• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Naijafood by NIHOTOUR to partner Abuja Jabamah for bleisure tourism event

Naijafood by NIHOTOUR to partner Abuja Jabamah for bleisure tourism event

The Bleisure event, organised by Abuja Jabamah, will be supported by the best chefs from NIHOTOUR. Turaki Nura Kangiwa, director-general of NIHOTOUR, said this in his office in Abuja when he received the organiser of Jabamah, Ikechi Uko.

Turaki Kangiwa said that the coming together of Abuja Jabamah Wonders of Nigeria Expo and the Naijafood by NIHOTOUR is a great opportunity to showcase authentic Nigerian food and promote gastronomic component of tourism. NIHOTOUR launched a gastronomy event last year to stimulate interest in Nigerian food culture. The 2022 Abuja Jabamah event will offer the chefs an opportunity to showcase their mastery.

Abuja Jabamah will be the first Travel Bleisure event in Nigeria. According to the organisers it is set to disrupt the event space in Nigeria.

“In 2020 we organised the first phygital event in Nigeria at the Lagos World Tourism Day. The hybrid event went mainstream and afterwards we held weekly Zoom Conferences for six months as part of Naija7Wonders and now we are giving Nigerians Bleisure.”

Bleisure is a combination of leisure and business. It will be an experiential event that engages the five senses. The Abuja Jabamah will enable participants to see, touch, taste, smell and hear the city of Abuja. The formal event of Travellers Awards and B2B networking session will be held on March 11, 2022 while the picnic and party will be on March 12th and will have a bouquet of cuisine from all the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Ambassador Ikechi Uko says that delegates should come with their sneakers and casual dresses for the picnic.

The delegates will be treated to the best soups and street food from all corners of Nigeria. “We are known for Akwaaba African Travel Market and Accra Weizo. Now we are bringing a new concept to the marketplace; the Bleisure event. We are happy to have NIHOTOUR as our partner.”

Abuja Jabamah is known as the Wonders of Nigeria Expo. It is a business tourism event that showcases the best of Nigeria. It gives participants the opportunity to network, party, eat, drink, dance and do business. Travellers Award will be the main event for March 11, 2022. It is an annual award for the best performers in the industry. The award was set up to recognize individuals and firms who have excelled in Aviation, Travel and Tourism; and who also have contributed immensely to the growth of aviation, hotels business, tourism and travels in Nigeria.

Top tourism promoters in Nigeria, the best airlines and hotels will be honoured at the 2022 Abuja Jabamah, while Travellers Awards had announced the winners of the Tourism Awards for 2022 edition, nothing that without the great people nothing much would have happened on the tourism landscape since the lifting of the Covid19 lockdown in Nigeria.

Read also: Multi-million naira products, tourism potential for display during Saki’s annual Bere festival

The list was compiled based on tourism activities in 2021 that can be verified.

Travellers Award was instituted in 1996 by the Publishers of Travellers Magazine and Atqnews.com with the Theme “Promoting Excellence in Travels”.

The Top 5 Travellers of 2021: Bolaji Seun, Mariam Iyiola, Kingsley Nwachukwu, Cordis Marianuela Umeokoli and Ibrahim Makanjuola, while Tourism Communicator of the Year goes to Andrew Okungbowa of New Telegraph.

As well, Tour Operator of the Year (Outbound) goes to Diamond and Pearls Tours, Wakanow is the Travel Agency of the Year, Prof. Babalola Wasiu Adeyemo-Sultan emerged Hotel Man of the Year, while Farida Sagaya of Angel Style Tours is the Tourism Supporter of the Year.

In other categories, Ogbunike Carnival emerged Carnival of the Year, Danny Kioupouroglou, general manager, Eko Hotels and Suites Lagos, won the Hotel Manager of the Year and Hotel of the Year goes to Lagos Marriott Hotel Ikeja.

Winners in the Tourism Promoters of the Year include; Oguntoye Twins of Oguntoye Kehinde Oladele for promoting Igbo Ora Twin Festival, Cecile Mambo Doumbe of Cee Mambo for the Abuja Food Tour, Balogun Olamilekan of The Way of Wonders for Amala Hangout events, Peace Iyare for Abuja OldSkool event and Jibola Oluseye of Badagry and Lagos Tours.

Others are; Anago James Akeem Osho, Curated Tours of Nigeria, Bethel Moseglad of Mambilla Tours, Ekwueme Godsgift Ebuka of South East Tours, Prince Wale Olapade of Tribune Newspapers and Taiye Baiyerohi Olayemi of News Agency of Nigeria, Franklin Ihejirika of NigerianFrankNews, among others.

The Organisers had earlier announced some winners of the awards. NAFEST, the annual cultural festival and events packaged by the Olusegun Runsewe-led Nigerian Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC) has been selected as the Best Tourism event in Nigeria. Sterling Bank was unanimously chosen as the Most Tourism Friendly Bank of the Year. Pharmacist Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, the Lagos State Commissioner of Tourism, was chosen as the Best Tourism Commissioner in Nigeria in 2021.

Chief Allen Onyema, Chairman, Air Peace, was chosen as the Travel Personality of the Year 2021. The Tourism CEO of the Year 2021 is Turaki Nura Kangiwa, director-general of NIHOTOUR, while the Tourism Man of the Year is Nkereuwem Onung, president of FTAN.