President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been charged to focus on making Nigeria tourism competitive as it has the potential to rival other sectors.
Founder and President of La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, stated this in an open letter he penned to the president.
He commended the president for identifying tourism as a game changer for the development of the country’s economy by creating a stand-alone Tourism Ministry.
This, he noted is despite the chequered history of tourism, with the previous administrations relegating it to the background, while also canvassing for its retention going forward.
“As a tourism practitioner of over 40 years’ experience and having built from scratch, La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, I was particularly excited when you first assumed office and identified tourism as a possible game changer in terms of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings and employment of youths.
“This was a drastic departure from your predecessor, who since 2015 had merged responsibility for tourism with responsibility for ‘culture’ and ‘national orientation,” he said.
He further stated: “The sheer breadth of the resultant Ministry’s mandate, in my humble opinion, guaranteed that it’s Minister would be unable to successfully grapple with the challenge of turning Nigeria into a tourism destination of choice, which transition is required if we want to grow an economically beneficial tourism industry in Nigeria.
This lack of focus had therefore meant it was not possible to take ‘advantage of our advantages’ by growing an industry that leveraged off Nigeria’s natural features, vibrant history and the warmth and hospitality of its people.’’
Like the incurable optimist he is and pragmatic as well, which had seen him turned Ikegun Village, host of La Campagne into a thriving economic, he charges the President that it is time to make tourism competitive.
“As a country, we are blessed with amazing and varied geographical features, a rich history and a resilient population who are eager to welcome visitors. It should therefore be possible to build a tourism industry that is capable of rivaling other sectors in terms of its foreign exchange earning capacity and job creation.
“However, Nigeria needs to create a framework that enables the country offer world class tourism destinations and experiences to discerning international and domestic tourists.
“A key step in this journey involves identifying the current status of existing tourism sites, many of which are government owned and putting in place plans to converting the sites to tourist destinations.
“In this regard, it will also involve entering into partnerships with credible local investors to arrive at destinations that leverage off the uniqueness of our culture and heritage.
“It is important to note that if one truly wants to attract tourists, you cannot simply offer up a geographical feature (the tourism site); for example a waterfall. You have to surround it with items that encourage the tourists to stay and to spend on items like accommodation, restaurants, sporting activities, local crafts.
“It is at this point that the site can be incorporated into tourism packages that can be marketed to local and international tourists because they offer more experiences than simply viewing another waterfall, however, beautiful.”
Akinboboye also advised that it is unwise to call on foreign investors to develop the sector as such investors will merely seek to replicate what is available elsewhere. This will unwittingly reduce the uniqueness of the Nigerian experience and the interest of the tourist as he can easily experience such facilities elsewhere or even at home.”
He expressed delight over the dedication that the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Lola Ade-John and her team has displayed in the discharge of their responsibility, saying, “I am particularly impressed by the fact that she and her team are currently visiting existing tourism sites and obtaining a first-hand impression of what needs to be done to transform them to tourist destinations.
“From our discussions I can see she has the passion to push the ministry in the direction it needs to go.”
I am hopeful she will realise that, although most of our tourist sites are owned by the government it will be cheaper and more cost effective for government to transform them into tourist destinations in partnership with the private sector.’’
‘‘I would like to emphasise that my comments on the Minister are simply being advanced in response to your request that Nigerians should give feedback on the individuals you appointed as Ministers.’’
He however offer to help in whatever capacity to develop the sector, which has been his forte over the four decades.
According to Akinboboye ‘‘As a patriotic Nigerian, who has been building tourism in Nigeria and not confine my efforts to words alone, I am prepared to contribute my quota towards driving an exponential growth in our tourism sector.
ALSO READ: Police arrest man for attempting to sell daughter for N1.5m
and then