Akwa Ibom set for NATOP 5th AGM

From right, The Commissioner of Culture and Tourism Akwa Ibom State, Mr Orman Esin, President NATOP Hajiya Bilkisu Abdul, NATOP BOT Chairman and Acting President of (FTAN) Nkereuwem Onung, NATOP BOT and FTAN BOT member, Ambassador Ikechi Uko and Ime Udo, NATOP, Vice President.

The Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Tourism, Orman Esin and his Information and Strategy counterpart, Comrade Ini Ememobong were effusive in their praises of the Tourism offerings of Akwa Ibom.

This was at the joint press conference organised with the leadership of Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State recently. According to Hon. Esin “Akwa Ibom is the real deal, we have the options for all types of Tourism in Nigeria. We have the biggest hotel property in West Africa, Consistent Growth over the years. We knew that bringing Naija7wonders group to our state in December for the Christmas Village will bring us the attention we needed. Now we have secured the AGM of the strongest Promoters of Tourism in Nigeria. We are your partners and will grow tourism together.

“The governor has a vision of a modern state and has deliberately engineered the development of Industries and improved on the existing infrastructure.

Today, IbomAir is celebrated all over the nation as a standard of excellence. “

In his speech, the Information and Strategy Commissioner, Comrade Ememobong highlighted the strong points of Akwa Ibom State.

“Cuisine, infrastructure, scenery, people and buildings are the hallmarks of Akwa Ibom State. We are a very secure place not by accident but by the determination, focus and will of the state government.

“The Governor is an industrialist and the state will benefit from energising the Tourism Stakeholders to come and enjoy the synergy of our Facilities.

Akwa Ibom is your best choice for Tourism in Nigeria”

The AGM with the Theme “ Restarting Tourism in Nigeria: A new Template” will be held in Uyo from the June 26 to 28. It will also involve a trip to the tourist attractions in Akwa Ibom State for the tour operators and invited tourism journalists.

Earlier in her speech the President of NATOP, Hajia Bilkisu Abdul thanked the state for choosing to host the AGM, adding that two other states are ready to host but the executives decided to come to Akwa Ibom States because of the high rating among tourism practitioners.

She told them that the Chairman BOT of NATOP, who is also the Acting President of FTAN, Nkereuwem Onung and the Vice President Mrs Ime Udo are from Akwa Ibom so it was home coming for the association.

“It is a great honour for me and for NATOP to be here today for this press conference. It is exactly two years today that we were at Ikoyi cemetery for the burial of our late leader, Mrs Fatima Garbati who died in Ile-Ife in 2019. We sincerely missed her guidance and wise counsel.

“Today starts the process of renewal for NATOP. Her death knocked our association off track. We mourned for a long time and just when we planned for our 2020 AGM COVID-19 struck. The pandemic was the worst thing that has happened to tourism in Nigeria. And during this period, it seriously affected our businesses. Without movement there are no tour operations. Our members suffered from one lockdown to another.

Domestic tourism started to come back to life towards the end of last year. I am glad to note that Akwa Ibom state became one of the star destinations for tour operators. They came for the Christmas Village events in December and observed that it was a great success. They found your state rich in attractions

As we began to breathe back life into tourism, insecurity and high airline ticket prices became a big problem.

“These two factors of tourism are some of the reasons we picked Akwa Ibom State as our destination of choice for our AGM 2021.

“Akwa Ibom State is secure and has the Infrastructure that we need for tourism to thrive. It has one of the Best Resorts in Nigeria; it has an Airline and an Airport.

“Our coming to Akwa Ibom State is not accidental. NATOP uses its AGM to promote domestic destinations. All our past destinations of choice have become viable locations for Tourism.

“In 2016 we were in Calabar, Cross River State for our AGM, in 2017 we moved to Lagos, in 2018 we were in Jos, Plateau State in 2019 we went to Ile Ife, Osun State.

“We did not hold AGM in 2020 as we do not think Virtual

Conferences yield value for Tourism. We must do what we preach. If People don’t move there is no Tourism so we move People.

“As we come to Uyo our members will obey all the approved COVID-19 protocols and we hope to enjoy the bounties that Akwa Ibom offers.

“Our guest speaker for this AGM is the former Ghanaian Minister of Tourism, Catherine Afeku, who initiated the success-driven year of return project organised in Ghana.

“She will share with us some of her experiences as we seek to restart tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic troubles.”

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