Nigerians have been called upon to embrace domestic tourism by visiting tourism sites within their localities, thereby contributing to the economy of the nation.
The General Manager, Dakamto Travels and Tours, Ibadan, Mrs Helen Agboola, made this call while conducting some indigenes of Ibadan on a tour of Ibadan city last Saturday.
Offa robbery case stalled, as father of slain police officer dies
She said ‘it is a pity that we don’t appreciate what we have. Some of us have this culture of patronizing lesser sites outside the country while neglecting the wonderful ones within our localities. There are many exciting sites in our localities with rich history and interesting stories. Rather, we neglect these sites, gather money to travel outside Nigeria to patronize less attractive sites”
Mrs Agboola lamented: “It is unfortunate that some of us don’t appreciate what we have. The fact is some of us don’t know what we have and we don’t care to know. Also, some of us don’t appreciate what we have because we don’t visit the places to understand what they are for. For instance, I am happy today that some of us in this bus are just knowing the meaning of Mapo hall, what it stands for and how it was constructed”
She decried that “our failure to embrace domestic tourism has contributed immensely to the economic recession because our lack of patronage of these sites has negative effect on the economy via job creation, less money in circulation and capital flight. The fund which is being expended outside this country by Nigerian tourists could have well supported the economy of Nigeria”
Mrs Agboola said “However, Dakamto Travels is poised to encourage Nigerians to embrace domestic tourism. We have fashioned out various packages for local tours and educational travels for students. We also facilitate strategic foreign tour for business and trade fairs attendance.”
and then