The Director-General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa has called on the new leadership of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) to double its efforts at uniting members of the federation for the good of the tourism industry to take its rightful place as the number one revenue generating sector of the Nigerian economy.
Kangiwa who made the call while receiving the newly elected FTAN led by the President, Mr Nkereuwem Onung in his office in Abuja noted that the long existing internal bickering within the federation has caused the industry serious drawback which has hindered the achievement of any meaningful progress in the development of the Nigerian travel tourism and hospitality industry as the preferred sector in the diversification the economy of the country.
While calling on members of FTAN to stand united as the voice of the organised private sector of the travel tourism and hospitality industry of the country, Kangiwa promised NIHOTOUR’s continuous collaboration with stakeholders in the industry to improve the human capacity content of the sector through vocational skill acquisition training and re-training of industry personnel for better quality service delivery in line with global best practices.
Kangiwa then called for collaborative efforts between the Institute as host of the Nigerian Hospitality and Tourism Sector Skill Council with FTAN as the umbrella body of the private sector stakeholders to continuously improve and encourage training of personnel and professional practitioners in the industry as well as work towards evolving a dependable, accessible and reliable data base for the industry labour market and other sectorial information necessary for planning and achieving effective and efficient operations in the industry.
In his address, FTAN President, Mr Onung said the visit was informed by the critical position and role of NIHOTOUR in the training and provision of the needed manpower for a flourishing tourism industry in the country.
He pledged that his tenure as FTAN president would explore all available means to ensure that private sector operators in the industry uphold the principle of continuous personnel training and re-training by patronising the vocational skill acquisition services that the institute provides for all cadres of professional and non-professional practitioners in the sector.
Chief Onung who noted with dismay the inability of the country to tap into the potentials and socio-economic benefits of the tourism industry, said his tenure as president of FTAN will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the potential of the sector are properly and adequately harnessed for the socio-economic gains of the country.
He said if properly tapped, tourism can comfortably replace oil in terms of job creation, poverty alleviation and high-income generation for the nation’s economy, but regretted that this wasn’t possible because of the lip service played in the growth and development of the sector.
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