NTDC, Nanta partner to promote domestic tourism in Nigeria

THE Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mr Folorunsho Coker, has stressed the need to redefine the tourism sector.

He said there should be a redefinition of what tourism is as an industry, as a site and as a channel through which we drive the increase in consumption of tourism assets in Nigeria.

“Our initial focus is on domestic tourism, to make the best use of what we have and CONSUME MORE OF NIGERIA”, he said.

Coker said this while receiving an eight-man team of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) which paid him a courtesy visit at the corporation’s headquarters in Abuja recently.

The NTDC boss, who described the corporation as a corporate member of NANTA, expressed the readiness of the corporation to be a worthy partner to NANTA in championing the cause of tourism in Nigeria, and collaborating with the association in the area of statistics and data collection, to enable private investors know the potential of each.

Coker advocated tourism a working partnership between the private and the public sectors in the development and promotion of tourism in Nigeria. He observed that public/private partnership will boost the tourism agenda of Nigeria.

The national president of NANTA, Mr. Bankole Bernard, earlier in his speech, described the appointment of Coker as a blessing to the tourism sector, saying: “I am sure that the good work he did with Lagos tourism would be replicated in the 36 states in Nigeria.”

Bernard expressed dissatisfaction with the manner the promotion of tourism is being managed in Nigeria, saying, “Tourism has not been well developed, promoted and packaged because the country had wholly depended and focused on the oil sector. Tourism is everything. We all have to embrace it and take it seriously”.

The NANTA national president, who called for a conscious investment in the promotion of domestic tourism in Nigeria, described the country as a potential tourism market, with a vibrant and dynamic business environment especially with Nigeria’s in improved image under the present administration.