The Nation Newspaper

Tag: National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR)

  • People calling Buhari a clone, ignorant, ungodly -Tony Momoh

    Former Minister of Information and elder statesman Prince Tony Momoh has said that people calling President Muhammadu Buhari a clone from Sudan are ignorant and ungodly.

    He said, it is not easy to move ones spirit from one body to another because it’s only God that can create life.

    Speaking Thursday in Abuja at the annual master lecture series of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Momoh said that just like most countries outside enjoy cultural tourism; Nigeria has come to experience spiritual tourism.

    Read Also:Don’t criminalize drug users, says Aisha Buhari

    He also added that the political space must be decongested if the country is to develop.

    His words, “The future is in Nigeria, Nigeria is a spiritual magnet for investment. Presently, people go to other countries for tourism and come to Nigeria for spiritual tourism, if the world doesn’t know now, they will but we must be politically disciplined.

    “The only person that created you and brought you to life is God almighty so anybody talking of cloning is talking of what human beings can do. People calling the President a clone are ignorant and ungodly, only God can create an individual, do you think a human spirit is that easy to move from one body to the other?”

    Acting Director General NIHOTOUR, Alh. Momoh Kabir said that the policies being set up by the present administration can grow the tourism sector.

    “Apart from increasing exchange earnings if this country, tourism generates wealth. People gave to visit you, when they do they have to stay somewhere, buy meals and the young men and women we are training to take people round as tour guides are paid. Unfortunately we have not gotten to the point of making people appreciate tourism but looking at the way we are going about it, u have the believe that we will get there.

    “In view of this present regime, you will recognize it is gearing towards a situation where eventually tourism can do provide for this country,” he said.

  • Tourism: Delta organises fiesta to woo local, foreign investors

    Delta State Government says it will hold a fiesta to showcase its tourism potentials with a view to attract both local and foreign investors, News men reports.

    The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Chinye Emmanuel, disclosed this when he visited the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation ( NTDC ) and National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism ( NIHOTOUR ) in Abuja on Thursday.

    The Commissioner said the three-day fiesta, which is scheduled to hold between July and August, was expected to attract both local and foreign tourists in the state to tap from its vast potentials.

    According to him, the platform will also provide an avenue for the people to also showcase their rich culture, food, music and fashion during the event.

    “In view of the dwindling oil resources and economic downturn, the need to look inward and think outside the box to find other sources of revenue must be explored.

    “I believe strongly that tourism is that alternative, if properly harnessed, has the capacity to rejuvenate the economy of this nation,” he said.

    He gave assurance that the security of the lives and property of people, irrespective of the nationality were safe in the state.

    “Today, you can walk freely in Delta state, whether you are a black or white man unlike in the past, where you hear about kidnapping.

    “No more crime as such in Delta state, so with that foreigners will be free to come in and move round Delta state freely,’’ he said.

    He said the visit was to garner the support from NTDC and NIHOTOUR to host tourism fairs, expos, training, cultural programmes, develop its historical sites and monuments, as well as its eco-system in other to promote domestic tourism.

    Read Also: Delta CJ acquits man over Murder Charge

    Responding, the Director-General, NTDC, Mr Folunrunso Coker assured the state government of the corporation’s support in harnessing the tourism potentials in the state.

    “Tourism is a business to look at in Delta state and I assure you of our support in making the event successful and promoting tourism potentials in the state and nation at large,” he added.

    Similarly, the Director General, NIHOTOUR, Mrs Chika Balogun, assured the Delta government that the institute would continue to support it, especially in the training of its tourism and hospitality officers.

    “We assure you of our support in training and retraining of your officers in tourism and hospitality industry to meet up with global standard to create a vibrant tourism sector,” she added.

    Balogun, therefore, encouraged the state government to expedite action in developing some of its tourist sites to increase tourism in the state and reduce movement to other countries for holidays and tourism.

    NAN

  • Stakeholders want FG to commit to tourism development

    Stakeholders want FG to commit to tourism development

    Some stakeholders in the tourism industry in the country have appealed to the Federal Government (FG ) to strengthen regulatory institutions and create enabling environment for the sector to thrive.

    Those who spoke in an interview with our reporter on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the sector required positive change to contribute to the development of the economy.

    Mr Abiodun Odusanwo, President, Institute of Tourism Professionals ( ITP ), said the agency handling the development of the sector needed to be empowered to carry out its role in line with global best practices.

    “Government needs to strengthen these institutions, review their laws and ensure that the laws establishing them reflect current realities; an example is the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation.

    “Also, the laws establishing the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism ( NIHOTOUR ) as the engine room for manpower development for the industry need to be adequate.

    “This is because without enhanced capacity development, we cannot get the skills required for the industry; when we get this arrangement right, we will achieve much,’’ Odusanwo said.

    The ITP president, who is also the second National President, Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria, said there was a need for positive connectivity between tourism and other associated economic activities.

    He said that transportation was instrumental to the development of tourism, and would facilitate movement from one tourist site to the other.

    “There is a need to synergise the tourism ministry, aviation industry and mass transport. If these ministries or agencies are connected, we would have a sustainable tourism development in the country,’’ Odusanwo said.

    Also, Mr Ayedun Sikiru, the former Commissioner of Culture and Tourism in Osun State, said there was the need to provide security for life and property in the country and tourist sites respectively.

    “Apart from provision of security, more private sector investments in the hospitality industry should be encouraged.

    “Infrastructural development is also important. With good road networks, I believe that tourism can be a good revenue earner for us in this country,’’ Sikiru said.

    Similarly, Malam Aliyu Badaki, President, Hospitality and Tourism Association of Nigeria, said that the Federal Government ( FG ) needed to be committed to the development of tourism by providing an enabling environment.

    “The provision of enabling environment in terms of access roads to the various destinations and provision of adequate security for visitors cannot be gainsaid.

    “The government should also be serious in engaging the private sector in the development of the sector to make it a genuine revenue earner for the country,’’ Badaki stressed.

    Also, Mrs Christiana Agbo, Secretary, Society for Tourism Entrepreneurs and Professionals, said lack of professionalism was responsible for stagnation of the sector.

    “Government should consider professionalism when appointing persons to head tourism agencies.

    “It should also be committed to the provision of infrastructure in recognition that tourism can contribute greatly to the development of the nation,’’ Agbo said.

    NAN

  • ANJET, others decry proposed NIHOTOUR bill before NASS

    ANJET, others decry proposed NIHOTOUR bill before NASS

    Travel and tourism writers in the country have joined other stakeholders to decry unfolding moves by the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) to push through a bill presently before the National Assembly which seeks to confer on it the sole authority to regulate the industry.

    The writers under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Editors of Tourism (ANJET), also an affiliate of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) who said ‘Nihotour has completely gone beyond its brief and what is expected of it’ described the proposed bill as ‘death knell of hospitality and tourism.’

    Tagged the; ‘Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism for Training of Personnel and Regulation of Professional Personnel Practices and Services of Hospitality and Tourism Activities in Nigeria and other related matters,’ the document seeks to effectively extend the control of the institute in industry practice.

    The proposed NIHOTOUR Bill which comes up for Public hearing, June 15, has continued to generate contempt within the tourism industry in the country as stakeholders flay the move by NIHOTOUR to establish the institute as regulatory and registration body for tourism establishments across the country.

    The tourism writers, who joined other stakeholders from travel agents, tour operators, park and leisure services providers, maintained that the proposed bill further compounds the precarious situation of tourism regulation in the country, as the agency itself should rather be seeking to grow its capacity in the field of training of industry practitioners.

    “If it is a training institute then it should restrict itself to that regardless of the NOC/NOS/NBTE provisions. What it is seeking to be with the full provisions of this bill is become omnibus body and ombudsman of tourism, which shouldn’t be.

    “If the bill is allowed to scale through, what then becomes the function of the NTDC and other agencies in the Culture, Tourism and Information Ministry, and by implication the value chain of tourism and other training institutions in the country?”

    According to ANJET, in the Hospitality and Tourism Establishment (Registration, Grading, and Classification) regulation bye-law enacted by the Federal Government in 1997, Section 1, Sub-Section 3 of that bye-law provides that no person shall operate a hospitality or Tourism establishment ‘unless he has obtained and in possession of a current certificate of registration from the Corporation,’ which by implication confers on the NTDC the duty of a regulator.

    “We also believe that the issue here should be about the National Assembly clarifying on the Supreme Court ruling of 19 July 2013 which validated both the Hotel Licensing Law of Lagos State (as amended) and the Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Law of Lagos State, while the offending sections of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) Act rendered null and void.

    “We recall that the Supreme Court in dismissing the case filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and upholding the contention of the Attorney General (AG) of Lagos State Mr. Ade Ipaye, held that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (CFRN) 1999 as amended, only empowers the National Assembly (NASS) to regulate tourist traffic, a term which does not extend to hotel registration or licensing,” ANJET posited.

    It was the view of the Supreme Court that the NTDC Act went beyond its powers as stated in the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution which is to regulate “tourist traffic”. This effectively challenged the constitutionality of the NTDC’s powers to unilaterally regulate and control of hotels and tourism in Nigeria. The court therefore validated the respective laws of Lagos State.

    According to ANJET, this issue of a recognized regulator should preoccupy the National Assembly members into quickly moving to resolve the issue rather than creating another platform for the emergence of another controversy within the industry, as there still remains grey areas in the law that needed to be sorted out to ensure proper growth and development in the industry.

    For instance, under the ‘Powers of the Institute,’ the institute wants to ‘set conditions and standards for institutions or organizations offering courses in hotel, catering, travel and tourism management or skill in Nigeria.’

    This, ANJET believes this segment is ‘as ambiguous as it is conflicting,’ considering that other agencies also perform the same function, just there is a vast divide separating all four sub-sectors of tourism practice, as well as its practitioners.

    While the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), described the move as ‘obnoxious,’ the Institute of Tourism Professionals, on its part, said the proposed bill negates the tenet of the Federal Government’s recently signed Executive Order which seeks to ease the process of doing business in the country, by creating ‘bottlenecks for tourism professionals.’

    “We must do all what is possible to stop this obnoxious bill. We should also be present at the public hearing to vehemently oppose the bill,” said ATPN.

    “The bill seeks to negate the new Executive Order of the Acting President on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria as it seeks to great Bottlenecks for Tourism Professionals Distinguished Senators are therefore urged not to support illegality,” said the Institute of Tourism Professionals.

    Also reacting, the Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) said; ‘the proposed bill is an attempt to ‘corner and colonize Nigeria Tourism by a training school and should be discouraged wondering why an institute wants to overreach itself.’

    Similarly, a hospitality expert and scholar, Dr Wasiu Babalola called for the outright rejection of the proposed NIHOTOUR bill by the National Assembly.

    The outgoing Managing Director – Africa, Swiss International Hotels and incumbent Honorary Secretary, Institute of Hospitality UK in Nigeria said: “The bill should be rejected for the agency aiming beyond its mandate. Why should it try to define who a professional is?

    “When did government starts deciding who should be president / chairman of council of professional bodies? Why should the agency want to take over the powers of NUC and NBTE? The proposers of the bill are surely ill informed.”

    NIHOTOUR, an agency in the Ministry of Culture and Information, has two campuses has for some time come under heavy fire, as industry watchers insist the agency is challenged in its statutory role as a training institute established to boost capacity in the industry.

    The institute has two campuses located in Lagos and Oshogbo, the Osun State capital.