1. What are your expectations for Nigeria tourism in general for 2024?
My expectation for the year 2024 is for all tiers of government to support and create an enabling environment for tourism entrepreneurs. Their offices should be opened for questions, complaints, suggestions, and challenges in the tourism industry. This will encourage open communication, feedback, and discussion about any concerns the practitioners may have.
As the Federal Government of Nigeria have created a sole ministry for tourism in 2023, which was very much anticipated by tourism practitioners across the country, the move was a step in the right direction. However, the new minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John who assumed office on the 21st of August 2023, have not been able to act because she have been battling against illness. The ministry had been dormant since it was created last year. I will suggest that a committee is selected from the private tourism practitioners. This committee will work with the ministry to promote tourism. The committee members should be active tourism practitioners that knows where the shoe pinches. Members should be selected from among tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers, resort owners, park owners, tour guides, etc. Tourism is a practical profession and theoretical tourism promoters will not take the industry anywhere.
2. What areas are you expecting growth and improvements?
I am expecting growth and improvement in the area of accessibility and communication between private tourism operators and government tourism agencies. The relationship will produce constructive solution as both private operators and government representatives convene to discuss the practical aspect of tourism that involves real situations and events, rather than just ideas and theories.
3. Expectations from the govt?
The government should create an enabling environment and policies that aid growth and development to ensure the survival of tourism businesses in Nigeria. The government agencies are in charge of implementing policies. No matter how great the innovation of a tourism operator is, no matter how creative the ideas the private tourism sector implements, bad government decisions and policies can easily kill them.
Government makes laws and policies and the purpose of these laws and policies should be to protect and create an enabling environment for tourism enterpreneurs.
In the year 2024, the national tourism master plan should also be worked on and cue can be borrowed from Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture that has produced a Tourism Master Plan for Lagos State but unfortunately the Lagos State Master Plan has not been fully implemented. No matter how great the ideas or innovation of the private tourism sector is, it needs an enabling environment to prosper. The duty of the government is to provide an enabling environment for the industry to do well.
4. Expectations from the private sector?
The private sector should be able to organize itself and identify real tourism practitioners. An avenue should be created to discuss industry problems and sought practical solutions as regard our immediate environment. It is the private sector that builds the tourism industry world wide and Nigeria tourism practitioners should position itself well to be taken serious by the government. The industry can only be supported when the private tourism sector have a united front devoid of selfishness, arrogancy and nepotism. The industry is wide with numerous sub sectors. Let the private sector select the best practical brains to represent them.
Another matter in question are tourism associations or groups. Some tourism associations are well organized while others are not. It's unfortunate that some tourism associations are formed in the country for the leadership to remain relevant in the tourism, use the associations for personal aggrandizement and there's little or no benefits for the members. The purpose of becoming a member of a tourism association or group is to explore and protect ones commercial interest. It is to represent and promote the mutual interest of the sector and it's members by promoting their general ideal, business interests (by fighting unfair competition), advice to members and provide industry information.