My focus is to identify, market Enugu tourism potential globally —Commissioner

The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Enugu State, Hon Ugonna Ibe, has described the state’s participation at the 2019 National Festival of Arts and Crafts (NAFEST) held in Edo State as an eye-opener, a privilege he said allowed him to see the beauty of Nigeria’s rich tourism potentialities under one roof.

According him, “The event is a springboard to scale up the present administration’s domestic tourism agenda to a more viable initiative that will increase the investiment drive viz-a-viz tourist traffic to the state.

“Our culinary delight at the Edo NAFEST food fiesta is a tip of the iceberg of what we have for the world; putting the food splendor of the state side by side with other cultural activities that stand us out will help to tilt the world’s attention to Enugu State.”

Ibe, who led the state’s contigent to Benin City was optimistic that the NAFEST experience would linger for a long time as it was his first as a commissioner for tourism in the state.

“This is my first time in NAFEST and also as a commissioner and my impression is that the event is well organised; the attendance is impressive and the outing of each state is wonderful and I am very happy with the whole thing.

“My take home will not be complete without appreciating the Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for giving us the opportunity to not only feature here but also to show the world that we are one of the rich tourism states Nigeria can boast of when you talk of resources and potentialities when it comes to diversification in the areas of tourism.

“Going back home, I am going to share with my state the comparative advantage Enugu State has in culture compared to others and how we can build up synergy to repackage our tourism and culture offering to benefit the state and to impact on the economy because globally it has been  proved to be a money-spinner.

“We are going to continue to improve on our culture and tourism sector in the state. As a new commissioner in the ministry, I am working within the scope of working through the support of our action governor to give tourism a new look in the state.

“I hope to turn things around but my first assignment is to identify tourism and ecological sites in my state and work out a framework to promote and showcase them to the public. As you know, tourism cannot thrive without marketing and this will be one of my major focus.

“There are many wonderful tourism sites to explore in Enugu State like the Nike lake, Awhum falls, the oldest iron melting site is in my state, all these and other wonderful tourist sites will be packaged and be showcased to the world.

“Also, it is important to note that tourism is one of the biggest industries which have been globally proven to have potential for economic development, youth empowerment and employment,” Ibe added.