Tap into our tourism potentials —Ogun govt urges FG

Nigeria can reap bountifully if tourism potentials that abound in various parts of the country are properly harnessed as done by major economies of the world.

The Ogun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Basorun Muyiwa Oladipo, made this known at the launch of Virtual Tourism with the theme: ‘Impact of Tourism Development on the Nigerian Economy’ held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos.

Oladipo noted that if the tourism potentials were adequately harnessed, the revenue generation of the country would be drastically improved on, saying, the introduction of tourist visas to  visitors, as done in countries like Kenya, Spain and India, would go a long way at creating employment opportunities, thereby improving the economy of the country.

“The last time I was in Kenya, I was given a tourist visa at the point of entry at 50 dollars, imagine having a thousand visitor come into the country and issued with a tourist visa, how much do you think that would have earned the country. If these can be harnessed, tourism will become a source of revenue for the country,” he said.

He informed the gathering that the forthcoming African Drums Festival has been scheduled to hold between April 19 and 21, 2018, noting that the festival would continue to contribute significantly with modification  and innovation to further elevate the tourism potentials of the state.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr Steve Ayorinde, disclosed that the state would soon release a tourism and entertainment calendar showing activities and festivals that would happen in the state on monthly basis, adding that, if the country could get its mapping and communication right, a lot could be done in selling tourism to the outside world.

In his remarks, the Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mr Folorunsho Coker, represented by the South West Zonal Director of NTDC, Mrs Annette Ibe, applauded Skyview Communications, the initiator of the programme, for opening up tourism in Nigeria to the outside world, pledging that the corporation would support the gesture.

Earlier in his remark, the initiator and the Chief Executive Officer of Skyviews Communications, Mr Femi Lawson, noted that the conference would not only launch Virtual Tourism, but would also attract more foreign investors to the country.