The Nation Newspaper

Tag: tourist

  • Abuja Bantaba: Stakeholders renew commitment to tourism marketing

    THE third edition of the Bantaba tourism speed dating

    was recently held inAbuja, and it was a success story. It

    was an opportunity for stakeholders in the industry to come together to discuss some of the salient issues affecting the sector and the way forward. With the Akwaaba annual travel fair, the foremost West African travel fair holding in Lagos, the Bantaba speed dating offers a platform for travel trade networking in the northern part of the country.

    Raising the marketing tempo of the tourism industry in Nigeria via-a-vis the Akwaaba platform, the 2013 Abuja Bantaba demonstrated the convergence power of the private sector as the driver of the tourism industry globally, when core and allied players in the tourism registered their presence.

    The one-day event that hosted a mini exhibition, matching travel buyers with sellers and allied tourism players also reduced the cost of individual marketing in Abuja and the North, vis-a-vis attracting buyers by using greater attraction through the speed-dating and marketing efforts of sellers with high-powered seminar session.

    The Bantaba did not only boost marketing and speed dating with face-to-face incentives through the one day buying and selling activities, but also widened stakeholders scope on growing and building the businesses and industry altogether.

    The speakers drawn from different tourism fields dealt with different topics allotted to them for discussion and in return touched on salient issues affecting the tourism industry and how they can firmly proffer solutions that would bring decency to the partnership drive for onward development.

    However, the organiser of the Abuja Bantaba did not only do their homework well to create the platform for buyers and sellers in the travel and tourism industry to grow their businesses, but also to cross-fertilise ideas on areas where the tourism sector can rank with others globally.

    The publisher of ATQ Magazine and organiser of Abuja Bantaba, Mr Ikechi Uko, who addressed stakeholders at the one-day speed-dating travel and tourism show said Abuja Bantaba will continue to improve on the content of the platform to position stakeholders’ business domestically and globally.

    Uko added that to boost the capacity of attendees, they decided to introduce more speakers and topics that addressed the immediate problems facing the tourism industry.

    Some participants spoke on the event. Movenpick Hotel Accra’s director of sales, Mr Andrew Asare-Boafo, said: “You can see that your efforts have been recognised. It gives us a good feelings, an appetite to do more, and for Bantaba to recognise us outside Ghana is a plus for us.

    “I am so amused and this award will turn out to be something good and it is going to be another challenge for us because it is not just that we have won an award, but the difficult aspect is to keep it and make sure that we keep the tempo to win again.

    “You know other hotels will be looking at us and will want to be there, so we have to work harder to keep it. The award is something that will motivate us to want to do more in terms of customers’ hospitality”.

    The Chairman, HRG and former President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, Mr. Femi Adefope, who spoke on travel management companies, said that they do more and provide wide-ranging services, including taxi, parking(in-country), sourcing of meeting venues, video conferencing facility, among others.

     

  • ‘International tourists between January and April were 298m’

    A total of 298 million inter
    national tourists travelled worldwide between January and April 2013, 12 million more than in the same period last year, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.
    Prospects for the current tourism peak season remain positive with some 435 million tourists expected to travel abroad in the May-August period.
    International tourist arrivals grew by 4.3% in the first four months of 2013 to reach a total of 298 million, up from 286 million, despite a challenging global economic environment.
    Results were positive in all regions, with the strongest growth in Asia and the Pacific (+6%), Europe (+5%) and the Middle East (+5%) and weaker growth in the Americas (+1%) and Africa (+2%). By subregion, South-East Asia (+12%), South Asia (+9%) and Central and Eastern Europe (+9%) were the star performers.
    “International tourism continues to show an extraordinary dynamism,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.
    “The 4.3% growth in the number of international tourists crossing borders in the first months of 2013 confirms that tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of our times, contributing in a central manner to the economy of a growing number of countries” he added.
    Emerging economies growing faster Growth was stronger in emerging economy destinations (+4.6%) as compared to advanced economies (+3.3%), a trend which has marked the sector for many years now. By region, growth was positive in all regions, but results where rather mixed.
    Asia and the Pacific (+6%) saw the highest relative growth boosted by arrivals in South-East Asia (+12%) and South Asia (+9%).
    International tourist arrivals to Europe, the most visited region in the world, were up by 5%; an excellent result in view of the economic situation in the region. Central and Eastern Europe (+9%) continues to lead growth, while Southern and Mediterranean Europe (+5%) also turned in strong results.

     
    Africa (+2%) and the Americas (+1%) reported a rather weak growth in the first four months of 2013, though following the strong progress of 2012 (+6% and +5%, respectively). At the subregional level, results were rather flat in all subregions of the Americas except in Central America (+4%). In Africa, the 3% growth in Subsaharan Africa contrasts with even results in North Africa.

    Growth in the Middle East is estimated at 5%, though this figure should be taken with caution as it is based on still rather limited available data.

    435 million tourists expected to travel abroad during the tourism peak season

    Prospects remain positive for the period May-August, the Northern Hemisphere’s summer season. Around 435 million tourists are expected to travel abroad during these four months which account for as much as 40% of all international tourist arrivals registered in a year. The pace of growth might slow somewhat, as shoulder seasons tend to show faster growth than the peak season.

    International air travel reservations for May-August from business intelligence tool Forwardkeys support this outlook with a 4% increase in bookings for that period. The highest growth is recorded in international flight reservations from Africa and the Middle East (+7%) and the Americas (+5%), followed by Europe (+3%) and Asia and the Pacific (+2%).

    This outlook is confirmed by the UNWTO Panel of Experts Confidence Index survey which shows sustained confidence for this period, though with variations by region and activity. Confidence picked up significantly in Europe, the Middle East, among Global operators, tour operators and travel agencies. On the other hand, confidence decreased among experts in Asia and the Pacific, the Americas and Africa, as well as among experts in the transport industry.

    For the full year of 2013, international tourist arrivals are expected to increase by 3% to 4% in line with UNWTO’s long-term forecast of 3.8% per year for the period 2010 to 2020.

     

  • Oguta Lake: From tourist attraction to ravaging ocean

    Oguta Lake: From tourist attraction to ravaging ocean

    UNTIL recently, the Oguta Blue Lake was one of the wonders of nature. Located in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, it transverses the two oil producing local government areas of Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta, providing aquatic splendor and bliss.

    Before it overflew its banks, the Lake was an awe-inspiring sight to behold for tourists.

    Oguta and other satellite communities near the Lake benefited from its fame.

    Although, predominantly farmers, residents of the communities in recent times witnessed an upsurge in commercial activities as small-scale businesses and the hospitality industry received significant boast.

    Recently, Governor Rochas Okorocha laid the foundation stone of the Oguta Lake Tourist Centre, with the intention of harnessing its huge tourist potentials.

    Engulfed in the beauty of its scenery and the huge oil deposits within its shores, Oguta adopted a community anthem sung in Igbo, “Oguta obodo oma, Oguta obodo oma, obodo oma, Oguta bu Obodo anyi maramma”, (Oguta the beautiful city, Oguta the beautiful city, Oguta our beautiful city).

    Still basking in the euphoria of their community, the once beloved Blue Lake, like a rampaging and monstrous beast, overflew its banks and submerged over 200 buildings.

    It washed away hundreds of acres of farmland and displaced more than 5000 residents from 15 communities, including Ngegwu, Abatu, Umuamam, Umuachiashi, Okposa and other communities.

    Narrating their ordeal, some of the victims told The Nation that despite the losses they suffered, they could not imagine life outside the banks of the Lake.

    An expectant woman, simply identified as Madam Rose, said that the flood came upon them in their sleep.

    She said: “The Lake was calm and beautifuls as usual, before we went to sleep, but suddenly there was a heavy noise like that of a mighty wind and the Lake suddenly became turbulent and surging.

    “At first, we thought it was one of those nights when the Lake experienced increased current but around 3.30am, water started rushing into our homes.”

    Others, who echoed the same experience, noted: “We fought hard to stop the surging wave by erecting obstacles. But they were washed away by the current and at that time we lost hope and started evacuating the little property we coulld get after we had rescued our sleeping children.”

    Most pathetic was the case of a man who relocated to the roof of his submerged building and refused to come down.

    According to his neighbors, the man, Kenneth, believed to be 38 years old, refused to evacuate his house after it was submerged by the flood because he had nowhere to relocate.

    His plan was to stay on the roof till the floods receded.

    Pa Rufus Ignatius, 70, described his ordeal thus: “Since I was born, I have witnessed ocean surge once but nothing can be compared to what we are seeing today.

    “My only building has been submerged. How can I build another house at my age? I lost my wife last year and two of my children equally lost their buildings to the flood. We have nowhere to go now.”

    During his visit to some of the flooded communities in Oguta, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha expressed shock at the level of devastation.

    He was accompanied by the House Committee Chairman on the Environment, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, the Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Jones Onyereri and Deputy Committee Chairman on Gas, Gerald Irona.

    Ihedioha urged the victims to remain calm, adding that help was on the way. The House has resolved to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the 22 ravaged by the flood.

    According to him, the visit was to enable him have a first-hand information on the extent of damage done by the flood for onward passage to the lower chamber of the National Assembly.

    He said the incident would be built into the 2013 Environmental Hazard Budget.

    Ihedioha, who donated N800, 000 to the victims, regretted that both residential and public institutions had been to ruined by the floods.

    “We are studying the situations in the 22 states and we will engage environmental experts who will provide comprehensive information on the way out,” he said.

    Ekwunife and Onyereri in their separate reactions sympathised with the victims and assured them of their various committees’ assistance.

    Gerald Ironna, the member representing Ohaji-Egbema/Oguta Federal Constituency, described the flood as strange and destructive, adding that Oguta and Ohaji –Egbema council areas are not only the oil producing areas of the state but the food basket as well.

    He said that concerted efforts should be made to resettle and rehabilitate the victims by the state and federal governments to avoid possible outbreak of epidemic. “My people are passing through a horrific time, we appeal to international agencies and the Federal Government to come to our aid, our people have been rendered homeless by the flood, we want the oil companies working in our communities should be alive to their responsibilities especially in this trying time”, he appealed.