Nigeria tourism despite its huge potential has remained on the back foot, with the nation and stakeholders hardly reaping the multiple benefits, a situation that is blamed on the lack of vision and political will by government at all levels to focus appropriately on the sector.
Year 2020 marks the beginning of a new decade of development and many nations, including the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), have unfolded ambitious agendas for the sector in this new decade, with UNWTO projecting an arrival figure of 1.8 billion, with just one of every five persons in the world travelling around the globe.
While there is no projection whatsoever on tourism sector from the Nigerian government, however, stakeholders in the sector, cutting across a large spectrum, ranging from academia, hoteliers, chefs, to tour operators, and administrators share their thoughts on the agenda for tourism in this unfolding new decade.
Chef Paulius Okon: FG needs to strengthen NTDC for efficiency
Sadly enough Nigeria has been paying lip service to the development of tourism as a reliable source of revenue in the last decade. At a time when the other West African countries and the world are busy building and strengthening their tourism potentials, Nigeria can only boast of tourist site without any reasonable developmental framework.
In the next decade, Nigeria needs to strengthen the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) both financially, materially and otherwise. When NTDC is strengthen, then it must do the following:
Locate, and develop to international level all the tourist sites in the country, with state of the art access roads supported with link routes; All the states with such sites must have a functional international or local airport, with a 24 – hour pick up to the available tourist site if possible;
There must be hotels and lodges of either four or five star international standard close to these sites; There must be a frame work for tax relief on hotels, lodges, produces, merchants and companies that sponsor, support or contribute reasonably to tourism and tourism related trainings, symposium, trade fair and workshops, especially those endorsed by NTDC.
NTDC must budget for tourism related associations and organised bodies that meet up certain criteria or develop reasonable tourism related activities. All these and more are achievable where there is a deliberate will, commitment and funding from the government.
*Chef Paulius Okon, is the president of Association of Professional Chefs Nigeria (APCN)
Sophia Khan: Focus on tourist sites, right policies, infrastructure
Nigeria government should really look at developing and reviving tourist sites in the country. The local government should try to partner with the private sector to revive and manage these sites in order to generate great revenue for the councils.
Well, the visa on arrival policy will see more people coming to the country for various reasons but I doubt if it will be for tourism. But if the tourist sites can be improved and tourism can be promoted then we can see more visitors come into the country for tourism.
Look at Dubai, proposing five years visa for tourists. They had 21 million tourists last year and still aiming to have more this year.
I doubt if Nigeria can have that number in 10 years. Unless we realise that tourism is the new oil and start investing in it and taking care of our God given assets, I am sorry, the story may remain the same really.
Even the stakeholders, is all talk, no actions and all I hear is there is a limit we can go, we need government to put some policies in place before we can do this or do that. Maybe they are right, but I still think more can be done to push the government to do more.
We need to come out with ideas, something we can start working on as stakeholders or private sector before the government or investors can come in to support us.
*Sophia Khan, is the managing director of El Khan Travels and Tours Limited, Abuja
Ebele Eze – Enemchukwu: Govt must provide enabling environment, right incentives
I expect to see more attention given to the tourism sector. Sincere attention if I might add. First, I would like to see a dedicated Federal Ministry of Tourism. I would also like to see more promotion and marketing of our tourism sites to both local and global audiences. In addition, the patronage of our tourism destinations by top government officials (including the president and state governors) for their vacations and leisure time out, will be very exemplary.
Government should provide enabling environment and regulatory framework for tourism to attract both local and international investors. Such things as tax incentives will go a long way. With the right incentives in place, funds from both local and international investors will flow naturally in developing tourism sites and infrastructure in Nigeria.
It is, however, my hope that over the next decade, we get to a place where Nigeria becomes top of mind when tourists think of tourism in Africa.
*Ebele Eze – Enemchukwu, former Mrs. Tourism, Nigeria/United Nations and founder, WABIO International
Prince Femi Oluwasina Fadina: Tourism economy is what we must promote
It is sad that we have refused to see tourism development, not product development, as the major objective of our economic growth. Majority of our team leaders (Minister of Information and Culture, governors and all elected office holders) refused to realise that our products are local driven and they need all our leaders developing them; the traditional institutions, local government and the states, must work as a team to develop products and market them together.
In Nigeria today most destinations are neglected, absence of implementable tourism act, absence of a national carrier and lack of patronage of local investment by government officials are also factors impacting the sector negatively.
It is good to promote products but the fabric of the product must be in the content of the product. Tourism economy is what we must promote, develop and build.
*Prince Adetunji Femi Fadina, CEO, Dinat Consulting and chairman of Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Council Tourism Committee
Philip Maga: Govt should create a regulatory body for tourism
The government should enact an act creating a regulatory agency for the sector; Commence and maintain a bi-decade review of national tourism policy and tourism master plan; Create a fully – fledged tourism and culture ministry; Establish a national carrier even if it is run by private sector or through private and public sector partnership (PPP); and abolish multiple taxation on tourism services.
Also, promote coastal tourism to flourish like other destinations; Improve on packaging Nigeria as a tourist branded destination and market Nigeria abroad; Encourage tourism participation among the locals, support development and promotion of domestic tourism to encourage foreign tourists into Nigeria.
In terms of the private sector commitment; Collapse the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) and create an independent guild of tourism service providers with a front that will not go to public agencies begging for favours; Every sub – sector or industry should have individual guild to further their professional operations with foreign affiliations; Have laws, legislations and regulatory body to regulate individual service providers, like hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, tour operators, fast foods, lounges and nite clubs, and resorts operators; and embrace National Skills Qualification programme to bridge the demanded skills gap and competencies for quality tourist service culture delivery
As tourist arrival figures forecast for the next decade, it may not be up above 5%.
*Philip Maga, academic secretary, National Institute for Hospitality (NIHOTOUR) and tourism/secretary, Hospitality and Tourism Sector Skills Council of Nigeria
Clara Chinwe Okoro: Focus on digitally-enabled growth to generate new employment opportunities
The future of travel is technology-based, so tourism jobs will require both technical and advanced soft skills used to effectively implement and manage smart initiatives.
The greatest societal impact of digital transformation in tourism may be the effect on the sector’s workforce, which directly and indirectly represents one in every 10 jobs worldwide.
Like in other economic sectors, intelligent automation will change the nature of some travel jobs and eradicate others altogether. However, digitally-enabled growth will also generate new employment opportunities that could outpace the automation of existing roles, especially as strong growth is forecast for the sector.
Artificial intelligence is now a major disruptor at most airports and you barely have human contact as you pass through customs and immigration.
*Clara Chinwe Okoro, MD, Brandworld and convener of Tourism and Technology Summit 2019
Samson Aturu: Pursue an alternative model of developing tourism through PPP model
Nigeria’s prospects are further enhanced by its strategic location, which will enable it to take advantage of booming demand across Africa and other parts of the developing world, especially with AFTCA. Add to that a large and growing population and entrepreneurial spirit, the future looks bright; especially with the visa on arrival for African countries being introduced.
In order to unleash the huge potentials and ensure that the next decade brings sharp reduction in poverty, we must pursue reforms aimed at increasing productivity, raising incomes, and deliver essential services like health care, education, transportation and power.
To increase productivity and incomes in the tourism sector, government could pursue an alternative model of developing tourism by engaging the private sector on a ‘PPP’ model aimed at opening up more tourist sites and attractions without necessarily holding on to such sites, which will further create jobs and increase productivity.
Some of the states have begun to realise this new opportunity in the tourism sector, hence efforts are already being made to tap from the existing opportunities. In states like Cross River, Ekiti, Bauchi, Imo, and Lagos, the governors have started to put up machineries that would help them to harvest the tourism potentials within their domains.
Furthermore, an aggressive international marketing of tourism products in Nigeria must be the way to go if we expect to have a share from the global tourism market. To this end, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) that has the mandate to develop and market tourism in Nigeria, needs to take it responsibilities seriously.
I foresee a massive growth in the tourism sector in the next decade with a major contribution to the nation’s GDP. I may not be able to put figures on this growth, as our current statistics may not be verifiable. Welcome to a new decade of tourism growth in Nigeria.
*Samson A. Aturu, chief executive officer of Compass Hotels and Suites Limited and president of the Hotel and Tourism Management Association of Nigeria (HATMAN)
Donald Stilting: Nigeria needs private sector specialists, entrepreneurs to drive its tourism
The good news; the growth potential for tourism in Nigeria is enormous. The bad news: Nigeria can only be competitive short term on the domestic market but this still means a multi-million dollar business volume. Nigeria has a number of serious drawbacks and strong competition on the international market, which will be hard to overcome in the short or even mid-term.
Tourism can only flourish in a conducive environment. Nigeria has a number of tourist sites, but these are not very well -known beyond the borders. A number of them are not in a good condition, despite being of historic and cultural significance.
This is caused by the fact that tourism is the portfolio of the states of the federation and the priorities (and funding available for tourism) greatly vary depending on the vision (or lack thereof) of the politicians at the helm.
Nigeria’s bad reputation in terms of security (generalised and not entirely justified) in the world will deter most foreign tourists. Nigerians are more familiar with the actual situation and willing and able to deal with it.
Foreigners are not able to differentiate between different African countries, let alone regions within a country. This means that certain areas of Nigeria may be safe enough for tourism but the guests will not recognise it and consider the whole of Nigeria as dangerous.
Tourism requires good infrastructure and a welcoming culture. Getting a visa to visit Nigeria is an expensive, time-consuming and discouraging venture for non-ECOWAS-visitors. Other African countries, where tourism is flourishing make all these a completely different experience.
There it only requires a valid passport, a smile and sometimes a small fee upon entry. Murtala Muhammadu International Airport Lagos seems to be designed to deter, both the facilities as well as the frustrating experience passing immigrations and customs.
Who should be driving this development to make tourism a main source of income for the country? This should, without a doubt, mainly be done by private sector specialists and entrepreneurs with the objective to generate profit. Only if profit is generated, will the facilities continue to be maintained and operated at the required standard and tax income will flow to secure the actual tourist sites, thus making the development sustainable.
Though some interesting initiatives were launched by governments/governors, these were often ignored once the ruling party changed. Promising projects were demise (e.g. Obudu Mountain Resort). Politicians love to cut ribbons and need to have successes to show for it, but this often rules out long-term strategies, which will only show results after a longer period of time. An entrepreneur who invested his money will continue as long as there is profit and will maintain the project in order to make it sustainable.
Public sector on federal level will have to officially make tourism development and especially marketing, a priority, which should go beyond political statements and should include actual infrastructure improvements aimed at supporting tourism region. The federal concept of Nigeria is preventing actual efficient work and development to take place, as there is a constant battle among states to get a slice of the cake. Government should take advice from impartial international experts.
Nigeria’s neighbor, Ghana (with several functioning tourism-related agencies) was very successful putting itself on the tourism map in 2019 using the ‘Year of Return,’ with a determined and well-financed marketing effort.
It is sure that this costly campaign has a lasting impact on the inflow of foreign tourists into Ghana. Nigeria has some similar slave trade related sites (South-East Nigeria was a main source of slaves) but there was no effective campaign to benefit from The Year of Return.
When a state insists on investing tax-payers money into actual tourism facilities, such as hotels, they should work according to private sector principles (-> objective = profit) and get advice from experts. There are plenty of examples of massive investments in prestigious hotels where financial failure has set in or is to be foreseen. It means that money is wasted and projects will turn into embarrassments, which could have been avoided.
The Nigerian consumer mentality towards hospitality and tourism also has to change. While Nigerians spend top dollar in Dubai and other foreign destinations, their only concern when informing themselves about a hotel or resort in Nigeria is ‘discount.’
Even some high-net-worth-individuals refuse to accept that operating a facility at a consistent high-quality level and with good service means that considerable cost will be made. Fortunately, a few high-end hotels have managed to make it clear that quality comes at a cost, but the majority of the sector are struggling to achieve reasonable prices. That means that there is not sufficient money to attract quality staff or maintain the facilities.
*Donald Stilting, GM, Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, Nwaniba, Uyo
Trevor Ward: Future of Nigeria tourism is in local, state govt, private sector partnership
My vision for the next decade, is therefore, for state government to understand the value of tourism to their people, to gather together the local government areas (LGAs) and the private sector, and provide the enabling environment for job creation.
As a tourism product, Nigeria has so much to offer – culture, festivals, art and design, music, food, beaches, game parks, mountains, trekking, adventures and so much more. Lagos in particular has a great, great offering, and the local infrastructure is there to support it.
By ‘infrastructure’ I mean hotels, restaurants, roads, airport, health care and so on, much more than many destinations in the country. All the things that tourists want, need and desire.
Responsibility for the tourism industry is devolved by the Federal government to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and it is from there, and from the local government areas, that the development and promotion of tourism must come. It will not come from the central government, let’s face it, what have any federal minister of Tourism achieved that has stood the test of time?
If you go to the international travel trade fairs, sure, the countries have their exhibition stands, but the work within those stands is being done by the regions, the cities, the towns and the villages, and by the private sector; the hotels, the theme parks, the conference centres and others.
If tourism in Nigeria is ever to get off the ground (and it is big business in Lagos and a few other cities, such as Owerri), then the initiative has to come from the local public sector (I mean states and LGAs) and the private sector players in those areas. A great example was Cross River State in the time of Donald Duke and Liyol Imoke as governors, who prioritised tourism as a source of income and, most importantly, job creation.
That’s what we do in tourism, where there’s growth, we create jobs, lasting jobs, some of them for unskilled people, many of them for women, and many in places where there are no other employment opportunities.
Start with attracting more domestic travellers, give them the confidence and the ability to visit your city, your town or your village. Help the private sector to improve the quality of the hotels, the eateries and the tourism attractions there. Work with other cities, town and villages to create circuits for international travellers, who want to see more than just the one place.
Not forgetting that for foreign visitors, the federal government has a role to play in making Nigeria easier to visit. This continuing farce of a “Visa on Arrival (VOA)” will do nothing to promote tourism. A VOA is actually, like in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and several other countries, where you queue up at immigration, pay your US$50 or whatever the entry tax is, and in you go.
It is not this requirement for government approved invitation letters, biometric details, height, weight and inside leg measurement that are demanded. Talking of which, the requirement for three people to check your passport on arrival, the third to check (normally rudely) that the second did their job properly (I’m not sure what the first one is there for) doesn’t put the visitor in a happy mood.
Tourism is a huge, global industry, and Nigeria isn’t getting its fair share of international arrivals. It could do, couldn’t it?
*Trevor J. Ward, managing director, W Hospitality Group and Hotel Partners Africa
