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Tag: Chief Mike Amachree

  • Amachree wants govt support for boat operators

    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.

  • Amachree calls on IGP to create tourism police

    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.

  • Nigerian tourism industry practitioners mourn Femi-Pearse

    Practitioners in the Nigerian tourism industry have described the death of the founder of Whispering Palms Resort, Iworo, Lagos, Professor Ayodeji Femi-Pearse, as a great loss to the development of tourism in the country. Femi-Pearse, who passed on recently, was among the pioneers in private resort development in the country.

    Recalling his experience with Professor Femi-Pearse, Nigeria’s Father of Tourism, Chief Mike Amachree, said the late founder of Whispering Palms was passionate about the development of tourism in Nigeria.

    He added:  “Back then, when I came back from a trip to Hawaii, the United States of America with ideas on how to develop resorts here in Nigeria, he was already on it. I learnt from him. He had already started his resort before I established Port Harcourt Tourist Beach Resort.

    “Whenever we visited the resort, he would come out to sit, entertain and even give us generous discounts on room rates. He would encourage us on how to move the industry forward. I was surprised that a foremost professor of medicine would be interested in tourism.”

    Speaking on Professor Femi-Pearse, a Nigerian tour operator, Mr. Jemi  Alade, had this to say: “He contributed a lot in terms of resort development. It was a private effort and he did a marvellous job to develop a unique resort for the tourism industry in Nigeria. You know it is a beach front visited by both locals and foreigners and it has been very popular over the years. You know he was a pioneer person in the area of resort development. He was among the first private persons that developed such resorts in Nigeria. He was more or less a pioneer.  The only thing that I am afraid of is continuity. When the owner of the property like that dies, it becomes difficult to carry on. I don’t know if there is a succession plan. There is a need for a good management to handle the place and keep it alive.”

    According to Mr. Ikechi Uko, an international tourism marketing expert and the publisher of ATQ, a travel magazine, Professor Femi-Pearse was a man ahead of his time.

    He said: “At the beginning of his foray into tourism, every month I was in Whispering Palms. He was a visionary ahead of his time. He decided to create something in Nigeria.  His was the first example of a resort in Lagos State, and at that point in Nigeria, there were only three of them:  Rojenny, Chief Amachree’s Port Harcourt Tourist Beach Resort and himself. He was an amazing man.”

    On Femi-Pearse’s vision for setting up the place, Uko said: “The thing was that people needed somewhere they could go for relaxation and he decided to create something for Nigerians in Nigeria. That was the first success story from where other resorts could learn from. He brought whatever experience he had outside Nigeria and used it in Nigeria. He is a good example of people putting their money where their mouth is.”

    Professor Femi-Pearse died on December 28, last year, and was buried on January 24. Apart from being the founder of Whispering Palms Resort, he was a former Provost, University of Lagos College of Medicine and Chief Medical Director, LUTH. In 1980, Professor Femi-Pearse was the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, and between 2000 and 2004, he was the Chairman, Lagos State University (LASU) Governing Council.

  • Amachree felicitates with ex-President Jonathan

    Nigeria’s Father of Tourism and former President,  Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Chief Mike Amachree has felicitated with  ex-President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on recently clocking 61 years. Amachree, in statement from his Port Harcourt base, said ex-President Jonathan was a leader that understood the importance of tourism to national development and tried to create policies to move the industry forward. He  recalled that when Jonathan was the governor of Bayelsa State, he was very much interested in the promotion of tourism not just in Bayelsa, but in the whole of country. “When he was the governor of  Bayelsa State, he encouraged tourism industry practitioners. Also, when we launched our tourism book, Towards Culture of Peace in the Niger-Delta, he was the special guest of honour. Whenever  we held  tourism conferences, he honoured our invitations. He has done much in encouraging tourism practitioners and creating the necessary awareness about tourism, “ he said.

    “In addition, as the Nigerian president, Jonathan listened to the demand of industry practitioners by appointing a core industry practitioner to man the tourism. His tourism minister, High Chief Edem Duke was a former President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN).”

    Amachree urged ex-President Jonathan to continue to work for the promotion and development of tourism in the country: “My congratulatory message to him on his birthday is that as an elder statesman, he should continue to work for tourism in the country. ”

  • Amachree calls on Lagos to build private sector tourism

    Nigeria’s Father of Tourism, Chief Mike Amachree, has called on the Lagos State government to empower the private sector tourism industry practitioners in the state.

    He made this called at the just- concluded 2018 Akwaaba  West African Travel Market recently held at the Expo Hall of Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Amachree, who was one of the guests during the exciting Lagos Day at the fair, commended the state for its vision and efforts to make tourism  a key sector in the state’s economy .

    He said: “I wish to commend the government of Lagos for its strategic focus on tourism.  I think it is a step in the right direction. The tourism vision of Lagos is such that if effectively implemented, it would transform the state into one of the leading destinations in Africa.

    “Lagos is so blessed in the area of heritage and eco-tourism. The state has close to 200 kilometres of white sandy beach front. This is a major tourism asset. The state is also the entertainment capital of Africa being the birth place of Nollywood and  it is also home to the some of the biggest music names in Africa.  All these could be harnessed to boost the tourism reception in  the state.

    “Having said that,  it is important that the state empowers the private sector to come up with tourism products that would bring  Africa and the rest of the world to Lagos. The duty of the government is to create the enabling environment for tourism to thrive; however, it is equally important that the private sector tourism investors are encouraged to key into this vision of the state government. It is only then that meaningful progress could be made.”

    Amachree also used to the opportunity to commend the organizers of the Akwaaba Travel Market. He sees the fair as a positive for Africa as it helps to bring people from within and outside the continent to Nigeria. In addition he said the fair offers opportunity for African countries to cooperate and synergize in order to develop tourism in their different countries. He said through the fair, many African destinations are seeing the need to cooperate..

    Among those present at the Lagos Day were the Director General of the National Council of Arts and Culture, Otunba Segun Runsewe;  Lagos Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Steve Ayorinde; Anambra State Commissioner of Tourism and Culture, Mrs. Sally Mbanefo; the First Deputy President, the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr. Nkereuwem Onung, and many other guests.

  • NAFEST: Amachree commends Wike

    Former President of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) and  Nigeria’s father of tourism, Chief  Mike Amachree, has praised the Rivers State government led by Chief Nyesom Wike for its decision to host the 2018 National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST).

    He said the state will use the opportunity to showcase all her tourist endowments in the areas of culture and ecotourism.

    Amachree urged stakeholders in the cultural and tourism sectors in the state to come up with wonderful presentations so as to use the opportunity offered by NAFEST to re-launch the state as a destination.

    He said: “Our cultural troupes, artistes and managers of tour sites should all join hands to make sure that Rivers State puts on display what would be the best spectacle in the history of NAFEST. You know in such cultural-cum-tourism events, visitors would  buy arts and craft works from the host community to take back to their places.  Our craftsmen should be able to make brisk business from the fiesta. They should be prepared to showcase our tourism products in Rivers State.”

    Amachree called Wike to assist tourism practitioners through soft loans so that they can invest in the sector and build the tourism profile of the state and in the process complement his efforts in the sector.

    Amachree praised the efforts of  Wike for his efforts in developing the tourism in the state through infrastructural development.

    He said the governor has been able to create the enabling environment necessary for tourism to thrive.

    “Governor Wike has done very well to promote tourism in the state. The NAFEST to be held in the state is a credit to the governor. If there is no conducive environment, we will not be talking about Rivers State hosting the NAFEST.”

    He praised the Director-General of the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba  Segun Runsewe, for his efforts in the cultural sector.

    He said: “He was a former Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and did well. He knows the nexus between the tourism and culture. He knows the huge role that culture has to play, especially in Nigeria, for the development of tourism.

    “I commend the zeal and doggedness he brings in whatever national assignment he undertakes. The nation will really see the best of River State during the year’s NAFEST” .

  • Amachree lauds UNIPORT for creating tourism dept

    Former President of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) and  President, Centre for Promotion of Tourism, Peace, Arts and Culture (CEPTAC), Chief Mike Amachree, has praised the management of the University of Port Harcourt  for its foresight in establishing the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management under the Faculty of Management Sciences of the institution.

    Amachree made the commendation  when students of the department paid him a courtesy visit at the Brooklyn Tourist Centre, Rumuosi, in  Port Harcourt.

    Amachree said the department will, in no small measure, help in tackling the huge challenge faced by the tourism sector in the country.

    Amachree, referred to as the father of Nigerian tourism, advised the students  to take their studies seriously and that the CEPTAC will always encourage them to achieve their goals.

    Amachree also lauded the River State government for establishing a new tourist site by building the Port Harcourt Leisure Park and the rehabilitation of the road leading to the Port Harcourt Tourist Beach Resort.

    Also speaking on the occasion, the Head of  the CEPTAC research team, Professor Joe Alegoa, assured the visiting students of the commitment of the centre and praised them for their enthusiasm for tourism.

    The President, National   Association of Hospitality Management and Tourism Students, University of Ibadan, Comrade Williams Emmanuel, told Amachree and the CEPTAC director that the visit was to gain from the CEPTAC’s the wealth of experience in the tourism industry.

    Comrade Emmanuel said as students of tourism and hospitality management, they were encouraged by the recognsition accorded these tourism stakeholders by the River State government, that is Chief Mike Amachree, Professor Joe Alegoa and King Alfred Diete-Spiff during the golden jubilee celebration of the state.

    While acknowledging that the government alone cannot tackle the enormous challenges of developing tourism in the country, Comrade Emmanuel called for synergy between the government and the private sector to grow the industry in the country.