The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tourism

  • Annang Festival of Arts and Culture 2019 holds on December 20

    By Okorie Uguru

    The Annang Festival of Arts and Culture (AFAC), in partnership with other Annang Organisations, Nto Annang Foundation (NAF) is set to host this year’s edition of the festival, AFAC 2019.

    The aim of the festival is to preserve Annang history, language and culture, to promote Annang cultural heritage, market the  arts and crafts including advancing the appreciation and understanding the artistic production.

    The festival will hold between December 20 and 22 at Ikot Ekpene Township Stadium and Ikot Ekpene Plaza in Akwa Ibom State. According to the organisers, activities have been lined up to mark the cultural tourism festival. The theme for this year’s festival is: “Harnessing Annang Cultural Assets for Economic Gains.”

    The festival, which enjoys the endorsement of the National Council for Art and Culture (NCAC), Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, promises to be one of the biggest show stoppers and largest fiesta in 2019.  Now in its third edition, the National President of the NAF, Abom Ephraim Okon, said arrangements have reached advanced stage for the hosting of the event. According to him, it promises to be a colourful and exciting showpiece of the cultural wealth of the Annang people, with exhibitions spanning both the intangible and tangible heritage of the people and spiced by culinary display, arts and craft as well as live performances by notable Nigerian musical Icons.

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    ”The event shall model strategy for effective travel trade business, cultural synergy and enduring unity through culture and tourism as a special purpose vehicle. This model we intend to replicate for global peace efforts and to mark our cultural product at the international stage,” said Okon. He stressed that the festival, which debuted in 2016, has helped greatly in developing the tourism market of the state, as it has gone in a long way in generating tourist traffic to the state and Ikot Ekpene.

    According to him, the rich and enlarged content of the festival this year include: Colourful cultural display from over 5, 000 cultural revelers; 800 spectacular masquerades display; Annang warriors trek, drum ensemble of over 5, 000 extinct African drums; art exhibition and colloquium/cocktail party for VIP and foreign envoys.

    Also speaking on the festival, the Executive Director of Akwa Tourism Development Company Ltd (ATDC), Mr. Ubong Ekpe, whose company is consulting for the festival, said it is informed by the need to promote Annang and re-enact its unique cultural heritage, stressing that it is aimed at exposing the Nigerian people to the city of raffia and its colourful and attractive heritage.

  • 30 countries take part in INAC 2019

    By Okorie Uguru

    For six days, the Abuja Exhibition and expo centre, beside the International Conference Centre ,was a point of focus in the arts and craft as the International Arts and Culture expo organized by the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC) exposed Nigeria’s arts and craft to the world. Contacts were made and art and craft  works sold to local and international buyers.

    For the  second year running, INAC has succeeded in proving a platform for the exhibition of art  and craft works from different countries of the world.

    The success of last year’s edition seemed to have encouraged  more countries to participate in this year’s edition.

    About 30 countries including  China, Bulgaria, Mexico, Venezuela, Cameroon, Chad, Trinidad and Tobago, India, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Iran and many others participated.

    Eighteen  states also participated in this year’s edition.

    Besides, more than 1000 women were trained in handcraft free of charge during this year’s expo.

    Each of the participants received a  certificate at the end of the training.

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    The Director General of NCAC, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe ,said  the training was part of the effort of the organization  to empower women and help in giving training that would help them to be meaningfully employed. In addition to the skill acquisition training, many visitors got free medical checkup while  about 250 persons were given free medicated glasses.

    On INAC, Runsewe said it has become very important for the country to showcase its diverse culture through its arts and craft and this could yield tremendous income to the country.

    “ As the most culturally diverse country in Africa, Nigeria has the potential of becoming the foremost cultural destination in Africa,” he said.

    “Our rich and fascinating cultural heritage is expressed in our music, dance, drama, fashion, food and so on.

    “I am particularly proud that the 2019 edition of INAC expo has copiously expressed some of these elements of our culture. The level of participation at this year’s expo, especially by our foreign partners, is highly encouraging. It is heartwarming to note that 30 countries participated in this year’s edition of the4 expo. This shows the level of understanding between us and foreign partners and the high premium the international community places INAC…

    “We shall continue to expand the scope of this expo in order to make it richer and to serve participants and the Nigerian people better. The skill acquisition programme recently introduced to the expo intended to equip Nigerian youths, women and other vulnerable members of the society with relevant skills in arts and crafts that could make them self-employed but also employers of labour.”

    In his address at the closing ceremony, the Senate Committee Chairman on Tourism and Culture, Owelle Rochas Okorocha said no nation can grow without or above its  culture, hence  the reason every nation protects its culture.

    He pledged that his  committee would “work to protect our culture.”

    He added:” The greatest gift of God to us as a nation is our tradition and culture. So, when you hear people say the giant of Africa, and some people say, the sleeping giant of Africa, they are simply talking about our culture and tradition. Nigeria has one o of the best cultures, one of the best traditions.”

    At the end of the expo certificates of participation were given to the countries and took part and different categories of prizes were awarded to countries and states.

  • INAC 2019: Biggest art and Craft Expo commences in Abuja

    By Okorie UGURU

    The much awaited International Art and Crafts Expo(INAC) holding at the FCT Exhibition Pavilion will light up Abuja on November 20th and will last till 24th.

    The Director-General, National ouncil for Arts and Culture, Otunba Segun Runsewe assures on a special outing with the provision of free BMI, free eye testing/glasses, free dental services, free skill acquisition and Waste to Wealth initiative.

    According to the NCAC chief who is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring a successful outing, this year’s INAC has been carefully packaged to empower Nigerians by providing free skills for small and medium startups.

    Read Also INAC expo toast of exhibitors

     

    Runsewe encourages Nigerians and indeed foreign nationals to take full advantage of the components of INAC.

    He confirmed that renowned event management outfit, Innate Arts and Media(I Am) will take control of logistics just as he revealed that fast rising Urban Afro musician, Yega has also been booked to perform at the closing on the 24th of November.

    Out of 30 countries from around the world that are billed to exhibit during the event, 4 have expressed commitment to take special days to thrill Guests and participants.

    China will take centre stage on the 21th to showcase its oriental endowments as a unique cultural destination of sorts.

    On the 22nd, India will be on hand to entertain guests with breathtaking music and dance routines, in a fantastic showing reminiscent of Bollywood.

    Venezuela and Bangladesh will combine on the 23rd for a double dose of excitement in what has become a much anticipated aspect of INAC since Runsewe expanded the Expo to a fanfare of global repute in 2017.

  • Carnival dry run gives foretaste of excitement

    By Okorie UGURU

    Calabar, Nigerian number one leisure destination, is gradually getting in the mood for the season. The yuletide  is around the corner.  In Calabar, everybody is preparing for the season.  The city has made it a duty to put up a show for everybody. This it has been doing in the last 15 years. It has become a culture to host  people from all parts of the country, and inbound tourists at the end of every year.

    Although residents of Lagos would say ‘ain’t no party like the Lagos party,’  everybody has accepted that ‘Calabar rocks’ thanks to Carnival Calabar. The carnival is a street show which everybody loves and looks forward to. Those who cannot watch it live, follow the fiesta through the television. The viewership through cable television and via the social media runs into millions.

    To put up this carnival, like the organisers say, takes a year’s planning.


    Some members of one of the bands during the dry run

    The final stage of this planning is the carnival dry run, a kind of rehearsal used to test every aspect of the show to make it prime for the D-day, December 27.

    There are three dry runs that ushers in the main event. Two are held in the month of November and the final dry run is in the month of December, about two weeks before the main show.

    Last Sunday, the second dry run was held. Almost all the participating groups in Carnival Calabar were part of it excluding international groups.

    On hand to flag off the second dry run was the deputy governor of the state, Professor Evarah Esu, who represented Governor Ben Ayade. Former first lady of the state, Pastor Onari Duke, the speaker of the state house of assembly Mr. Eteng Jonah-William were part of the dry run.

    Just like the revelers would do, at the main carnival, the dry run involved dancing on the 12 kilometer stretch.

    Professor Esu who did led the carnival train enthusiastically showed off some trending dance moves that would leave some youths envious.

    Read Also: ‘Carnival Calabar will foster ethnic, religious tolerance’

     

    The theme for this year’s carnival is ‘Humanity.’ Speaking on the theme in an earlier message, Professor Esu said: “”This year’s theme is humanity; I hope that the band leaders are doing their best to give full interpretation to the theme.

    “For us, the theme is about humanity and kindness to people. We should be tolerant of one other and also treat every human being as a human being irrespective of any affiliation.

    “If you decide to treat people badly, you too will be treated badly; so, what we are emphasising on is the need for everyone to be treated equally.

    “As we come out for every celebration of the Carnival, we will continue to play our path in ensuring that the Carnival continues to grow bigger, better and bolder.”

    Earlier, Mr Gabe Onah, Chairman of Calabar Carnival Commission, said that the theme was also designed to reach out and touch the people towards kindness and unity.

    Onah said that the Bikers’ Carnival was also flagged off earlier with a view to excite tourists along the 12 kilometres Carnival route.

    Onah said that Carnival Calabar has become a platform to taste how cultural events are planned in Nigeria.

    “Calabar Carnival has become the best platform for cultural diplomacy. The first dry run witnessed the attendance of Bangladesh and Belize diplomats, offering partnership in power production and distribution and support for our cocoa processing.

    “For the next dry run, we are expecting Vietnam to come and partner with the state rice seedlings to see how they can bring farmers to promote the next level for our farming.

    “The dancing and display we see in the streets is a means to an end. The job behind Calabar Carnival is huge and that is why we are saying that we must begin to change as we move,” he said.

    Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr Eteng Jonah-Williams, said that the assembly will make adequate budgetary provision for the Carnival Commission to enable them organised a colourful event.

    Jonah-Williams said that the assembly was suggesting on having “The Cross River House of Assembly Band” to add colour to the event.

    The participants were colourfully dressed in their various bands costumes, while security was mounted along the routes to ensure a hitch free event.

     

  • Lufthansa unveils new frequent flyer programme

    Okorie Uguru

     

    THE Lufthansa Group is simplifying its status programme and offering its customers an even easier and more transparent collection system for achieving and maintaining Frequent Traveller, Senator and HON Circle levels. Loyalty towards Lufthansa Group airlines will be rewarded to a greater extent than ever before.

    “We want to value the loyalty of our frequent flyers even more,” says Markus Binkert, CCO Hub Munich and Senior Vice President Marketing. “In the future, we will be offer-ing the most attractive and simplest frequent flyer programme ever. Our loyalty program also reflects our new, modern understanding of premium travel.”

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    According to the airline: “Today’s diversity of variously defined so-called miles will be significantly reduced. In addition to the award miles for their flight, guests will receive points instead of the current status and HON Circle miles. The amount of points that can be earned on a flight will only depend on two criteria: the travel class and whether the flight is continental or intercontinental.

    “As before, points can be earned on all Star Alliance airlines, including status miles. In order to reach the frequent flyer level as a Frequent Traveller or Senator, a share of flights with Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS or the Miles and more partner air-lines Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Adria Airways, Air Dolomiti, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines or Luxair will be required in future. This means that half of the required points must be flown with these airlines.

  • Trends, innovations on display at London WTM 2019

    Okorie Uguru

     

    THE DLR London train from Canning Town to Custom House, ExCel, London, was brimming with people during the first week of this month. It was a kind of Noah’s Ark.  Cramming into every space and corner inside the train were people from every part of the world. It has become a kind of annual routine to gather in the first week of every November for the World Travel Market (WTM). This has been on in   the last 39 years. 2019 was the 40th edition of the tourism expo.

    This year’s fair attracted a huge participation by countries and top chief executives of airlines and  companies in the travel trade. Ethiopian Airlines’ chief executive, Mr. Tewolde  Gebremariam was visible at the Ethiopian stand.

    Other  participants were busy  networking.

    There was also a great deal to discuss about  innovations in the travel trade and future prospects. This year offered experts an opportunity to unveil new trends and innovations in the fast pace world travel industry.

    Africa was well represented with Egypt sponsoring the fair’s registration. At the Africa pavilion, except for  Egypt, Seychelles, Zimbabbwe, Rwanda, Morocco, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tunisia, South Africa and few others, the presence of Africa countries was mostly muted.

    West Africa had representation from Ghana, Gambia and Sierra Leone. Nigeria was conspicuously absent to the disappointment of many industry visitors from Nigeria. It has not participated  in the last four to five years despite the importance of the fair in the world travel business calendar. The WTM is always an opportunity to showcase a country’s seriousness and efforts to engage in tourism business.

    Ghana, currently celebrating  2019 as the Year of Return,  was visible  at the fair with  Ghana’s Tourism Minister, Mrs. Barbara Oteng Gyasi receiving and selling  the country to visitors.

    “I think this year has been the best so far,” she said.

    “We have received a lot of positive feedbacks. This is important for us because you know that Ghana has declared this year the Year of Return. This has generated a lot of interest about Ghana. So, a lot of people have come to the stand and they have expressed what they have found at the stand as amazing. We are displaying our traditional cuisines as well as our wears, that is Kente. It has been a good experience for Ghana.”

    On the country’s future participation, she said: “We are going to participate in a bigger way. We will have a bigger stand and build even more. This year has been good but next year will be even better. We want to sell Ghana to the world. We have a lot to offer and I think that through platforms such as this, we can drive the tourism traffic into our country. We can also get investment into our country.  We have a lot of tourism potentials that we need investors to develop. So, it is through platforms such as this that we get across to investors.”

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    Asked whether they had been able to meet with their source market, she said: “Ghana Tourism Authority here has had several engagements with tour companies. They want to collaborate with Ghana to bring in tourists in December. We have a lot of activities lined up for December but we are getting feed backs that all the flights are booked. So, they cannot get flights to come. We have to arrange other flights so that they could come. We will be having a lot of musical shows and so on.”

    Sierra Leone ,in the past, had always been missing at  most tourism fora. But in this year’s WTM, the country was very active. Fatimata Osaghae, the General Manager of Sierra Leone Tourism Board spoke on why the country is now coming out: “Our expectations are to make people visit Sierra Leone and also see that the country has what it takes for tourism to thrive. We are a beautiful country and we have tourism potentials. We have them there.”

    Asked why the country was not active in tourism in the past, she said: “You see, a couple of years back, we had our challenges. Everybody knows that we had challenges. You can’t be going through a challenge and you are promoting tourism. People would not even come.

    “Now that is behind us and we have surmounted our challenges.We  now want to be part of the global tourism as a destination. Tourism, as you know, is a means of economic diversification. So, we want to be part of that. It has been identified by the Sierra Leonean government as one of the key economic sectors.  Tourism is going to be used to change the economic dynamics of Sierra Leone. That is why we are here and that is why we have come forcefully to promote Sierra Leonean tourism to know that we are ready for business.”

    Although more than 150 countries were in attendance with about 50,000 individual visitors, Nigeria had neither a table nor a stand to showcase the rich tourism assets of the country. Many industry practitioners from Nigeria including the President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Alhaji Saleh Rabo, were at the WTM and could only pitch at the stands of other African countries.

    Many just hoped that with the huge tourism assets that Nigeria possesses, the country would use fora such as the WTM to  sell the country and attract tourist visitors.

  • Firm unveils new visa policy for tourism

    To promote tourism, VFS TasHeel, an authorised visa service provider for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia, has launched tourist visa services at its centres across 30 countries worldwide.

    The visa will allow applicants to travel for Umrah, but not during the Hajj season.

    According to the new tourist visa policy, nationals of UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Algeria, Bahrain, Cameroon, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Maldives, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan can apply.

    The visa process is also open to applicants from all nationalities, except the 49 that are eligible for a visa on arrival or e-visa.

    Acting as a trusted service provider between visa applicants and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, VFS TasHeel’s visa services centres, which are present in Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe, provides full array of visa services including, dissemination of accurate visa information, application guidance, fee management, identity management with biometrics enrollment and application submission for all available visa categories.

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    The biometric enrollment includes highly secure collection of fingerprints, facial image and biographic details, such as passport information.

    It will be recalled that VFS TasHeel started serving customers on 27 September, 2019, under the new tourist Visa in most of its countries of operations.

    A spokesperson of VFS TasHeel said, “The increasing openness of international markets brings immense opportunities to the tourism sector – and Saudi Arabia’s new policies acknowledge that tourism has an important role to play the kingdom’s social and economic development. In support of the government’s initiatives, we are pleased to offer tourist visa services in 30 countries, and make the entire process more seamless and convenient for potential leisure travellers and pilgrims for Umrah.”

  • African hospitality brand makes inroad in Nigerian market

    The current perception of Africa as an emerging market has convinced many investors to seek  possible investment opportunities in the continent. One sector that has seen a tremendous growth in this regard is the hospitality sub-sector of the tourism industry. International hospitality brands have been  adding thousands of bed spaces in Nigeria in the last couple of years.

    Nigeria is among the first three countries  leading the charge in hospitality property investment in the continent. Lagos has received the highest number of international hospitality brand investments.

    Although big brands like the Marriott, the Radisson Group and  the Golden Tulip are  thriving  in Nigeria  ,some  indigenous continental  hospitality brands seem to have found the environment difficult and have thus  pulled out. Brands like the Protea, Sun International, African Sun and few others have no serious presence owning  to what they described as difficult economy.  Others like the Southern Sun have become part and parcel of the hospitality landscape in the country and are doing fairly well.

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    Currently, an  indigenous African hospitality  brand, the Icon Hotel Group (IHG), is making an inroad into the continent’s market, especially Nigeria, with high profile five and four-star properties.

    Having built a reputation with Mount Meru Hotel and  Palace Hotel both  in  Arusha,Tanzania and  also part of the Mzizima Towers in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania, IHG is aggressively pushing into the Nigeria market.

    The magic appears to spring from its ability to  blend  professional competence with indigenous African flair ,its core philosophy of  homegrown hospitality management and a deep and holistic understanding of the hospitality sector in Africa.

    Within just ten years of corporate existence, IHG has rapidly evolved as   a powerhouse in the African hospitality sector with operations in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, The Maldives, Benin, Congo Brazzaville, Burkina Faso and Togo, among others. It is providing  end to end hospitality management solutions that span from project conceptualization to   execution, equipping, commissioning and  management.

     

    It has already  has transformed  BWC Hotel on  Victoria Island Lagos.IHG also manages the Royal Spring Palm Hotel – By Icon- Owerri.

    It is also spreading  its tentacles to nearby Benin Republic where it is developing the $30 million five star Best Western Premier Breeze Hotel, and Sinoconst, the proposed Chinese contractors for the Hotel development.

  • Wakanow promises better travel experience for customers

    THE new head of Wakanow.com Limited, Nigeria’s premier online travel booking platform,   Mr. Adebayo Adedeji, has promised to focus on customer satisfaction, innovation, expansion and automation.

    Adedeji spoke  at his maiden media interaction in Lagos.

    Customers,according to him,will  “not only get the best, value-adding travel products and services but also that their experience is the best it can be, from the moment of first contact, online or offline.”

    These include  a smooth booking process, reliable turnaround times, and a quality that exceeds your expectations.

    While reaffirming Wakanow’s position as Nigeria’s No 1 online travel agency, Adedeji stated that the company’s “strength lies in our innovative travel solutions, ranging from Pay-Small-Small, which is an instalmental payment plan for travel products and our value-adding ancillary products launched within the last few months which include automated flight reminders, airline liquidation insurance, lost baggage insurance, seat selection, airport protocol services and so much more”.

    Read also: Airlines’ role in developing airport hubs

    “At the heart of our market leadership is innovation and more than ever before, we are committed to being first to market with game-changing travel solutions”, he added.

    On expansion and automation, the new CEO said: “We are committed to expanding our customer touch points both online and offline in order to bring travel closer to our customers. To this end, we are proud to announce partnerships with key strategic institutions with the requisite spread and network, both online and offline. With these partnerships we are able to serve even more customers across the globe”.

    Adedeji joined the company earlier in the year and was until his elevation to the position of CEO, the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of the company responsible for driving the transition programme of Wakanow.

  • Plateau plans taking NAFEST to new heights 2020

     

    Plateau State has started early preparations towards a successful hosting of the 2020 edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST).

    The North-central state has been designated the next host of NAFEST by the National Council for Arts and Culture which is the government agency in charge of promoting culture and the living arts in Nigeria.

    A delegation from the state  led by Tourism, Culture and Hospitality Commissioner  Tamwakat Weli visited the Director-General of NCAC, Otunba Segun Runsewe in Abuja, expressing the full commitment of the state towards hosting the best NAFEST ever.

    Plateau,Weli said,is blessed with friendly weather, peaceful people and a scenic beauty.

    He  urged Nigerians and foreigners to use the opportunity to savour the hospitality the state has to offer.

    Otunba Runsewe described   Governor Solomon Lalong of Plateau State as  a culture-friendly Governor who has the interest of his people at heart with his developmental initiatives aimed at building bridges of peace and harmony across the Plateau.

    Read Also: Ooni of Ife, 25 African Americans for Anambra Eri festival

    Runsewe said the council will work with the state to ensure a successful hosting of NAFEST next year saying Plateau state meets all the criteria necessary to host the event.

    Fielding questions from journalists with regards to the budget earmarked for NAFEST 2020, the NCAC chief said no price tag should be placed in a program like NAFEST which is organised annually to enthrone peace and unity and also empower Nigerians thereby reducing crime.

    He was positive that Plateau State, which hosted the 1996 edition will stage the mother of all NAFEST this time around giving the interest of the state government together with the support of the federal government and other industry stakeholders.