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‘Buhari’s decimation of Boko Haram, an opportunity for tourism to grow’

By Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja
13 August 2016   |   2:27 am
Even with pockets of violence across the country, Mbanefo still urged Nigerians to project the country image positively as that will go a long way in shaping the impressions of outsiders about Nigeria.
A scene from Abuja Carnival, one of the major tourism events in Nigeria.

A scene from Abuja Carnival, one of the major tourism events in Nigeria.

President Muhammudu Buhari’s ability to decimate and denigrate Boko Haram has created an enabling environment for tourism to flourish in Nigeria. This was the submission of the Director General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Sally Mbanefo, who spoke to The Guardian during the week.

Describing President Buhari as an unsung hero of businesses and tourism in Nigeria, Mbanefo noted that his aggressive denigration of the Sect in the North East has doused fears of international community and foreign tourists about the activities of the Sect in the country.

“Foreigners now have confidence in coming to Nigeria to explore business and tourism potentials,” she noted.

Even with pockets of violence across the country, Mbanefo still urged Nigerians to project the country image positively as that will go a long way in shaping the impressions of outsiders about Nigeria.

“Security challenge is not peculiar to Nigeria. Out of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, only about three or four were affected by the activities of the Sect.”

The D.G also believed that with the efforts of the pro-active Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, projecting the country positively before the international community has been on the front burner.

“This also means that Nigeria is on its path to experiencing a major breakthrough in its bid to diversify the economy through tourism,” she stated.

The D.G added that NTDC has signed Memorandum of Understanding with several countries, who are convinced that the country has become relatively safe for business and leisure.

“In the light of this, we have signed several Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) on partnership with some diplomatic communities to encourage their nationals to visit Nigerian destinations for possible investment

“We are in collaboration with some foreign tour operators to partner Nigerian tour operators towards facilitating tour processes for potential tourists.

“We are also collaborating with related government agencies such as Immigration Service and Airport Authority to fast track visa issuance and movement of tourists, respectively.”

In spite of the prevailing fears about the naira value, the D.G stated that there has been an improvement in tourism dollar accrual.

She regretted the fact that Nigerian public has remained grossly uninformed about the volume of revenue accruing from tourism due to lack of statistics.

“Everyone says our problem is funding but the main problem is that we do not have accurate statistics to convince the fund providers such as the private sector and the government of the actual contribution of tourism to the economy.

“If the government and the private sector know how much value tourism is currently creating, funding will not be a problem.

“The value chain of tourism job creation is not captured in statistics gathering, hence, weak funding and lack of recognition for the value it adds to the economy”, Mbanefo stated.

Adding: “The criteria for measuring the contribution of tourism to Nigeria’s GDP does not take into consideration the fact that transportation from residence, airports or border to place of tourism activity constitutes a major earning for the economy.

“According to Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria, Travel and Tourism contributions to the GDP is limited to accommodation. This is contrary to the United Nations, National Statistical Committee’s recommendation of the year 2000, where the measurement for Travel and Tourism contribution to GDP has been broadly expanded to cover transportation, accommodation, activities at destinations, food and drinks as well as other services tourists might need.”

To sustain the efforts at boosting tourism however, the D.G while decrying the deplorable state of infrastructure across the country, sought government’s intervention in giving them a face-lift.

“Nigerians spend about $110 million annually to procure visas to travel to Dubai because it has stable power and infrastructure. If we have constant power supply, cost of hotels will reduce drastically.

“Under developed tourism sites need to be upgraded and access roads provided. With the necessary infrastructure provided at the three tiers of government, our job of marketing the nation’s tourism potentials would be made much easier”, she added.

As an agent of domestic tourism, Mbanefo called for reinforcement of social studies curriculum in primary schools and history in secondary schools as a way of getting the younger generations of Nigerians conscious of the country’s tourism history.

These, she admonished, should be complemented with field trips as part of learning processes.

For the youths, explorative tours, excursions, camping, beauty pageant, music and drama shows should be encouraged towards promoting youth tourism.

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