Nigeria Travel Week to focus on creative tourism

 Joe Agbro Jr.

THE Nigeria Travel Week 2019 is set to focus on creative tourism as it hosts tourists, tour operators, travel agents, travel bloggers and the media. The annual event which is in its third edition will hold between November 17 and November 23, 2019 and has the theme: ‘Harnessing the creative tourism potentials of culture rich destinations.’

Between November 17 and November 19, Nigeria Travel Week will engage the media. And on November 20, a travel roundtable will hold at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos where various topics bordering on tourism will be discussed. Some of the speakers expected include the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Shuli Adebolu, Chairman, Nigerian Tanners Council, NTC, Alhaji Lawan Sule Garo, Bruce Onabrakpeya, Denrele Sonariwo, Zainab Ashadu, Emeka Okocha and Lola Adefowope among others.

Participants will visit destinations in Lagos and Ogun states on November 21 and November 22.

Also, on November 22, the Nigeria Tourism Awards (The Balearica) will hold at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. Twenty awards – 14 by voting while six are non-voting – will be presented. An after party follows at the Hard Rock Cafe, Lekki, Lagos. And on November 23, a tourism hangout will hold at La Campagne Tropicana, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.

The founder of the event, Efetobo Awhana, said Nigeria stands to gain a lot from tourism.

“What we’re saying basically in Nigeria Travel week is that we can start to make money from tourism,” Awhana said. To him, the vast natural resources such as waterfalls, exotic animals like gorillas and elephants and attractive landscapes are money spinners the country is not taking advantage of.

“Unfortunately for us, we have so relied on oil that we have forgotten that any other thing can earn us money.”

He urged Nigerians to start to enjoy the tourism potentials of the country.

According to Dr. Adun Okupe, a member of the Nigeria Travel Week team and Senior Advisor at Red Clay, a tourism advisory practice, creative tourism will provide a rich cultural experience for the tourist, more opportunities for tourism entrepreneurs and also generate income for the places visited.

“Creative tourism is basically an experiential form of tourism. It is beyond just going to these sites in Enugu, Oshogbo or Ibadan to observe. How do you participate in the local culture? How do you engage in the local culture? Do you learn the dance? Did you learn to make a certain type of food? Did you learn how to sing a certain type of song? Do you learn how to make a certain type of fabric? We’ve done Batik workshops in Oshogbo and we found that a lot of people enjoyed that more than just buying a nice batik fabric. We want them to choose their own symbols and meaning.”

Femi Lawson, another member of the Nigeria Travel Week team, said: “All of what we are trying to do here is to promote the Nigerian nation as a perfect and reliable tourist destination for local and international tourists.”

“And creative tourism is a way of engaging tourists in destination activities so that they can go with an experience.”

The Nigeria Travel Week, a non profit, is endorsed by the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agents and Skal. It is also supported by the Lagos State government and the Nigerian Army Property Limited and others.