this period with movie premieres, red carpets, and holiday movies.
