PATTERSON DOVE - Key Persons
Jonathan Patterson, a Briton, spent his formative years in Singapore and Malaysia, where extensive travelling introduced him at an early age to the hospitality industry. Obtaining his formal hotel qualifications in the United Kingdom, Jon joined Trust House Forte - then the largest hotel group in the world - where he spent time at numerous properties, including the exclusive Black Swan, Helmsley.
His career took him to large and small organizations, international 5 star hotels as well as luxury country house establishments. He obtained his first General Manager position at the age of 27, and for over 3 decades has held senior management roles in numerous locations throughout the UK, as well as internationally, namely Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific, and St Lucia in the Caribbean.
In January 2009 Jon joined Zimbabwe hotel group, African Sun Hotels, as General Manager, based in Nigeria, where he opened 2 international hotels. He was then head-hunted in 2011 to join Lonrho Hotels, where he successfully managed the pre-opening and opening of the 5-star 153 bedroom Lansmore Masa Square, Gaborone, Botswana, as well as product development for Lonrho's planned portfolio in Nigeria.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality
Olatunde was the Managing Director of Hospitality Management Services Limited (HMS), a company co-formed with two other hospitality management experts in 2003 until he joined Suru Group Limited - a hospitality and Real Estate Company in 2009 as an Executive Director. As the Executive Director, Hotels & Hospitality of Suru Group Limited and also the Managing Director, Suru Suites & Hotels Limited, Olatunde managed the take-over, re-construction and refurbishment of the former New World hotel on Allen Avenue, Ikeja (now owned by Suru Group) into a 4-star 112-bedroom hotel franchised as ‘Best Western Plus Lagos Ikeja Hotel'.
Olatunde, a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, UK, (FIH) headquartered in Surrey, was elected as the first Nigeria Branch Chairman of the institute to run the affairs of this Nigerian International branch in December 2010. After his Chairmanship tenure expired in March 2013, due to his exemplary performance and the tremendous strides taken during his tenure for the Institute, he was drafted back to continue as the Nigeria Branch Chairman of the UK Institute of Hospitality until early 2015. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Tourism Practitioner of Nigeria (FITP). In January 2019, Olatunde was nominated and appointed as the 1 st National President of the newly inaugurated "Association of Tourism & Hospitality Consultants of Nigeria - ATHCON". This association brings together all Hotel Management Consultants in Nigeria under a single umbrella.