Our Reporter
The 2020 edition of the National Tourism and Transportation Summit (NTTS) was held this week in Abuja with the call by the Minister of State for Transportation Senator Gbemisola Saraki for the summit to come up with ideas and proffer solutions that would help improve transport and tourism. It was also a summit stakeholders at the summit agreed was very necessary as it offers an opportunity to brainstorm as the world moves towards the post-COVID-19 era with the challenges of the tourism and transportation sector. and need to proffer solutions to these new challenges in
Senator Saraki said this in her goodwill message at the opening ceremony of the summit at the Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC). She said this year’s summit was crucial because of the government’s drive to diversify the country’s economy. She said: “I believe that the tourism industry is capable of contributing significantly in this regard as in the case in other countries. Tourism has the capacity to create massive job opportunities for our teeming population and attract much needed foreign capital. A robust transportation sector is integral part of a thriving tourism industry and we at the Federal Ministry of Transportation are working hard to provide transportation infrastructure and services to support internal and external tourism”
In his welcome address, the chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of the Summit Chief Abiodun Odusanwo said the theme of the summit ‘Repositioning Tourism and Transportation Connectivity and Mobility to Revitalize the Economy’, could not have come at a better time as the global community was battling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which has globally hit the travel, tourism, hospitality and transportation sectors hard…”
He said the annual hosting of the summit and expo has the objective of deepening the connectivity between tourism and transportation for maximum inclusive growth and sustainable development of the Nigerian economy.
The NTTS summit this year also saw the integration of a series of key players in the tourism and transportation industry whose operations are linked and connected which many were not aware of the importance to the greater success of the sectors.
The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, in his speech, said as a global competitive business, no part of the world can develop without vibrant multimodal transportation network including national carrier which is in the making for tourism to play its rightful role of job creation, revenue generation, foreign exchange earnings and entrepreneurial skills development for the youths.
Also delivering his speech, the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said for tourism to continue to thrive and provide support for the economy, safe and secured road transportation and general highway safety was key. He said road safety must be included as priority in the agenda of tourism activities.
He said further: “The FRSC in its quest to make Nigerian roads safe for the citizens have churned out programmes and activities in line with global best practices to facilitate safety on every inch of the 204,000 km road network. Those efforts along with other measures are designed to promote the business climate of the country tailored to improve travellers’ experience, safety and security.”
The Conservator General of the National Park Service, Dr. Ibrahim Goni used the summit to announce that out of the country’s seven national parks, three are available for commercialization. He said: “Recently, the Federal Government has approved the partial commercialization of the three national parks in the country: “Gashaka Gumti, Kainji Lake and Cross River national parks. This offers an avenue of ample investment opportunities for those in the transport and hospitality sectors to invest in viewing trucks, park lodges, restaurants, etc.”
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