Lola Ade-John, Minister of Tourism, has assured that the federal government will mobilize the country to support the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, come November.
The minister, who was visibly excited about the selfless determination and commitment of NANTA, a private sector travel trade professional body, to market and promote Nigeria, noted that the association’s patriotic push and desire to fly the Nigerian flag at the world most famous tourism and travel trade exposition, deserves the support of all Nigerians, particularly the state governments.
To add flip to the government’s intervention and support, the minister stated that the ministries of Culture and Tourism, both recently joined hands to approach all the 36 state governments to join the advocacy campaign to showcase Nigeria’s rich cultural tourism resources to the world at WMT this year.
“We are upbeat about supporting your association and looking forward to being at the WTM. NANTA has shown capacity and technical knowhow to stay ahead of this noble gesture, and as government, the Minister of Culture, and myself have met and agreed to support institutions such as yours to project this campaign, which is part of the government intention to provide direction for the private sector to create jobs and gain knowledge on how to welcome and satisfy visitors to Nigeria” she noted.
The minister further explained that she needs the support of NANTA and the organised Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN), to turn around the fortunes of tourism in Nigeria.
“By mid-September, we shall unveil the tourism policy, listen to the private sector operational ecosystem, discuss data and statistics ethos, which will help us plan, motivate, and inspire a reward ecosystem for private sector visibility and ownership of the sector. Our noble role is to offer guidance and assistance where necessary and ensure discipline so as to mobilize the informal sector and formal economy to improve our services, products, and offerings,” she added.
The minister expressed worry over the extreme bickering and animosity among practitioners, describing them as distractive and that they could ambush the progressive efforts both in the public and private sectors to have an organised bankable cultural tourism economy.
In line with the above, she prayed for sanity and collaboration in the industry.
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“I will work hard to enthrone harmony and togetherness. I don’t like to pull any official pressure to just show that I am the Minister of Tourism. I would like to be out there, working rather than sitting down here and receiving visitors and talking. We must work together, and I must confess that the media, even though critical of our activities, are veritable partners. We shall work with the Nigerian tourism media, this is not negotiable, but they must be patient with us, though not too silent,” she stated
On Nigerian visa, the minister said that the issue is receiving attention from the interior minister, and very soon, the change will be visible. She also assured that Nigeria would return to winning ways soon but urged all Nigerians to put their hands behind the efforts by the government to create an atmosphere that is acceptable and welcoming to both Nigerians and the visitors.
“I believe in the power of our domestic tourism, getting Nigerians to love Nigeria, visit each other and appreciate our rich socio-cultural diversity. NANTA is big, and I am sure together, we can make Nigerian culture and tourism trade great and very attractive,” the minister enthused.
Speaking earlier, Yinka Folami, the NANTA president, who led the association’s executive members, which included; Susan Akporiaye, immediate past president; Chinyere Umeasiegbu, first deputy president; Yinka Ladipo, financial secretary; Uloma Ibiwari Kamebonta, vice president, Abuja Zone; Johnson Ugochukwu, internal auditor, and Stanley Digi, chief administrative officer, assured the minister that NANTA is Nigerian cultural tourism centric and would do its best to be good ambassadors of the country.
He noted that the association has taken it upon itself to market and promote Nigeria at the World Travel Market in London, a project the association has done successfully in the past two years, committing huge funds and energy.
“It is a heavy burden for us, but we felt we must help our country in times of need to help tell the stories of our rich cultural and historical diversities, and we have no regret doing it because we believe in the Nigerian Project,” he explained, adding that NANTA expects the government to support the drive to bring Nigerian cultural tourism to the marketplace of global tourism and travel business.
“We honestly received some encouragement from NTDA and NCAC in the past. But we want to have a bigger Nigerian project at WTM and having done it successfully in the past two years, with the Nigerian students community in the United Kingdom turning out to support our initiative, we wish that government should be part of the marketing and promotion movement, which would help attract not only visitors traffic but also critical investment to the country,” NANTA president stressed.
