In her determination to develop tourism in Nigeria, former Miss Nigeria 1984/85, Honourable Rosemary Okeke has launched Romarox Tourism competition 2019 to boost domestic travel in the country.
The event which was held at Ikoyi recently, rallied major stakeholders in the core and allied tourism industry to a day of rededication and celebration of the Nigeria cultural essence, where music, dance, drums and attires showcased the richness of the Nigerian people.
According to Okeke, Nigeria have the potentialities not only to make tourism the mainstay of the economy, but also to create employment and generate huge revenue that will reduce our dependence on oil.
She said the global changing trend of tourism has not only raised the economic status of many countries, but has also helped them to attract tourists patronage, which include thousands of Nigerians, who know little or nothing about the rich tourism sites abound in Nigeria.
Okeke stated that to encourage domestic tourism and to ensure patronage of our local tourist sites by Nigerians, the Sub Urban Heritage Initiative (SUHI) launched the Romarox Tourism Photo Competition on April 26th, 2012 in Abuja and was subsequently endorsed by the then Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation.
She further explained that the competition seeks to ensure that members of the public appreciate their own immediate environment, adding that it has embodied it in its goals the noble intention of spreading the message of peace, hope, love and the strength that is characteristic of the Nigerian people.
The competition, she said also prides itself with passing down values of heritage of love to the underprivileged people amongst us through the skill empowerment projects of the Sub-Urban Heritage Initiative geared towards their socio-economic growth and development.
The former Miss Nigeria added that the competition serves as a medium for Nigerians to explore potential of their immediate environment by making it a prospect that has enormous economic value, which include job creation, promote backward integration to the sub-urban than the urban.
She, however called on all and sundry to participate by uploading on the website, original pictures of tourist attraction sites in their immediate environments in any and every category of the competition which includes: special scenery, natural wonders, legendary materials/iconic human, ecosystem festivals, history, monuments, developed tourist sites.
“The competition is a positive idea that promises mouthwatering prizes. The general public and all who mean well for the growth and development of domestic tourism in Nigeria therefore are enjoined to submit entries for the competition on the website which has being open for registration since March 2nd, 2019 and is slated to end on October 16, 2019.”
She called on Nigerians to contribute to the growth of the tourism sector by identifying and discovering unique and profitable tourist opportunities in our various locales.
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