NANTA President urges FG to reposition tourism, aviation in Nigeria

Bankole Bernard, President, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), recently in a breakfast meeting with Tourism and aviation journalists in Lagos, called on the Federal Government to practical strategies to actualize its change mantra of making tourism and Aviation one of the mainstays of Nigeria economy.

Bernard while urging the Federal Government to hold a stakeholders meeting on how the domestic airlines can survive, equally emphasised that the need for the domestic airlines to fly to destinations that are profitable to their operations.

NANTA Boss who implored the media to assist the agencies in pioneering a call for the redemption of the aviation and tourism sectors in the country said he is working closely with the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC to grow the tourism industry.

He frowned at some of the impediment stopping the Nigeria airlines from partnering with tour operators to sell many exciting destinations in Nigeria.

He observed that it will be very difficult for the domestic airlines to thrive in the country with such excessive government charges and taxes.

On the need to re-position the country’s travel and tourism industry and to draw the attention of the government to the huge opportunities in the sector which he said they may not see, the NANTA President hinted of an ongoing efforts being made to work with the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC to grow the tourism industry.

NANTA boss while querying why the Nigerian airlines could not partner with tour operators to sell many exciting decisions in Nigeria, expressed cynicism on whether domestic airlines may not be able to thrive in the face of government’s unfriendly policies.

He said tourism will not thrive in Nigeria when the agencies are buried under Information, Culture, National Orientation and Tourism and under one Minister who cares more about information and other areas.

On the part of reassuring Nigeria of a credible association, Barnard said NANTA will be delighted to see the ID Card scheme come to reality when is launched in March for only the body’s approved and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA endorsed operators.

“This would not only change the perception of the general public but give a sense of belonging to the practitioners within the industry and be seen as true professionals that we are, which will automatically eliminate fraudsters.

“The immediate and future gains of this scheme are numerous and in due course, we shall invite you to the public unveiling of this strategic security product that will question and check the prowling of our business lines by fake and fly-by-night operators. Let me state earnestly that with this card, which has the backing of government aviation regulatory agencies, the days of spoilers in our midst are over.”

Bernard also reviewed and reflected on the challenging times of 2016 and the early part of 2017, particularly with the difficulty of foreign airlines to access and repatriate funds, the closure of Abuja Airport, almost concurrently which added to the strain of doing business in Nigeria, without minding the near collapse of facilities at the country’s major gateways, Murtala Mohammed and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airports in Lagos and Abuja and the rate of exchange to purchase tickets which was increased to N360/$1 which made the cost of purchasing tickets in Nigeria unbearable.

“As you may wish to recall, we embarked on visits to most of the foreign airlines to appeal against the mad rush out of Nigeria at that telling period. The added support and backing from media owners, who saw to our point of argument and took to editorials and informed analysis to convince the relevant authorities to do the needful, saved our aviation sector and its downstream value chain,” he said