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Tag: tourism

  • We want to make Southwest Nigeria preferred destination for tourism and investment

    We want to make Southwest Nigeria preferred destination for tourism and investment

    Two years after the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission was established as a response to yearnings for and an ambition to foster development of Southwest Nigeria, its Director General, Mr Dipo Famakinwa, spoke with BISI OLADELE on the journey so far.

    The DAWN Commission was established to harmonize socio-economic potentials for regional prosperity. Do you think the commission has justified its establishment?

    Certainly, the Southwest region will always look for the opportunity to move forward, that is who we are. Since 2013 when the commission was set up, we have tried to create an institutional framework around those ambitions which are very clear. We want the best for ourselves as far as education is concerned, healthcare and some of the best infrastructure in the world to be in our region. We want to ensure that our region is attractive for investment, to ensure that we have engaged people and citizenry, people who understand what development is about and ready to make their own contributions too. We want our cities to become more optimal and our economy to become more competitive. This is clearly our region’s ambition and I do not see anyone who will disagree with it.Our own is to build an institutional framework and ensure that those ambitions are realized. And how have we done that? First is to realize the fact that the states hitherto used to think as an individual state. But we needed to create a collaborative work whereby the states begin to have engagement and interaction among themselves, begin to see what they can copy from one another, what they can also learn from one another, and begin to identify the common challenges and create common solutions along that common challenges, identify the common problems and see how they can build a collaborative framework around that common problem. So, those are the things we have been doing.

    Beyond that we have also recognised the fact that if you want to move forward you have to create strategic plans of actions. The commission, for instance, has helped in creating a regional plan of action for economic competitiveness, in general planning, for security law and order. It is the regional line of action for the creative economy which we consider to be a very critical component of our developmental progress, the regional plan of action for the development of tourism and so many areas where we have tried to create strategic line of action. Out of what we have done also is to ensure that we recognize the civil service as a critical development institution along the line with the ambitions earlier mentioned. The seventh summit of the heads of service held in Lagos around February was a very successful one. Part of the resolutions of the summit is that we need to begin to see how we can create a regional framework for building the capability of our civil service. We have a lot to look back to. So, clearly talking about the civil service, there were talks on how we can try to create a better civil service. So, those are the kinds of things going on and we are proud to say we have been a very good facilitator in ensuring that those things happen.

    In the order of priority what three major challenges will you say the commission has faced?

    In order of priority, one, is to keep what is working, in the areas where we are doing well. One needs to ensure that we have sustainability in those areas. Second, is to look for areas where there could be immediate possibility of regional actions. If you want me to be specific and mention the sectors, I will say we need to take education very seriously. It is not yet producing what I will call learning and character. We need a lot of impact on our social character, we need to do a lot more on education. We also need to do a lot more on agriculture. Agriculture gives us a lot of opportunities to take people out of poverty and we have the latent capabilities here, so we need to sweat those capabilities. It is also important for us to look at our communities and see how they will become more optimal, both the rural and urban. So, in areas of priority, those are the areas we are looking at. But if you want me to go beyond that, I will mention the issue of security. That is very critical. A secure region will enable us attract investors, a secure region will also enable the people in the region to be able to pursue their daily economic and social activities without fear. Security, law and order are also important to us. Of course, we have to build our institutions to enable them deliver on their mission, both our economic and governance institutions. So, those are the areas we consider to be very important, even though there are so many other areas we are working on.

    For two years now, there must be challenges that have slowed down the pace at which the commission is supposed to move, Could you please share them?

    One of the challenges we have is the political environment. There are lots of activities in the political environment that if we are not careful, will impede our development progress. We need to manage our political environment to achieve anything. The Nigerian environment is highly politicized. You find a lot of a things that should not have political or partisan consideration suffering that fate. We need to ensure that the political environment enables development. Again, in the Southwest, especially when you are working with governments that do not belong to the same political party, creating conversations can be a little bit more difficult. But, we have not allowed that to affect what we are doing. In cases where there are occasions for us to move together on certain actions, that is what has been the big issue for us. For example, all the states have participated in all the actions we have taken on development and cultural tourisms in the region. All the states have participated in the civil service summit. This has held twice. In agriculture, we had a meeting with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture last year to present ourselves as a regional block, all the states participated in the conversations and the actions that followed. What we tried to do is to not only create conversations, but also dialogues and then we build collaborative actions from the issues that arise from the deliberations. We do not just leave it at the level of discussions, we make sure that we follow them to the level of being put on the table. Also for instance, there was a game competition organized for secondary schools in the region, all the states participated, especially in the discussion that led to the hosting of the games in Lagos. Quite a number of those issues have happened, but of course we will expect that the political environment enables development more than it currently does.

    Funding is also an issue, we are not able to get the required level of funding that we need. So, it is a long way battle for us to win because the legitimate sources of funding are the government. If our states are bleeding, then it will be difficult for us to have the sustainable level of funding that we require. That is an issue for us. Though we are also working on a lot of strategy to create sustainability for ourselves, in which case we can look at alternative sources of funding. Part of the challenge we have is that our people also are disengaged from the development projects. We need to take the development to them. The masses are too busy trying to survive. The middle class people are trying to consolidate, not to drop lower. Everyone is busy. So, we need to ensure that everyone comes on board for the development project, we need to take it to them. How we are doing that is to create levels of consultations across stakeholders, we cannot succeed without the people behind us.

    How are you taking the gospel of the DAWN commission to the common man in the region?

    Like our people say, we need a lot of money to reach out to all stakeholders but we are not relenting. We use every opportunity that we have, especially regional programs and meetings, to take advantage of what the states are doing. We take advantage of the Ministry of Information to get our message to the people. We can do more, this is one of the reasons why I am talking to you. We need all the help that we can get. We are communicating this to our people. One of the programs we have in view, is “Pagede Agbajo Owo”, which is a grassroots oriented program where we intend to bring all our people across the region, especially grassroots people, and have an ongoing engagement on the development agenda of the Western Nigeria. We expect to do it now that the election is over. Hopefully, from that, we will have more successes to ensure that what we are doing gets to the grassroots.

    How open is your door to every Yoruba son and daughter that has something to contribute to the development of the region?

    Our doors are open not only to Yoruba people but to anyone who can help us. The vision of the development agenda is to make the Southwest part of Nigeria the preferred destination for people in Africa to visit, work, live and invest. We want an enabling environment for everybody whether you are a Yoruba man or not, as long as you have anything meaningful to contribute to our region, you are part of the development project. Yoruba land cannot be for Yoruba people alone. By nature, we are very accommodating; our environment is attractive to different people in the world, not only Nigerians. Clearly for us, is to see how we can create an environment that makes contributions. Our doors are open to everyone. If we can speak to the Japanese to come and invest in our region, it means we are open to everybody. We are also asking the Americans to come. Clearly, we cannot have a region that is exclusive to Yoruba people.

    We also want to build communities. There are strategic points where we need to get more traction behind what we are doing. For instance, we want to build a young agropreneurs community in the West. We have recognized the fact that young people are abandoning agriculture but we have seen some success stories in terms of young people involved in agriculture and they are doing well in it. Some of our states have interesting programs for some of our young people in agriculture. I know about the WICARD in Ekiti State and the young agropreneurs in Lagos which is situated in Epe. I know about the one in Ore, and also know Oyo State has one. So, we want to create a regional young agropreneurs community.

    We also want to create a community for the creative industry, Southwest creative community. We are looking at a community generating a lot of start-up business, that is, a start-up business community. We are also considering private sector communities. Part of our plan is to see how we can build communities around these strategic points of our society where development is happening. Part of what we want to do is to engage the policy environment development. And like I said earlier, unless the political environment is better, we cannot do much. Part of our program is to engage more in the policy environment in terms of influencing policies, ensuring that the policy environment is networked all across the region and nothing is missing as far as the policy environment is concerned.

    We also want to promote policy commissions. We believe that in the states in the region there should be some level of interaction going on. For instance, we want a policy commission between Lagos and Ogun, Oyo and Osun, and Ekiti and Ondo. So, if we have those policy commissions we will provide them opportunities of looking at things they should be doing together, even between themselves. For example, Lagos and Ogun can look at some infrastructure programs. The policy commissions are expected to facilitate interactions between these states. We are not just trying to do them, converstaions have started towards ensuring that these things can happen. They must happen at the right time. For instance, we have finished the regional competitiveness strategy document.

  • International tourism exports rise to US$ 1.5 trillion

    International tourism exports rise to US$ 1.5 trillion

    International tourism receipts increased by US$ 48 billion in 2014 to reach a record US$ 1,245 billion. An additional US$ 221 billion was generated from international passenger transport, bringing total exports from international tourism up to US$ 1.5 trillion.

    Receipts from international visitors spending on accommodation, food and drink, entertainment, shopping and other services and goods reached an estimated US$ 1,245 billion (euro 937 billion) in 2014, an increase of 3.7 per cent in real terms (taking into account exchange rate fluctuations and inflation). International tourist arrivals increased by 4.4 pr cent in 2014, reaching a total 1,135 million, up from 1,087 million in 2013.

    Aside from international tourism receipts (the travel item of the Balance of Payment), tourism also generates export earnings through international passenger transport services (rendered to non-residents). The latter amounted to an estimated US$ 221 billion in 2014, bringing total exports from international tourism up to US$ 1.5 trillion, or US$ 4 billion a day on average.

    “International tourism is an increasingly significant component of international trade as seen in export earnings from international tourism and passenger transport, which reached US$ 1.5 trillion in 2014” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

    “In a scenario with decreasing commodity prices, spending on international tourism grew significantly in 2014, proving the sector’s capacity to stimulate economic growth, boost exports and create jobs”, he added.

    International tourism (travel and passenger transport) represents 30 per cent of the world’s exports of services and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks fourth after fuels, chemicals and food, ranking first in many developing countries.

    UNWTO also forecast that international tourism will grow in each region. Europe, which accounts for 41 per cent of worldwide international tourism receipts, saw an increase in tourism earnings in absolute terms of US$ 17 billion to US$ 509 billion (euro 383 billion).

    Asia and the Pacific (30 per cent share) saw an increase of US$ 16 billion, reaching US$ 377 billion (euro 284 bn).

    In the Americas, (22 per cent share), receipts increased by US$ 10 billion to a total of US$ 274 billion (euro 206 bn).

    In the Middle East (4% share), tourism receipts increased by an estimated US$ 4 billion to US$ 49 billion (euro 37 bn) and in Africa (three per cent share) by US$ 1 billion to US$ 36 billion (euro 27 bn).

    In the top ten ranking by tourism earnings, China climbed from 5th to 3rd place following a 10% increase in earnings to US$ 57 billion in 2014.

    The United States (US$ 177 billion) and Spain (US$ 65 billion) maintained first and second positions in the ranking.

    The United Kingdom (US$ 45 billion) moved up two positions to 7th, boosted by the lasting effects of the Olympics and the appreciation of the UK pound (increasing receipts calculated in US dollar terms).

    France, Macao (China) and Italy occupy the 4th to 6th positions respectively, while Germany, Thailand and Hong Kong (China) complete the top ten.

  • Emirates doubles capacity to tourism hotspot Seychelles

    Emirates doubles capacity to tourism hotspot Seychelles

    Emirates is set to increase its capacity to the popular Indian Ocean Island of Seychelles, when it switches from the current Airbus 330-200 used on one of the two daily services to a larger Boeing 777-300ER from June 1.

    The introduction of the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, which operates as flight EK705 from Dubai and as EK706 on the return flight, will increase overall capacity on the route by 1,722 seats per week and will make the route an all-Boeing 777 operation.

    56-57 Tourism 18-04-2015.“The Seychelles is a very popular leisure destination, and we have experienced consistent growth on the route since we started operations to the island on January 1, 2005 with three weekly flights using an Airbus A330-200.

    “Since then, we have had to gradually increase our frequencies and deploy larger aircraft to meet growing demand, and now ten years later, starting from June 1, we will have two Boeing 777s on the route,”said Laurie Berryman, Vice President, UK & Ireland at Emirates.

    “The island draws a lot of leisure travellers from across our network, with many coming from the Middle East, Europe and Russia. In 2014, Emirates carried well in excess of 200, 000 customers to and from the Seychelles,” he added.

    The Boeing 777-300ER will have a three- class configuration, with eight First Class Private Suites, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 310 spacious seats in Economy Class.

    Customers on Emirates flights enjoy the famed hospitality of its multi-national cabin crew, including nationals of the Seychelles, and gourmet cuisine.

    “The announcement by Emirates that they will be introducing a second Boeing 777 on the Seychelles route is indeed good news for the tourism industry of our islands.

    “This announcement also guarantees our visitors that they can now enjoy the Dubai – Seychelles service with three classes on both Emirates flights every day.

    “We take this opportunity to thank Emirates for their continued support and for believing in the tourism industry of Seychelles,”said Alain St. Ange, Minister of Tourism and Culture of the Seychelles.

  • Imperatives in the Nigerian culture, tourism, broadcasting and entertainment sectors

    THIS is an unsolicited input into the public policy on the Nigerian Culture, Tourism, Broadcasting and Entertainment sectors for the incoming governments at all levels. It gives useful insight into the humongous potentials in all the aforementioned sectors to assist the governments in overcoming our many economic, social and value-perception challenges. If accepted and taken seriously, it will lead to sustainable alternative source of foreign revenue-earner.

    Executive summary and problem statement; The country’s arts, culture, broadcasting and culture sectors in the absence of well-articulated governmental administrative policies and procedures have for long and till now been operating as a huge jungle in which whatever works for the privileged few, either with access to the powers that be or public information platforms are invariably and mistakenly taken as norms, and in most cases supersede even various extant legislations. There are already enough laws which if backed up with necessary administrative strategies have the capacity to lead us out of our present woes; reposition the sectors for our governments to maximize their huge potentials to resolve most of our economic, social and value-perception challenges. There is absolutely no need for the incoming administrations to waste further time on new legislations, or setting up committees because the right pathways are clear enough.

    Culture and Tourism

    NIGERIA today has 774 constitutionally-recognized local government areas. On the average, every local government has 10 communities and in each community is at least a cultural monument or site presentable as a tourist attraction. The inhabitants of each community also produce goods, services and have lifestyles which to their unsophisticated minds do not have any economic value but in the hands of experts to package for the global market will command considerable appeal. Taken together, Nigeria at a glance and for a cursory economic evaluation has 7740 tourist sites and same no of communities whose daily lives and output could constitute our sustainable national cultural tourism programme; serving also as our own unique cultural products for exports. Every week, the country has about 150 locations staging different kinds of cultural events and different cultural monuments that tourists could choose from. It is therefore possible to immediately develop a national cultural tourism index without new legislations, budgets, or setting up committees. All we need do is charge the relevant agencies to immediately chart their implementable time-table to actualize it. A useful incentive to start off is to put all arts and cultural agencies on a 2-year notice of zero budgets with achievable internally-generated revenue for their governments. Our arts and culture administrators currently have a wrong mindset that needs re-programming! Their appalling belief is that lack of or inadequate capital budgets hinder them to properly develop and structure our culture for tourism but pray, what do they require capital budgets for? Yes, a little initial seed money is required for preliminary activities but this could be easily sourced either as a bank loan or grants from various commercial enterprises that will also benefit from a structured cultural tourism programme. Most if not all the various ancient sacred temples forming the bulk of India cultural and spiritual tourism sites remain in the inner recesses of the country and accessible only through the same footpaths of many hundreds, if not thousands of years! In the Alps frozen with ice all year round; Switzerland and other countries of the world that mountain-climbers and skiers frequent, their locals are gainfully engaged as guide and trainers. In Italy and Spain, the ruins of their former emperors’ castles are their tourists’ sites. Conversely in Nigeria, our cultural administrators want capital budgets to recruit “experts”, erect 5-star hotels and modern highways in their misguided notion that targets only the holiday-makers for tourism but leaves out the core tourists; students, researchers, archaeologists and explorers. We must stop using government money to build hotels around tourist locations or to construct highways because it is wrong! First it detracts from the real cultural value of the locations, which from what obtains in India, Italy, Spain should be in-sittu. Beyond this, hotels and roads constructions are commercial ventures, which with the necessary traffic of tourists will naturally rouse entrepreneurs to do the needful.

    Advertisements and Broadcasting

    A former Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission engaged me on a strategy to reposition the broadcasting industry as a veritable source of employments for mainly our youths and veterans of the creative industry. Unfortunately since his unplanned exit, subsequent leaders have been focusing more on the technicalities of frequency allocations which in today’s world is practically useless. What restriction is there on a station given the authority to cover a particular region but is available on the net for anyone across the globe to access? The huge social/economic potentials in the area of modeling, products and public advertisements are conveniently ignored. Today companies freely recruit foreign models or produce their advertisements abroad. The cost of a TV programme parading mainly foreign cast and crew with few locals in the name of local content is higher than what many stations grudgingly give 10 Nigerian producers yet we have NBC! Rather our local cuisines and fashions, the foreigners are calling the shots! Now we have a problem of value-perception emulating alien culture and avoidable medical problems emanating from the consumption of foreign products?

    Creative Arts and Entertainment

    CREATIVE writings and audio-visual productions are intertwined with the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression. Sensible countries therefore steer clear of legislating on those that can or cannot engage in them. Enforceable control and regulation are two-fold; first by the various practioners’ guilds that disallow non-members from operating; like in journalism for journalists only. Second is through the licensed distributors as the business arm. They decide what is produced; how and when it gets to the public. The National Film & Video Censors Board is the agency with the legal mandate to regulate distribution. It developed a New Distribution and Exhibition Framework, NDEF for that purpose.

    Unfortunately, its present leadership believes that the best way to solve a problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist! It has therefore tactically abandoned the NDEF, focusing instead on classification and censorship, ignoring the reality that without an operational NDEF, all its decisions on censorship and classifications are of no effect. That is why despite yearly budgetary allocations in billions, our public space is still awash with offensive movies and music! To effectively contain all the challenges in the industry, full implementation of NDEF is a must, better to be championed by the Board already legally-empowered but now wholly funded by NEXIM which by its exclusive mandate is responsible for developing and funding Nigerian entertainment products for exports. New anti-piracy law is needless because Nigeria already has one of the best in the world. Absence of licensed operators of the distribution system to administer and simplify its enforcement is the issue. The NFVCB and the rudderless Film Corporation must immediately be excised from government funding.

    –‘Yinka Ogundaisi is a writer, filmmaker and marketer

  • Kenya’s tourism industry under threat

    Kenya’s tourism industry under threat

    Hoteliers from Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast region and sprawling game park reserves said tourists have started cancelling trips to the east African nation after Islamist gunmen last week killed 148 people at a university campus.

    Chilling survivor testimonies recounting how gunmen from Somalia’s al-Shabaab militant group hunted down and killed students has shocked Kenya and dealt a fresh blow to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s plans to boost the tourism sector.

    Meanwhile, Al Shebaab’s terror campaign is starting to have a deleterious economy-wide consequence. “The sell-off that’s driven the Kenyan shilling to the lowest against the dollar in more than three years is poised to extend after the country’s deadliest attack by Islamist militants in more than 16 years. The currency weakened to its lowest since Nov.16, 2011 after militants attacked a university on April 2, killing 147 people. With Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants threatening more violence, tourism, which has been in decline since the start of 2013, may shrink further, impacting the East African nation’s second-largest source of foreign exchange, according to Rich Management Ltd. The shilling has declined for four consecutive weeks.”

    A vital part of east Africa’s biggest economy, Kenya’s tourism industry has been in decline since 2013 when al-Shabaab stormed an upscale shopping mall in the capital Nairobi, killing 67 people during a bloody four-day siege.

    Since then, repeat al-Shabaab attacks and travel warnings issued by the likes of Britain, US and Australia emptied Kenya’s palm-fringed beaches and forced hotels to lay off staff.

    Hoteliers say the pre-dawn attack on a campus in Garissa, a remote town 200km from the Somalia border, far off the tourist trail, is likely to spark another wave of redundancies in the hospitality sector.

    “We were expecting tourists from UK, Germany, France, Australia and Asia continent but they cancelled their bookings when they learnt of the terror attack,” said Peter Kipeno, the owner of a luxury tented camp in Kenya’s Maasai Mara game park, nearly 600km from Garissa.

     

     

  • African Travel Times honours tourism stakeholders

    African Travel Times honours tourism stakeholders

    African Travel Times magazine has announced the institution of an annual award.

    According to its Publisher/Editor, Lucky Onoriode George, the award is to annually recognize excellence in the travel and tourism sector in Nigeria.

    George said:“It is the process that differentiates the new awards from others, as awardees will be selected by professionals in the various subsectors”.

    Among the corporate organisations recognised for the  2014 and the inaugural edition are: God Is Good Motors – Best Emerging Transport Company in Nigeria; Eko Hotel & Suites – Most Supportive Travel and Tourism Organization; Carnival Calabar – Best Domestic Tourism Product; ABC Transport Plc – Best Family Friendly Transport Company in Nigeria;Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt – Most Resilient Performance Award in the Hospitality Industry.

    So far, some of the winners have received their awards in private, while others have been notified and a presentation will be done at a later date.

    Meanwhile, Mr. George said from this year, the awards ceremony would form part of his publication’s annual travel and tourism dinner, a special event to bring together industry practitioners, suppliers and related establishments.

  • I’ll focus on agric, tourism, says Amosun

    I’ll focus on agric, tourism, says Amosun

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has promised to pay more attention to agriculture and tourism as both have the potential to generate wealth and jobs to assist the state achieve self-sustenance.

    Amosun said the need to diversify the economy was imperative, following the dwindling drop in prices of oil at the international market.

    The governor spoke at the weekend in Maun, Ipokia Local Government Area while addressing All Progressives Congress (APC) members, supporters and residents during his re-election campaign tour.

    He said before the discovery of oil in commercial quantity, Nigeria survived mainly on agriculture.

    According to him, Nigeria should cease taking oil as the mainstay of its economy as the reality in the global oil market has shown that revenue from crude oil could neither be predicted nor relied upon.

    The governor said: “Oil has continued to fall in the international market. That is bad news for Nigeria because as we all know, oil is our mainstay. We are compelled now to shift focus from oil to agriculture where we have comparative advantage.

    “Before oil came, Nigeria survived mainly on revenue from agriculture. All the economic wonders performed in Nigeria before Independence were products of agriculture. We must go back to it.”

    Amosun said agriculture and tourism potential abound in Ipokia Local Government Area and assured that his administration would accord them priority.

    But he reiterated his commitment to ensuring that the exploration on the oil-rich Tongeji Island takes off.

    “The falling price of oil will, however, not discourage us from exploring the oil reserve we have here on Tongeji Island. We are committed to its exploration and we shall do it in due course.”

  • ‘Tourism as catalyst for economic development’

    ‘Tourism as catalyst for economic development’

    In an effort to enhance the revenue profile of the state, the Ondo State Government embarked on diversification of all sectors of its economy. One of the sectors that had received the Olusegun Mimiko-led administration is tourism.

    In the circumstances, various tourists’ sites have either been upgraded or developed.

    For instance, realising the importance of tourism in the development of any country’s economy, Governor Mimiko instituted the Mare Festival six years ago. While inaugurating the fiesta, he said a well developed tourism sector has the potential for driving and sustaining economic development of the state. He added that tourism and culture play significant roles in modern economy.

    Recently, the government inaugurated the Idanre Hills Resort, Habitat 1 and Tourism Zone for which the Federal Government praised its efforts in ensuring that the state is recognised as one of the world-class tourists’ destinations.

    The formal opening ceremony and launch of Idanre Hills Resort, Habitat 1 and Tourism Zone, held at Odode-Idanre in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State.

    The Director- General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs Sally Nwechue-Mbanefo described the state’s initiative in tourism development as a significant contribution to the overall development of the Nigerian tourism industry.

    Nwechue-Mbanefo, who described culture and tourism as very vital to the nation’s development, praised the state government for paying necessary attention to the advancement of tourism in the state.

    While expressing her delight with the spate of development at Idanre Hills Resort within a short period of one year after her last visit to the state, Nwechue-Mbanefo said she was marvelled at the huge transformation recorded at the resort.

    She noted that her job was to promote tourism in the country, promising to project Ondo State as a world-class tourists’ destination.

    According to her, Ondo is her favourite in terms of tourism attraction, stressing that the development would not only generate employment for the teeming population, but will also eradicate poverty among the people. According to her, the initiative will attract people from all over the world, even as she assured the state of Federal Government’s support.

    While declaring the Idanre Hills Resort open, Governor Olusegun Mimiko reiterated the resolve of his administration to create jobs through the development of culture and tourism.

    Represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr Kola Ademujimi, Governor Mimiko said “the government is committed to harnessing the abundant cultural and tourism treasures in the state to create job opportunities for the teeming youths.

    In view of the various benefits derivable from culture and tourism, the government has mapped out strategies aimed at overhauling the sector in order to enhance revenue generation and to reduce the state’s seeming dependence on allocation from the Federation Account.”

    According to him, the state has to diversify its economic base, even as the country is currently battling with the economic uncertainty arising from global drop in oil prices.

    He noted that the tourism industry has additional potential of providing jobs for the youth and generating additional revenue necessary for the provision of infrastructure and economic growth, thus enhancing the well-being of the people.

    Governor Mimiko further explained that the journey to genuine tourism development for sustainable economic growth began with the institution of Mare Festival six years ago, adding that this was

    in recognition of the strategic role tourism plays in any country’s economy, even as he also added that culture is a catalyst for a sustainable tourism development and promotion.

    According to him, since the inception in 2009, the festival had recorded

    remarkable successes, as it has attracted national and international patronage

    while boosting the economic well-being of the host community.

    He said the Mare Festival has put Idanre, and indeed, Ondo State on the World Tourism map, pointing out that the significant achievement was attained not because the concept and contents of the festival were carefully drawn up to make it appealing to tourists, but as a result of provision of environment that is conducive to economic development.

    Governor Mimiko revealed that his administration has identified and elevated some notable community festivals to the status of state festivals to prevent them from going into extinction and to promote tourism that will facilitate economic growth.

    In his welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Dr Wanle Akinboboye, commended Governor Mimiko for his passion for the development of tourism in the state.

    He urged the people to support the state government in its bid to develop the tourism sector.

     

  • 2014: Difficult year for Nigerian tourism

    THIS year is supposed to be an epoch year for Nigeria being 60 years since Nigeria, through the Nigerian Tourism Association (NTA), joined the United Nations World Tourism Organization in 1964. Many expected much within the years,but unfortunately, not much was achieved.

    In January, Nigeria, through the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, was expected to participate in the FITUR tourism expo to market the country. Unfortunately, the NTDC failed to attend, having earlier promised to participate.

    The next event was the ITB-Berlin in March.  It is the biggest tourism fair in the world where virtually all the top players, countries and corporate organizations participate. It was an embarrassment for the country as the organizers left a space for Nigeria. Unfortunately, the Nigerian stand at Berlin was left empty. Many Nigerians at the fair were disappointed.

    Ebola and Nigerian tourism industry

    Nigeria’s hospitality industry is the fastest growing in Africa. Annually, bed spaces  above 1,000 are being added by new international hospitality brands. Although the hospitality industry is still growing with new hotels springing up,  2014 turned out to be the most difficult year for the hospitality industry in recent times.

    The biggest single event that impacted on tourism in Nigeria was the Ebola virus disease. Ordinarily, most hotels in Nigeria’s two major cities, Lagos and Abuja run at an average room occupancy of 70 per cent, but 2014 was different.

    It all started on July 20 when an Asky Airline flight originating from Liberia landed at the Murtala Muhammed International  Airport, Lagos. One of the passengers, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, collapsed and was rushed to the First Consultant Medical Centre, Obalende, Lagos. It turned out  Sawyer had contracted the dreaded Ebola disease. The ripple effect sent the Nigerian hospitality industry crashing. Because of the failure of the late Sawyer to disclose his health status, some  health workers were infected. There was genuine fear that the country would soon see an outbreak of Ebola. This sent the country into panic. Many foreigners took the next available flight out of Nigeria. Many airlines cancelled flights to Nigeria and many countries treated visitors from Nigeria with suspicion. Countries like Australia outrightly denied visitors from Nigeria visas.

    It was a nightmare for international hospitality brands in the country, as they saw the occupancy rate crashing overnight from 70 to 90 per cent to less than 10 per cent.  Suddenly, hoteliers were faced with the problem of survival. Many were forced to cut down their budgets and devise means of survival. They had empty rooms with fixed costs.

    It was an industry on the verge of collapse that heaved a sigh of relief when on September 21  Nigeria was declared an Ebola-free country by the World Health Organisation (WHO). However, four months after this declaration, the hospitality industry is yet to recover from the effect.

    Appointment of new Director-General for NIHOTOUR

    When the tenure of the former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Munzali Dantata,came to an end, President Goodluck Jonathan approved the appointment of Mrs. Chika Balogun  as the new Director-General. It was a new dawn for the NIHOTOUR.

    In her maiden meeting with stakeholders recently in Abuja, Chika unfolded her agenda for the industry, promising to reposition the institute to be more responsive to the industry and attuned to the needs of the industry.

    The Brazil misadventure

    Nigeria also lost the opportunity to burnish the country’s tourism profile in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup mundial . Prior to the World Cup, there were plans to set up a Nigerian village to showcase Nigeria’s tourism and culture and also use the opportunity to invite visitors to Nigeria. However, the plan was scuttled when the NTDC and its partners led by Mr. Azania Omo-Agege entered into a serious disagreement.  At the end of the day, it was a show of shame as Nigerian tourism  made little or no impact in Brazil.

    The  Synagogue hostel

    Outside business tourism, the biggest tourist attraction to Nigeria is religious tourism and a large chunk of this tourist traffic  comes from the followers of T.B. Joshua, the man in the Synagogue.  Before the collapse of a building belonging to the church, every week, tens of tourist visitors flocked to Nigeria for spiritual experience. It is rather  unfortunate that Nigeria is bereft of a Tourism Satelite Account (STA), it would have captured and given the specific figure of the number of tourist arrivals that flock to Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun.  The  hostel of the church  killed more than 100 religious tourists to the church. Since then, the number of tourist visitors has shrunk. The church has a very effective bus shuttle service that caters for these inbound visitors. Despite this, many of the visitors still provide big business for the airport  car hire service. Many of them complained of low patronage with the dwindling number of tourist visitors.

    Many stakeholders  complained that the handling of the information after the collapsed building by the NTDC, from a tourism perspective, was very poor. They complained that there was no publicized visit by Director-General of the NTDC, Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, to visit the site for on-the- spot assessment. They  pointed out that disasters do occur in distinations, but the aftermath is very critical. The country, through the tourism board, ought to keep tourists within and outside the country abreast of what was happening. This is done by telling the truth about the situation and then going on to say what the country of the tourism board would help solve the situation. This, they say, was never the case. Tourists in and outside the country were left with no assurance and what was being done would be expected by any tourist organization on top the event.

    The effect, they say, has made many  ruled out coming to Nigeria.  It was double jeopardy for Nigerian tourism industry,having lost heavily as a result of the hurried departure of business tourists due to the Ebola scare and the country heavily lost in the area of  religious tourism as a result of the Synagogue hostel collapse.

    Akwaaba 2014

    October saw the hosting of the 9th edition of the Africa Travel Fair, Akwaaba. It was a success. This year’s event was heavily affected by the Ebola crisis. Many international participants withdrew at the eleventh hour. However, this did not affect the quality of  the attendance as many from within and outside the country trooped to the venue. Among those honoured at the fair were Africa’s first female pilot of Boeing Dreamliner.

    In the first week of November, Nigeria, for the first time in 2014, put up a stand in a major tourist fair to promote Nigerian tourist. Unfortunately, due to the past experience, many boycotted it. The tour operators boycotted the stand. One of the leading travel personalities in the country described the Nigeria’s performance at the fair as the worst from Nigeria since Mrs. Omotayo Omotoso, the former Director- General of the NTDC. However, the NTDC was quick to explain that they had a financial constraint.

    Generally, 2014 was welcomed with high hopes in the industry, but a series of events, including self-inflicted ineptitude conspired to stop the country from making progress in the industry.

  • Oil price slump…tourism to the rescue

    Oil price slump…tourism to the rescue

    The global oil price slump has forced the Federal Government to resort to austerity measures. Experts have called on the government to market tourism to enhance economic development beyond the national mono-product economy, using the Osun State example for tourism marketing, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    With the plunge in the crude oil price in the international market,stakeholders have asked governments at all levels to look beyond oil and reposition the tourism industry for global competitiveness. The call was made at this year’s Brand Journalists Conference, which held in Osun State with the theme: “Tourism Marketing as Catalyst for Economic Development”.

    As the major source of revenue, crude oil prices have been on the decline globally, since June, nearing $83 per barrel, down to about $32, or 28 per cent from its high point earlier in the year. The Bonny Light, Nigeria’s reference crude, is being sold at about $83 per barrel. This has forced the government to announce austerity measure with the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, saying the country would from this month, start to feel the impact of the falling global oil prices.

    She noted that the country needed to prepare for tougher times ahead by reviewing its expenditures and building economic buffers through budgets that would be based on modest oil prices.

    However, stakeholders at the conference were of the opinion that this measure could have been avoided if tourism marketing had been taken serious by governments at all levels.

    The Nigerian Guild of Editors’ President, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the failure of the government to heed the clarion call on diversifying the nation’s economy by promoting tourism is one of the reasons behind the effect of oil price slump on the nation’s economy.

    “For years, running into decades, tourism has been identified as one of the veritable alternatives to oil as a major revenue earner for the country. Many countries of the world do not have natural resources, and depend largely on earnings from tourism. Israel, despite being beleaguered politically and surrounded by hostile neighbors, thrives on the marketing of its historical sites. All year round, tourists and pilgrims troop into Israel to visit sites venerated and considered holy by the major religions of the world,” he said.

    Citing the potential of the sector to boost the gross domestic product (GDP), he revealed that between 2003 and 2004, Australia’s inbound tourism consumption to GDP was $7.6 billion. “The same happens in many other countries of the world. But here in Nigeria, our potentials lie fallow, dormant and in most cases, untapped,” he explained.

    Adesina noted that some of the major barriers the government has allowed against tourism marketing are poor infrastructure, insecurity, poor health care and lack of political will to use oil proceeds to develop tourism in the country.

    As a result, Osun State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Culture & Tourism, Omo-Oba  Adetona Sikiru Ayedun said many of the barriers have led to diminished economic growth, reduced profitability in the travel and tourism sub-sectors, which many more countries are seriously adopting as a viable development option for income generation.

    He said the state government led by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has set the target of N15bilion revenue from tourism by next year.

    He said: “Our vision is to tap into over $3 trillion revenue available globally through tourism. The Osun State government led by Ogbeni Adesoji Rauf Aregbesola targets N15 billion revenue from tourism by 2015. This projection is technically and consciously proved by our robust gains and interrelationship with tourism and culturally endowed nations like Cuba.”

    While addressing these challenges, he said the state government has aggressively improved infrastructures such as roads, power and security after a tour of Cuba where the government got exposed to the idea of marketing of tourism. “Our business visitation to Cuba has exposed us to ideas on how tourism and culture could be promoted as revenue earners for Osun State in particular and Nigeria in general. This is what we are doing and we are reaping benefits from the actions,” he said.

    The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Sunday Akere said some countries rely solely on tourism as the bedrock of their economy hence, the need for government to look beyond the curse of oil and market tourism as new economy driver.

    In repositioning a place as a tourism destination, Adesina, however, suggested certain critical factors that could be called irreducible minimums. They include:

    Marketing strategy

    Akere asked rhetorically: “Does as an army go to war without first formulating a strategy to combat the enemy? Does a soccer team enter the pitch for a competitive game without a strategy to rout the opponent? Does a pilot get into the airspace without first having a flight plan? So, can you not also reposition tourism destination without marketing strategy? How do we do it? When? Where? To which end? Who are the people that will do it? What are the resources needed? What are the tools to employ?”

    Adesina said all these are germane questions critical to finding answers to the challenges of marketing tourism. “But as said earlier, Nigeria is not lacking in recommendations and theoretical frameworks. A lot of them have been codified and outlined over the years, but are gathering dust in the shelves of our ministries, agencies and parastatals. Now is the time to dust them up, update them, and begin to run with the vision. But definitively, we must formulate what should be our national strategy for repositioning Nigeria as tourism destination,” he noted.

    Asking government to employ push and pull marketing strategy, Adesina said government should find out what motivates tourists in their choices of destination.  “These are called the push and pull factors, and Nigeria must necessarily take care of them, if she would take her place as one of the world’s favorite tourism destinations,” he explained.

    According to him, some of those push and pull factors include infractructure, security, cost and political stability.

     

    Infrastructure

    “Do we have the roads, the hotels, the tourist sites, the airline services, the water transport, and other means of mass transport that can support tourism? These Nigerian roads that have become death traps? Roads where you spend hours on end for journeys that should just take about half an hour? An airline industry where flights are delayed endlessly, or cancelled whimsically ‘due to operational reasons?’ Or waterways where ferries capsize at frightful intervals? All these are infrastructure that support tourism, and to move forward, Nigeria must devote a large chunk of its annual budgets to infrastructure upgrade,” Adesina said.

    Security

    He continued: “Can there ever be tourism in the face of massive insecurity characterised by insurgency, kidnappings, robberies on highways, and murders? Not at all. The tourist wants rest, recreation, relaxation, fun, and an experience of a lifetime. But he does not want to lose his life in the process. As long as Nigeria fails to solve the insecurity problem, so long will the tourism Eldorado elude her. Reports of insecurity, particularly of terrorism and kidnappings, elicit international attention. And Nigeria has a surfeit of those kind of reports now. It will affect our fortunes as a tourism destination, no matter how hard we market ourselves. Get security right, and the tourists will flock in.”

    Cost

    While noting that tourists want rest and relaxation, but they do not want to pay an arm and leg for it, Adesina said “costs of goods and services are rather prohibitive in Nigeria, compared to other countries on the continent, and even in the world”.

    He said despite the rebasing of Nigeria’s economy and rated as the largest in Africa, the impact on goods and services is still fetched. “Do you notice that our top hotels perhaps, charge the highest rates in the world? Do a comparative study, and you would see the truth in it. The tourist wants quality, but at reasonable prices. Some families save round the year, in order to take a holiday. Should they then land in the debtors’ prison after the holiday, because they have been completely fleeced of their earnings? For Nigeria to compete as a global tourism destination, government must work harder to keep the economy on an even keel, so that prices of goods and services can be stable, and within reach,” Adeshina explained.

    Political stability

    With political instability posing a threat to tourism growth, Adesina said it will be foolhardy for any tourist to visit a crisis-proned tourism destination such as Nigeria. He said: “Which tourist wants to visit a country in turmoil, or one that could disintegrate at the next hour? Not many. Which tourist wants to visit a country where lawmakers are seen on global TV being tear-gassed, and scaling dangerous fences to get access into parliament? Which tourist wants to visit a country where elections are followed by flares of violence, with many lying dead in the streets?” he asked, warning that Nigeria must get her politics right. “It has grave implications for tourism,” he warned.

    He, however, said “when tourists get all the above and more, what you get is loyalty, and return visits,” there will also be massive recommendations to other people, which will drive up traffic. “There is nothing better than a fulfilled tourist,” Adesina added.

    Why reposition?

    As oil prices continue to decline at the international market with global competitiveness in tourism sector across the globe, Adesina said it is a must for the Nigerian government to reposition tourism as a catalyst for economic development.

    “Why reposition? Is it by force? Well, it is by force. Without repositioning, we will not get the best that is possible from our tourism. There is now increasing worldwide competition, with each country putting its best tourism foot forward. Also, we must reposition because the preferences of tourists keep changing. What you offered a year or two ago may not suffice for today or tomorrow,” he said.

    Again, we must reposition because having a fixed image would not promote a destination effectively. That is why the world’s greatest brands keep coming out with different types of advertisements and promotions. Repositioning allows you to rejuvenate your tourism destination. It also allows you to know your client, his needs, motives, drives, purchasing behavior, and how you can respond appropriately,” he concluded.