Striking the necessary balance and synergy between tourism and transportation sectors is critical nexus for the development of Nigeria economic as both sectors warehouse sufficient elements that if properly harnessed would accelerate Nigerians’ quest for a better and thriving tourist destination.
This was disclosed by the President of La Campagne Tropical Beach Resort, located in Ikegun village, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, during the recently held second edition of the National Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo 2019 held at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.
Akinboboye, who is also the founder of Motherland Beckons, an outfit dedicated to the promotion of Africa through arts, tourism, culture, entertainment and fashion, among others and attracting the Diaspora back to motherland (Africa), was one of the special guests and awardees at the event, as he was named the “Most creative and resilient tourism personality for the year 2018.”
Organised by the Institute of Tourism Professionals (ITP) led by Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, the two-day event had as the theme: ‘Tourism and Transportation Inter-dependencies for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development.” With support from the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Information and Culture, the summit which was attended by various operators from both the public and private sectors held discussions on the various aspects of the two sectors and how to bridge the gap between them to develop the nation’s economy.
According to Akinboboye: “Tourism is the movement of people domestically and internationally from one point to the other. When you move within a particular country, it is called domestic tourism and when you travel outside the country, it is called international tourism. Now, you must use a certain medium when you are travelling.”
Given this, he said both are sesame twins that are critical to developing the nation’s economy and bringing about a thriving tourist destination. “Without people moving, there will be no need for transportation or petrol or diesel. Transportation relies solely on the movement of people from one point to the other which is what tourism represents. You cannot separate them,”he said.
He commended Odusanwo for the initiative, which according to him, demonstrated his forthrightness in moving the two sectors forward.
”So, I think the summit is a very smart idea by the deep thinking president of the Institute of Tourism Practitioners (ITP), Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, to begin to galvanise for people to understand the importance of the two sectors working together as a team.
“When people decide to travel, the first industry to benefit from that decision is transportation. So, combining them is critical to growth and development. They must all support themselves. They must come together to synergise and have very strong strategic partnership that will enhance both sectors.
Having recently completed a brand new home base, Istanbul Airport, Turkish Airlines will open five passenger lounges available for Business Class, Miles and Smiles Elite Plus and Elite, Star Alliance Gold and Corporate Club passengers.
There are currently three lounges open: the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge, Miles and Smiles Lounge and Domestic Lounge. The Exclusive Lounge and Arrival Lounge are planned to open later in 2019.
The Turkish Airlines Business Lounge has an approximate area of over 60,000 square feet, seats 765 guests and features 13 private suites with showers. Turkish Airlines designed a 130 square foot museum in there in collaboration with the arts and cultural institution in Istanbul.
The lounges would also provide comfortable couches, savor delicious and enjoy exclusive treats from Turkey along with international cuisine, with mobile masseur services. A console gaming experience, golf simulators and large children’s play area provide entertainment, while a technology centre with 3D glasses and virtual reality is planned. The two lounges also provide meeting rooms, a library and prayer room.
The domestic lounge will be is accessible through a special entrance gate located outside the terminal so passengers can complete check-in procedures and transfer directly to the aircraft via buses.
Nigeria’s Father of Tourism and former President, Association Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Chief Mike Amachree has called on government at all levels to support and pay greater attention to water transportation. Amachree was speaking when he was hosted by the members Association of Tourism Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (ATBOWATON) at Tarzan Jetty, Lagos.
He said: “A tourist has three means of movement: by air, road and water. I want to use this opportunity to encourage travellers to patronize aquatic tourism or water based travel, which is the most interesting aspect of tourism. For instance, more people travel to Hawaii because of Wakiki Beach in Honolulu as well as Miami in Florida because of beaches. Here in West Africa, Gambia, one of the smallest countries in the region, attracts more international tourists because of the Banjul beach.
“Activities that can be embarked upon in water tourism include: swimming, fishing, boat cruise, diving, water skiing, canoe ride, boat regatta and many others.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on government at all levels to pay greater attention to water tourism and transport. The operators in water based tourism sub sector need greater encouragement and the enabling environment to operate.”
Amachree also called on government to build fuel stations at the waterfront that would service operators of water transportation.
He said: “The issue of building filling stations to service boat operators in water based tourism has been on for many years. The government needs to act by providing these operators with fuel stations instead of carrying jerry cans in search of fuel.”
He commended the Lagos State government for its efforts to open up the waterways and urged the state to partner ATBOWATON to further improve the water transportation in the state.
He said: “The Lagos State government has done much in building modern jetties, but they should partner with boat operators to further open up the Lagos waterways for safe travel on water and greater usage of the lagoons and ocean.”
Amachree encouraged ATBOWATON as a body to reach out and involve other riverine areas of the federation. His words: “I want to advise the Tourist Boat Owners Association to reach out and encourage water based tourism all over the country, and to include riverine areas of Nigeria in the association. Places to be included are Lokoja, Kogi State; Okitipupa, Ondo State; Twon-Brass, Bayelsa State; Argungu waterfront, Kebbi State; Oguta Lake, Imo State; Sapele waterfront, Delta State; Kono waterfront, Ogoni, River State; Kainji Dam, Niger State; Port Harcourt tourist beach, Rivers State; Badagry waterfront in Lagos; Nike Lake, Enugu; Bagauda Lake, Kano; Kaduna River waterfront and many others.”
The President of ATBOWATON, Mr. Tarzan Gani Balogun, said it was in recognition of the tremendous contribution of Chief Mike Amachree that the boat operators decided to hold the special event in his honour.
Tarzan said Amachree had been the galvanizing force in the promotion and development of tourism in Nigeria and he had been of tremendous help to tourism industry practitioners all over the country for many years.
Dr. Meshileya called on the government to empower the boat operators to improve on their services on water. He called for loans to help them purchase boats and others.
Responding, Lagos State Managing Director of Lagos Ferry Services, Mr. Paul Kaleijaiye, in his response, promised to work with the operators on how to help them secure loans and generally improve on their services
Chief Amachree was later taken on boat cruise to Takwa Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and other parts of Lagos with Mr. Jemi Alade, leading the tour.
Ex-beauty queen, Mrs. Ebele Enemchukwu, is the chief executive officer of Wabio International Limited. She is an ex-beauty queen. The Mrs Tourism United Nations from 2015 to 2017 spoke with OKORIE UGURU about her life, career and foray into business. Excerpts:
It was in the news recently that you opened WABIO Place. What is Wabio all about?
Wabio is the acronym for Women Are Beautiful Inside and Out. This journey is about four years old. I contested and won the Mrs. Nigeria United Nations Pageant, the maiden edition, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. Having won that, I represented Nigeria at the international stage where I won the Mrs. Tourism United Nations world title. For a period of two years after that, it was all about tourism and charity.
My tenure ended in July 2017, and prior to that time in June of 2017, I launched my foundation called Wabio Foundation. It held at the Civic Centre under the distinguished chairmanship of Senator Florence Ita-Giwa. The Wabio Foundation is a vehicle through which the rest of the charity activities would continue to run. However, I haven’t stopped giving tourism the promotion and positive visibility it needs within and outside Nigeria. This means I’m still in the tourism circle, offering the bit I can in different capacities.
While I was queen, I was a corporate executive; a full eight-to-five job with Globacom Limited. I resigned nine months ago as a training specialist. Upon resignation, it gave birth to where we are now, which is the business side of things. This is where we make our daily living, going forward.
In other words, you have a foundation, a kind of an NGO…
Which has nothing to do with the business…
Okay.
So, most times, I like to separate them…
I think you should explained that.
The foundation is humanitarian; pure charity organisation. There is nothing business attached to that. So, when we have activities for instance under the Wabio Foundation, they will also have nothing to do with the business side. Sometimes you see people, maybe due to the fact that they’ve done a bit of search on Google, they would say Wabio Foundation is an extension of Wabio. No, they are two different things completely. What we are doing here at Wabio Place is the business side of things.
I am the chief executive officer of Wabio International Limited. Now, under Wabio International Limited, you have the training arm; I mean corporate training arm. I am a customer service trainer, and that is where I resigned from nine months ago. We also have the beauty and image consulting arm of Wabio International still. And then we have the beauty outfit or the make-up studio, which is called the Wabio Place.
Why do you thing women are beautiful inside and out and why not men?
Okay, maybe I should have said Mabio; men are beautiful inside and out (laughs). Seriously, the truth… I am not a feminist. But in every sense of the word, if I were just to answer that question, I’ll say why not? It is because women are truly beautiful inside and out.
What informed the name itself is in line with my desire to give. What do I mean? It is not what you do for yourself that would count at the end of the day but what you do for others; what you passed to others. So, Wabio is supposed to create that forum where women can truly believe that or try to de-emphasise the importance attached to the outward. We are beautiful from the inside. If you truly believe it, it would manifest on the outside. It is a reminder that beauty transcends the physical.
So, I can even say human beings are beautiful from the inside and out. I agree. But I am talking to the womenfolk. I am talking about women. I am talking about young girls, and I am saying that you are truly beautiful and nobody should tell you otherwise. You can be beautiful and be anything you wish to be irrespective of marriage and so on.
People come to me. If I share some stories, you will marvel; some of the things I hear. I am not just talking about young girls; even married women. I will tell you a quick story: a particular person, I will use the word friend for want of a better word now, told me that now, she is all into modeling and all that. She got married and was without children for almost five to six years, not because anything was wrong with her, but she was stopping conception. What was her fear? Her body would scatter! I was like, are you kidding me?
So, if you look beyond the story, it is an issue of internal security. So, you are worried that when you have children, you will lose it all? I am not saying that I am a saint or I epitomise everything perfect, but let me also be an example or a true story to tell women that everything you want to achieve, you can achieve it. And who says everything would fall out of place if you give birth? I mean if that is your issue, because issues are different. Some lay more emphasis on the physical. Some would say what if my husband…. I tell them ladies, don’t use my family to compare yours. What works for me may not work for you. That my husband allowed it does not mean your husband will allow it.
If for some reasons, which of course I don’t expect you to share with me, he is not open to you contesting in a pageant like Mrs. Tourism United Nations, I normally tell them: first clear with your husband. What makes you a Mrs is the Mr. Anybody can come in and say, oh women, we are independent. I normally say, my darling, so long as you have taken on the man’s name, the Mrs you are attaching to your name is because of the Mr.
Mrs. Enemchukwu
So, I’m not sure how my story or journey as MrsTourism or any Mrs for that matter would have been if not because I have the full support of my husband. Except you want to run as Miss or Ms, then nobody is talking about your partner. But if you are running as Mrs and the pageant clearly indicated Mrs, you are married, then settle it with your husband first. And if for some reasons, he is not okay by it, I will advise you, for the success of your journey, either you try hard to convince him, but in the event he says no, just pursue you other dreams.
You’ve painted the picture of the average Nigerian woman; the issue of security, physical attraction, her ability to hold on to her husband and also certain level of influence the husband has on the wife. How would you describe the average Nigerian wife in her day-to-day efforts to keep her home?
The average Nigerian woman, with every sense of seriousness I can muster, is strong. Again, I would like to say that it is beginning to look like the pressure from the social media is taking a huge toll not just on the young people, even the older ones.
I tell people that if you open a social media account, by social media, I mean Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other social platforms; if you open any and you are not a person of strong will, you are not sure where you are going or where you are coming from, you will be depressed first. In fact, you will run through several emotions. You will be depressed, you will feel inadequate, incompetent, and you feel like you’ve not done anything in life. This reveals a lack of a clear vision of where you are even going. This is because 99 per cent of the stories you see on social media are the beautiful parts. Nobody posts his or her failures. They don’t post the struggle, the pains and the truths. Sometimes you see lies. If you go by what you see online, you would almost at a point lose your sense of self-worth, epecially the younger ones. I usually tell them that their time will come. Now, your time would not come because you’ve said it, your time will come because you are backing that up with action, work. If it is education you need to get, go ahead and get it. If it is an additional qualification for something you need, go ahead and get it. So, for the average Nigerian woman, she is strong, she is confident. But all of that can also be trampled upon if she is not focused.
There has always been the argument that beauty pageantry is not a good idea, especially within the African contest. You contested not as a Miss but as a Mrs. What are the pros and cons of beauty pageantry?
Your statement is not entirely wrong. Yes, there is that stereotype associated with beauty pageantry and being morally loose. In fact most people would tell you that beauty queens and contestants are just fine, they have nothing upstairs. And most parents would not want their children to go into it because of these reasons. If I were to add to that, I would say those reasons are not completely unfounded, because if you check online, you will see certain uncomplimentary things about beauty queens.
Even my mum is of the same view. Growing up, I had tonnes and tonnes of opportunities to contest in pageant and modelling. I declined all of them. Why? Because she had registered that thing in me. I am the first girl in the family. I had three other female siblings, so, she had already registered that impression that any girl that goes into pageantry is loose. That was her mindset which, coming back now, I would say, was wrong. It was out of ignorance and at the same time out of love, trying to protect her female children. That is what it seemed like. And like I said, it was not totally unfounded, based on what we are hearing.
It was not until my NYSC that I contested for the first time. Before then, I had declined it all my life, saying, ‘Mummy said it is this and that’. During NYSC, I contested not because I planned to, but because my platoon members said you are the one that would do this thing for us.
Which state was that?
Lagos State.
What year?
2005; it was sponsored by the Nigerian Breweries PLC. I won it. It just happened. It was supposed to be, ‘Let me just do this’, and I did it and won. Now this was in 2005, and that was the end of it. I said okay, done!
You’ve removed that from your mind?
It totally went out of my mind. It was 10 years later, 2015. I got married 2008.
Married?
Yes, married. I had just arrived at the office. I heard the advert on one of the radio stations. I said, are these people joking? Did I hear Miss or Mrs? Miss was on the one hand. I actually heard Mrs. There was a website. I showed it to my husband and he gave the go ahead. For the Nigerian edition, I found myself at Transcorp Hilton. I won there. I thought that was it, but I was reminded that I was representing Nigeria at the world stage in Kingston Jamaica, and that was where my tourism journey started. I won Mrs Tourism United Nations world title.
You talk less about the physical beauty of a woman…
Not that it is not important.
I’m coming to that. Your outlook says differently. You look beautiful, trim, trendy and all the rest. So, how do you reconcile this with what you are saying?
Now, let me tell you what I am saying. I am not saying it is not important. I am number one on grooming. You have to be clean. Now, this is not just about the woman. Be a clean human being. De-emphasizing the outward appearance is not to say it is not important. The emphasis is: don’t look at yourself in the mirror and start lamenting: ‘I am fat, I’m a size 16!’ ‘Oh, I didn’t put my eye pencil well’. You start losing self-confidence or value self. So, the emphasis is to say that what is within you is more powerful than whatever you put on the outside. If you are beautiful on the inside, naturally it will manifest on the outside.
I mean what is Wabio Place about? At Wabio Place, we believe you are beautiful but we can enhance that beauty. At Wabio Place, we don’t do plastic surgery. I am not trying to change you to become another. I will simply enhance those features because you are already beautiful.
Plastic surgery, boobs enhancement has become almost part of the routine of modern day woman. You don’t see them as important?
I will tell you what I mean. When I say I don’t do plastic surgery, I’m talking about the make-up angle of things. Talking about plastic surgery, if I do it tomorrow, I know the internet never forgets, so I will be careful to say I can never do it. The same thing I would tell you about gay. I will never judge you. I can tell you I don’t believe in it, or my religion is against it. Whoever thinks that this is what would make me happy in this short life that we live, I won’t be that person to judge you negatively. I won’t be that person that would tell you, oh you better not go into it. But it will be nice for you to have all the information before you go into it, because there are risks attached and some of these have not been tested long enough to know if they have long-term side effects.
Some would say nothing would happen; I have done mine for five years. How about 10 years? How about 20 or 100 years? So, for me, I am not comfortable with it as Ebele Enemchukwu, former Mrs Tourism United Nations 2015 to 2017. I am not comfortable with it. But it is not to say that if I see somebody who says, ‘For my own beauty, what I need to give me the confidence I need to rock life is to enhance my boobs or flatten my stomach’, I won’t stop you. Whatever makes you genuinely and truly happy, go for it. Life is short.
You talk a lot about your parents, especially your mum. How did they influence your life?
To a large extent, it was my mum who…I’m a hybrid. I’m a mix of both parents. My mum retired as a permanent secretary in Enugu State. She was a disciplinarian. First, she was a Mathematics teacher, and all her children are terrible in Maths (laughs); what an irony! We were all disasters in Mathematics. She grew up to the rank of permanent secretary in the state ministry of education. So, most of the values, we got from her. My mum is a woman of high integrity. I am not saying my dad doesn’t have integrity, but my mum, if she tells you yes, it would really be yes. If anything is going to make it become a no, she will tell you why. She is also big on excellence. I had a great childhood. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, but it was not a wooden spoon.
What is your beauty routine?
When I get up in the morning, I pray, brush my teeth and get to the gym. Then I get to the shower. I cleanse, tone and moisturize. Then I go on with my make-up application. I like to look good. I am not too much on to many colours or heavy make-up.
Being a former Mrs Tourism United Nations means you are married…
I am a wife to a very loving husband; in fact, the most loving husband in the world. He has been my pillar, my support really. I keep saying I may not have gone this far. He is amazing. We have three adorable children.
In a bid to promote Nigerian tourism endowments and offer Nigerians opportunity to capture alluring pictures of sites in Nigeria, Romarox is organizing a tourism photo competition. The photo competition is the brainchild of former Miss Nigeria (1984/85), Hon. Rosemary Nkem Okeke.
She said the idea for the photo competition was predicated on how to add value to life by using tourism as a benchmark.
She said: “A lot has been said about the abundant natural resources Nigeria is blessed with, together with its vast land mass and exciting sights and features laced on it. It is thus safe to say that Nigeria is well endowed with everything it needs to be a leading light in Africa and globally in material and human resources.
“In order to achieve our desired status as a global player in the comity of first world nations, there is still much to be done pertaining to our tourism industry, its growth and sustainability. To say that Nigeria is a uniquely blessed and endowed country is to play a stale song because of her beautiful scenery, rich and diverse cultural heritage, not forgetting her ever lively and hospitable people. Nigeria indeed has the potential to generate most of its revenue from tourism, thereby reducing its over-dependence on oil.”
Okeke said part of the reason for the competition was to draw attention to local tourist sites to visits. The photo competition, which was first initiated in 2012, is making a comeback after being in the cooler for seven years. Okeke explained: “ With a view to encouraging domestic tourism and ensuring patronage of our local tourist sites by Nigerians, the Sub Urban Heritage Initiative (SUHI) launched the Romarox Tourism Photo Competition on April 26th, 2012 in Abuja and was subsequently endorsed by the then Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation.
“The competition seeks to ensure that members of the Nigerian public appreciate her own immediate environment. It has embodied in its goals the noble intention of spreading the message of peace, hope, love and the strength that is characteristic of the Nigerian people. It also prides itself on passing down values of our heritage of love to the underprivileged people amongst us through the skill empowerment projects of the Sub-Urban Heritage Initiative geared towards their socio-economic growth and development.
“It is a medium for Nigerians to explore potential of their immediate environment hence making it a prospect that has immense economic viability which entails, amongst many, job creation.
“Participants are free to participate by uploading on the website, original pictures of tourist attraction sites in their immediate environment in any and every category of the competition which are: Special scenery, natural wonders, legendary materials/iconic human, ecosystem festivals, history, monuments, developed tourist sites.
THE second edition of the annual National Tourism and Transport Summit and Expo, an annual summit to discuss the synergy between tourism and transportation for the country’s economic growth, was held last Monday and Tuesday (April 29 and 30).
The theme for this year, Tourism and Transportation Inter-dependencies for Inclusive Growth and sustainable Development, further offered participants the opportunity to discuss the two industries and how they would continue to work hand-in- hand for the benefit of the country.
The two-day summit was declared open by the Secretary to the Federal Government, Mr. Boss Mustapha, who was represented by the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hajia Aisha Abubakar.
He commended the organizers for the initiative and said it was the respect he had for the summit that he made him to send the Women Affairs Minister since he would be unavoidably absent.
The summit, which had the impressive turnout of the participants both locally and internationally, had paper presentations by highly knowledgeable resource persons.
Among the papers presented included: Effective multi-modal transportation system and infrastructure as panacea for tourism development by Dr. Anthonia Ekpa. She argued that in all the countries that had developed tourism industry, it was built on effective multi-modal transportation. Other papers included: Potentialities of developing regional interconnectivity by Mustapha Chaoune, President, African Union of Transport and Logistic Organisation (AUTLO), Morocco; Visa regime as barrier to regional cross border travel and trade in Africa by Mrs. Victoria Chioma Amaechi, Deputy Comptroller of Immigration; Building capacity for global best practice in tourism and transportation sectors by Mallam A.M. Sheriff; Development of critical infrastructure and the ease of doing business in Nigeria-the Case of tourism and transportation industries by Kayode Opeifa and papers.
Speaking on the summit, the Chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the summit, and President, Institute of Tourism Practitioners (ITP), Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, in his welcome speech, said: “The National Tourism and Transport Summit and Expo is aimed at bringing together all players in the tourism and transport industries so that issues hindering the growth of the two sectors can be tackled without sentiments, but with all the sense of sincerity of purpose and patriotic zeal for the economic and social good of the country. It is essentially meant to provide the platform to deliberate on the complex relationship between transport provision and tourism in boosting the nation’s economy.
“Furthermore, it is to offer a conducive avenue to experts and policy makers in conjunction with key players and operators in the industry to brainstorm on the interconnectedness between transportation and tourism, a connectivity brought by road, rail, maritime, and air transport services and chart the way forward for both sectors and extension, reposition them in the economic diversification drive of the President Mohammadu Buhari led administration.”
Odusanwo said further: “The opportunity to forge the desired synergy between tourism and other vital lined sectors, especially of transportation is now being offered by the Tourism and Transportation Summit and Expo for key players in both sectors to explore, tap and utilize for the benefits of all.
“Drawing from the document, the success of the 2018 edition of the summit which led to the evolution of a powerful document and material of vital reference point of both the tourism and transportation sectors in form of communiqué, the 2019 edition promises to be engaging and rewarding to all for the wholistic and combined approach to issues bothering on the growth and development of the tourism and transportation industries of the country.”
Speaking on the success of the this year’s transportation and tourism summit, the President of La Campagne Tropicana, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, said: “ Tourism is the movement of people domestically and internationally from one point to the other. When you move within a particular country, it is called domestic tourism and when you travel outside the country, it is called international tourism. Now, you must use a certain medium when you are travelling.
“Without people moving, there will be no need for transportation or petrol or diesel. Transportation relies solely on the movement of people from one point to the other which is what tourism represents. You cannot separate them. So, I think the summit is a very smart idea by the deep thinking president of the Institute of Tourism Practitioners (ITP)and Chairman of the LOC of the summit, Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, to begin to galvanise for people to understand the importance of the two sectors working together as a team.
“When people decide to travel, the first industry to benefit from that decision is transportation. So, combining them is critical for growth and development. They must all support themselves. They must come together to synergise and have very strong strategic partnership that will enhance both sectors.
“For a second edition, I believe strongly that it has grown tremendously. If this is the second edition, I can’t wait to see the tenth edition because they virtually brought together everybody. We have the young people, international audience; we also have people from the diplomatic community and, of course, the private sector.”
Also speaking on the occasion, a former director general of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs. Omotayo Omotoso, commended the summit’s initiative.
She said: “Tourism is a multi-faceted and multi-variant social and economic activity that cuts across several sectors of our everyday activities as a people, groups and organisations. These include such areas as the hospitality, security, entertainment, culture, festivals, to mention a few.”
Radisson Blu has, for a second year in a row, secured the leading position as the hotel brand with the most hotels under development and the most hotel deals in its pipeline in Africa, according to the recently published 2019 W Hospitality Pipeline Report.
Radisson Blu, part of the Radisson Hotel Group, took over as the fastest growing hotel brand in Africa last year and has for a second year claimed the title with the recent release of W Hospitality Pipeline Report 2019, the most authoritative source on the growth of the hotel industry in Africa.
The report has ranked Radisson Blu as the leading individual hotel brand with the highest number of hotel deals and within this pipeline, the largest number of rooms and proportion of its pipeline actually under construction in Africa. The group’s upper midscale brand, Park Inn by Radisson, has also entered the same top 10 brand list, securing the fifth position.
“We are thrilled to see our flagship brand, Radisson Blu, continuing to lead the way in Africa with the most hotel deals signed and the most hotel rooms under construction, than any of the other 120 hotel brands it was ranked against. This is a true testament of our agility as a hotel group, as we can move quickly from deal signing to hotel opening. As referenced in the report, we had several hotels which were signed and opened within the same year. This is aligned with our development strategy, as we expect our future growth to arise from existing hotel take-overs and new hotels. With economic headwinds in some African markets, we have identified further opportunities to exploit our vast knowledge and experience in converting unbranded, underperforming hotels, offices or apartment buildings and reposition them to the right brand and market segment within the Radisson Hotel Group brand portfolio,” said Andrew Mclachlan, Senior Vice President, Development, Sub-Saharan Africa, Radisson Hotel Group.
This growth has spiked Radisson Hotel Group’s portfolio in Africa to 99 hotels (20,500+ rooms) in operation and under development across 32 countries.
“We aim to add a further 12 hotels to our African portfolio this year, which will take us well over the 100 hotel mark by year end and confidently on our way to securing 130 hotels by the end of 2022. Our five-year development strategy focuses on creating scaled hotel growth in key cities and resort locations across Africa. With a focus on scaled growth in key locations across Africa, we can offer guests multiple hotels across different brands and market segments, at various price points and improved local hotel performance with strong local procurement and cluster select services in the same city.”
The Father of Nigerian Tourism, Chief Mike Amachree, has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu to, as a matter of urgency, create a tourism police department.
He said the creation of tourism police department would help safeguard lives and property of tourists.
Amachree was reacting to the recent incident at the Kajuru Castle, Kajuru, Kaduna State. He condemned the attack on harmless tourists in kajuru by bandits and said it must not be allowed to happen again. He said: “Tourism is big business and the current upsurge in packaging local tours which has direct positive impact on host communities, should not be allowed to die as a result of insecurity. What happened in Kajuru Castle is so sad.
We may lose both local and foreign tourists because of that unless we do something to stop this new development, and make sure it does not happen again. That is why I’m calling on the IGP, without any further delay, to create a department that would serve as tourism police as it is done in Egypt, Mexico and other countries. We must understand that tourism is a business of movement and travel. So, if people don’t move and don’t travel as result of insecurity that would led to the collapse of tourism business.
“The tourist police would be in charge of guarding places such as museums, hotels, event centres, tourist sites, tourist buses as the move from one destination to another, beaches, fast food joints and other places were local and international tourists visit.”
In the light of this development, Amachree also called for a meeting of all tourism industry practitioners and stakeholders to meet and map out strategies on how to stop the unfortunate incident that happened in Kajuru Castle from repeating.
It would be recalled that on Easter Friday, some bandits attacked a popular tourist site in Kaduna State, the Kajuru Castle. In the exchange of gunfire between the security men and the bandits, two tourists were hit by bullets and they died.
According to a report for the 2019 Arabian Travel Market (ATM) starting tomorrow, 63 per cent of Dubai Airport passengers were in transit in 2018. Only eighth per cent of Dubai airport’s transit passengers left the airport to explore the emirate during the period in review.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is preparing new transit visas to drive stopover tourism across the UAE as the emirates look ahead to 2020 and beyond.
Dubai is targeting 20 million annual visitors by 2020, plus an additional five million between October 2020 and April 2021 for Expo 2020 – 70 per cent of which will come from outside the UAE. To achieve this, a number of initiatives to increase stopover tourism have been introduced including new transit visas and dedicated tourism packages.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Last year, the UAE introduced a new transit visa allowing all transit passengers an exemption from entry fees for 48 hours with the option to extend up to 96 hours for AED 50. This visa is not only good for the country’s tourism sector but for the local economy as a whole, enticing passengers to view their transit not as an unwanted delay in their travels – but as a good opportunity to add value to their trip and experience everything the UAE has to offer.”
According to IATA, the Middle East is forecast to see an extra 290 million air passengers on routes to, from and within the region by 2037, with the total market size increasing to 501 million passengers during the same period.
Adding to this, figures from ATM 2018 show the number of delegates interested in buying airline products and services increased 13% between 2017 and 2018.
Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos this week made history by becoming the first hospitality outfit in the country to consciously and officially migrate its activities in such a way that would reduce the carbon foot print of the hotel and reduce the greenhouse effect of carbon emission to the environment.
The hotel officially launched its environmental friendly mode of operation through the Eco Friendly Arts competition that was held for children from primary and secondary schools within the hotel’s council area.
Prior to the arts competition, the hotel had, in a release, said the board and management made a corporate decision to officially embark on an eco-friendly way of life due its concern about its immediate environment and the global community.
It said: “Eko Hotels is determined to make considerable investment in ensuring a more eco-friendly culture is embedded into the daily operation of its business. To this extent, they accept they have a responsibility not just to their shareholders, but also to their host community, future generations and the larger society, so they are committed to ensuring that their environment is preserved and properly catered to, promoting a healthier, safer and more sustainable business space.”
Speaking on the new initiative and new way of doing business, the hotel’s chairman, Mr. Christopher Chagoury, said: “We are far more than just a global and local leader, we are the equivalent of a community that hosts over 500,000 clients each year, providing them with water, energy, food and a hospitable environment. With ‘eco’ right in our DNA, the board of directors decided it was time to expose our guests to a more caring and greener lifestyle.
“We want to share the opportunity to experience what a greener, more wonderful world could be. You are invited to ride with us on the green side as we join hands to contribute our quota in preserving planet earth.”
To achieve this, the hotel said it is leading the change towards an eco-friendly hotel and are championing the eco –friendly drive with keen interest. They have reduced energy consumption significantly, several water conservation practices have been adopted gradually, utensils and amenities are being replaced with biodegradable options and hundreds of children are being sensitized on the need to reduce our carbon footprint.
“Living green is to pro-actively participate in keeping our environment clean and sustainable for future generations. It is a serious issue; one that will inform the way we see things in every facet of life. Keying into this system of improving our environment is a lifetime and a lifestyle vow to be borne by all regardless of age, creed or social status.
“We at Eko Hotels and Suites firmly believe there is a growing need to drive interest in environmental conversation and bring to the fore its impact on tourism and destination travel, and the benefits that other global brands have thus far enjoyed,” it said.
The arts competition’s grand finale which was held on the premises of the hotel, 10 shortlisted students who scaled through the preliminary stage, compete for the coveted prize of a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of N500,000.
In his welcome address during for the competition, the Managing Director of the hotel, Mr. Ghassan Faddoul, harped on the need for people to engage in a more responsible, environmental way of doing business.
He said: “Travellers are increasingly using accommodation that supports eco-friendliness and sustainability. It is not only for the season, but also for posterity sake that Eko Hotels and Suites seeks a greener Nigeria, through a greener hospitality business. We see a great opportunity in this green thinking and seek to aggressively build capacity in all areas that would surely lead to the personal welfare of guests, their families, friends and the broader society.
“We, however, cannot achieve this project alone, as it is a long term and team oriented campaign. We must use this gathering to solicit support from the media, business partners and the state government in actualizing this.
“The foundation for today’s event began early in 2018 when our management and staff sought better ways to conduct ourselves businesswise and with less adverse impact to our immediate environment.
“After excessive researches, consultations and collaborations, we arrived at a blueprint which will not only see our business safe on cost but will significantly reduce our greenhouse foot print. Stimulated by these findings, the Eko Hotels eco-friendly project was initiated with two objectives: information and sensitization. In the form of information, I like to inform, that as at January 1, 2019, Eko Hotels and Suites, as far as we know, became the first hospitality outfit, to effect behavioural change, by organizing eco-friendly trainings for staff, offering practical tips and advices on green practices both at home and at work. “
The key event during the programme was the planting of trees within the premises of the hotel by the dignitary at the event.
After a few hours allowed by the judges for the finalists of the competition draw, their image of an eco-friendly future Eko Hotels and Suites, the judges were called upon to adjudicate and score the finalists. Among the judges were: Eko Hotels and Suites Managing Director,Mr. Ghassan Faddoul; the renowned artist, Prof. Olu Amoda; former Commissioner for Environment, Lagos, Prince Adesegun Oniru; Chairman, Eko Hotels and Suites, Mr. Christopher Chagoury; and proprietress, Arts 21, Mrs. Caline Chagoury Moudabe.
Among the students that made it to the final of the competition included: Mae N., Akindele Abdulkazim, Njoku Amarachi, Blessing Nwaede, Agubata Kosanna, Olugbengba Ayeoluwa, Adegoke Ademola and Fadekemi Onikosi.
At the end of the competition, Adegoke Ademola came first, closely followed by Akindele Abdulkarim, while Olugbenga Ayooluwa came third.
