FG must focus on state to effectively develop tourism —Chief Alabi

The Chairman, Board of Trustee, Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria and Company Secretary Eko Hotel and Suites, Chief Sam Alabi has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to redirect its effort of developing tourism from a national outlook to a state-to-state level through the building of tourists attraction to give its’ tourism as a low hanging fruit’s slogun a human face.

Alabi made this call during a round table monthly series organised by the apex body for tourism writers, Association of Nigerian Tourism Writers and Travel Journalist (ANJET), held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos on Tuesday.

The FTAN BOT chair who was personate about making tourism in Nigeria work said there is need for people of like minds to come together to develop and package our tourism industry to add value to Nigeria economy.

According to him, “from the time of the military regime, civilian and now we have always seen tourism as a national project and even today, tourism should not be spoken or be addressed as a national issue, which persist till date.

“It would be an anomaly if any minister is seeing tourism as a project that will cover the whole of Nigeria. Except we start from that angle of reality to knowing that for tourism to develop, we have to take it from a state level.

“Nigeria is too large for one Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation or Ministry of Tourism so where to coordinate efficiently and effectively to bring the low hanging fruits to the door of common man because I want to use their words; they say ‘low hanging fruit’ when there is no fruit at all there.

“People in Nigeria take the situation of the country different from others, no, the problem of tourism in Nigeria are the elites, they are people like you and I, who are suppose to patronise our tourism industry. Once Nigerians begin to consume their domestic products, tourism will develop in Nigeria. “But when we continue to believe that we have some foreigners somewhere that will come to our tourism destinations, that is where we will be getting it wrong. Each state should design packages that will attract people from other states within the same country, Alabi added.

Giving an instance of Lagos State, Mr Alabi said “if you go Apapa Amusement Park, the image of that park some years ago is not what is there now. The horrible Apapa Amusement park we use to know before is totally a cute and a very presentable place now.

“Let each state prepare a place where people can come and unwind. We have got the tourism indices wrong, because most often when people point at hotel, I say no, because hotel is a supporting or auxiliary tourism facility. Why would I go to Abuja to see NICON Hilton, to achieve what? Do you think I will visit Abuja because I want to see a hotel, why? Hotel is just an aspect of what takes care of tourists’ needs,

”Nobody travel essentially because of hotels, the earlier the federal and state government wake up to the reality of seveloping and packaging attractive tourism destinations  for people to visit and enjoy themselves, the better for us.

“Even when we build hotel(s), I used to ask people, why do I need to build a gigantic hotel if I don’t  have my capital? Let do it the way it is done in other tourism driven economy. Like in Kenya where you have the African concept, they built with thatch roof without elevator and expose to natural ambience and settings to attract foreigners. What amaze people are things we don’t recognised as important.

“I went to South Africa for a wedding reception and the venue location was many kilometres from Pretoria, honestly when we got to the venue, I discovered it was under an Orchard and not a build at all    with well decorated party setting, though very beautiful but I turned to my wife and asked what if it start raining and surprisingly one of the waiters who was behind me respond immediately, pointing at a nearby building which he said is a plan B should it rain and I was amazed.

“At the nut shell we have to redesign our scope and ask ourselves a salient question, how many of us are willing and ready to spend holiday in Nigeria, for those of us who have money. So what I am saying is that so long we do not consume Nigeria Tourism products, so long the business will be at its lowest ebb.