Hotels, shortlets & travel · Nigeria

SMS for hotels, shortlets, travel agents and venues in Nigeria

Guests arriving at Lagos or Abuja airport want to know who is picking them up and how to get into the apartment, often before their data roaming works. eSMS Africa sends booking confirmations, check-in instructions, driver details and payment receipts to Nigerian and international numbers, and lets you send seasonal offers that respect DND category 7.

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MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Delivery reports From NGN 9.1 per SMS

LekkiStayTransactional

LekkiStay: Booking {ref} confirmed, 2 bed apt, 20-27 Dec. NGN {amount} received by transfer. Check-in from 2pm.

115 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Nigeria context

What makes hotels, shortlets & travel messaging different in Nigeria

Shortlet apartments in Lekki, Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Abuja's Maitama and Wuse districts host business travellers and visiting family. Self check-in with a door code or caretaker contact is common, and the arrival SMS is often the first thing a guest reads.
December is the busiest period for visits home from the diaspora, with weddings, concerts and family events. Hotels and shortlets fill early and guests expect fast confirmation of bookings paid by transfer.
Airport transfers from Murtala Muhammed International in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International in Abuja depend on the guest finding the right driver. A message with the driver's name, car and plate number avoids confusion at arrivals.
Offers for hotels, resorts and tours are promotions in NCC DND category 7 (tourism and leisure). Booking, check-in and pickup messages are transactional.

What to send

Messages hotels, shortlets & travel teams in Nigeria send

Booking and payment confirmation

Confirm dates, room or apartment type and the amount received by transfer or card, with a booking reference the guest can quote at reception or to the caretaker.

Check-in instructions

On the day of arrival send the address, check-in time and caretaker or door-code details. For self check-in, send the code only a few hours before arrival.

Airport pickup details

Send the driver's name, phone number, car and plate, and where to meet at arrivals. Update the guest if a flight delay changes the pickup time.

Event and conference logistics

Remind attendees of the venue, start time and parking for weddings, conferences and concerts, and send accreditation codes for gated venues and estates where security checks every guest.

Checkout and feedback

Thank guests at checkout with a short feedback link. One question about their stay works better than a long survey, and replies show which caretaker or front desk needs attention.

Sample messages

Copy-ready templates for Nigeria

Character counts and segments are calculated with the same GSM-7 and Unicode rules used for billing. Replace the example brand and values with your own.

Booking confirmed Transactional

LekkiStay: Booking {ref} confirmed, 2 bed apt, 20-27 Dec. NGN {amount} received by transfer. Check-in from 2pm.

115 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Airport pickup Transactional

LekkiStay: Your driver Tunde will meet you at MMIA arrivals, Door 2, with a LekkiStay sign. Toyota Corolla, plate {plate}. Call {phone}.

140 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Self check-in Transactional

LekkiStay: Welcome! Apt 4B, {address}. Door code 5821, valid from 2pm today. Caretaker Bisi: {phone}.

105 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Easter offer Promotional

LekkiStay: Easter weekend stays, book 3 nights and get airport pickup free. Book: {link}. Opt out: SMS STOP to {shortcode}

126 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Rules that apply

Compliance for hotels, shortlets & travel SMS in Nigeria

A practical summary with sources, not legal advice. Check the regulator's current text for edge cases.

Promotions for hotels, shortlets and tours fall under NCC DND category 7 (tourism and leisure) and will not reach subscribers who blocked it.
Booking, check-in and pickup messages are transactional. Sending door codes by SMS is convenient, but rotate codes after each stay so an old message cannot open the door.
Guest names, travel dates and passport details are personal data under the NDPA 2023. Keep passport and ID numbers out of SMS.
Hotels and tour operators are registered with their state tourism board or the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority; check which applies to you before advertising star ratings or licensed tours.

Across Nigeria

Telecom regulator: Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
Data protection: Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC)
Languages: English, Nigerian Pidgin, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo
Payments: Bank transfer, USSD banking, MoMo PSB, OPay, Moniepoint, PalmPay

The NCC Do-Not-Disturb service lets subscribers text STOP to 2442 to block all promotional messages, or choose partial DND by category (banking, real estate, education, health, consumer goods, tourism, sports, religion and more).
Promotional SMS does not reach numbers on DND. OTPs, alerts and other transactional messages are sent on a separate transactional (corporate) route that operators restrict to non-promotional content.
The Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 gives people the right to object to direct marketing at any time, and processing for marketing must stop once they object.
Sender IDs are approved per network (MTN, Airtel, Glo, T2) and operators apply sending windows to promotional traffic.

Sender ID registration in Nigeria

Send it

From your system to MTN and Airtel in one call

1Create an account and copy a test key (esms_test_...) to try the integration without spending credit.
2Request your sender ID for Nigeria. Until it is approved you can send from the eSMS default sender.
3Call the send endpoint from your app, or upload a CSV in the dashboard with merge fields like {{name}}. Delivery reports arrive by webhook.

Need one-time codes? eSMS Verify generates, sends and checks them in two calls. Full reference in the API docs.

curl -X POST https://sms.esmsafrica.io/api/messages/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ESMS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+2348031234567",
    "text": "LekkiStay: Hi {name}, your check-in is today from 2pm at {address}. Caretaker: {phone}. Booking {ref}.",
    "sender_id": "LekkiStay"
  }'

Live pricing

SMS pricing in Nigeria

Per-SMS rates for one segment, updated live. Pay as you go with no monthly minimum; volume rates apply automatically by monthly spend.

Basic

NGN9.1

per SMS· USD 0.0068

Monthly spend USD 1 - USD 1,000

Business

NGN7.5

per SMS· USD 0.0056

Monthly spend USD 1,001 - USD 4,999

Enterprise

NGN6.1

per SMS· USD 0.0046

Monthly spend USD 5,000+

Estimate a campaign with the SMS cost calculator or compare all countries in the Africa SMS pricing index.

FAQ

Hotels, shortlets & travel SMS in Nigeria: common questions

Can we send SMS to guests with foreign numbers?

Yes. The same API sends to Nigerian and international numbers, priced per destination on the pricing page. Many diaspora guests keep a foreign SIM roaming, so send critical details such as the driver and address to both their foreign and Nigerian numbers if you have both.

Is it safe to send a door code by SMS?

It is common and practical, but treat the code as temporary. Send it close to arrival, set it to expire at checkout and change it between guests. Avoid sending the code and the full address in the same message if the property has valuables.

Do booking confirmations reach guests on DND?

Yes. A confirmation for a booking the guest made is transactional, so DND does not block it. Keep promotional lines, such as a discount on the next stay, out of the confirmation, and send any offers separately to guests who agreed to receive them.