SON inaugurates committee on standard for tourism products
Director Standards, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Abiola Komolafe (left); Representative of Assistant Comptroller General Immigration Zone A Lagos, Aliu Malik; Newly Elected Chairman, National Mirror Committee, Chika Balogun; President, Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria, Tomi Akingbogun; Director Operation SON, Felix Nyado during the programme orgarnised by Standard Organisation of Nigeria and Tourism Stakeholders in Lagos on Tuesday PHOTO: Ayodele Adeniran
As Nigeria begins the search for the alternative sources of revenue to oil and gas, stakeholders in the tourism sector led by Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) have decided to use this opportunity to develop tourism as a means of growing the country’s economy.
Tourism has become a high-income earner for many nations of the world. In 2014 alone, international tourism receipts rose to US$ 1.5 trillion, according to a report published by United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the organisation charged with the responsibility of promoting responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
Within that year, over 1.1 billion people travelled abroad.
But West Africa lags behind in the area of tourism sector according to the 2015 edition of the annual report on competitiveness in travel and tourism released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
This realization inspired the meeting of tourism experts called by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) during the week in Lagos.
At the meeting, the stakeholders inaugurated the National Mirror Committee (NMC) on Tourism and related activities whose mandate is to grow the sector through participation in regional and global standardization activities.
Speaking at the event, the acting Director-General of SON, Dr. Paul Angya represented by Mr. Abiola Komolafe, the Director Standards Directorate, said the NMC would create opportunity for tourism experts and practitioners to contribute to the elaboration of international standards “ with a view to ensuring that Nigerian peculiarities are taking into consideration in arriving at the final draft of the standards for tourism products and services.
The Director lamented the poor performance of Nigeria and other African countries in tourism sector. He said only Ghana and Senegal have passed the significant threshold of one million international tourists. “Nigeria, which had passed the threshold in 2008, has fallen below since 2011,” he said.
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1 Comments
Ajibola Hamzat, thanks for report and comments on state of tourism in Nigeria. In our days when I was the National President of Nigerian Association of Travel Journalists and Tourism Writers, we carried the failing supports of the Nigerian media, especially the Print media which The Guardian Newspaper groups is one active among them. We made a break through feat for the active promotion of Nigeria tourism to the extend that when I singly sent with open mind the cutting reports of all the Nigerian print media to Chief of Communication of the UNWTO headquarters in Spain, she was marveled and threw great songs of praise on Nigerian media (print because that the medium of communications technology would allowed me then.
But may be you didn’t know why there was slur on the progress of Nigerian tourism to date. Then there was association of travel agents, association of tour operators and the that of Travel journalists and tourism writers which was the high driver of promotion of the Nigerian tourism. Then we gathered and deliberated that how we can come up with a national association of Nigerian all sectors and units of the Nigerian tourism to form one organization with love share onn common interest to speak with federal government with one voice on the way forward for Nigerian tourism. Then we formed the Nigerian federation of tourism association, FTAN. that was between 1997 and 1998, but formally came to being in 1999. The travel media which I was the national president with the drive of my colleagues in the active Nigerian print media were the driving force behind coupled with my own elderly experience in tourism expertise was behind my dynamic force that informed the federal government then to make Tourism as one of the Nigerian Economic Power or priority. But in practical sense the forces of the evils behind the draw back of the Nigerian tourism is the evil known as an endemic social disease eating more fast and vast among the Nigerian Civil Service. Mark you that i was once a civil servant in the executive level but my integrity and selfless interest carried me to my national performances on leadership of national president of the Nigerian travel and tourism media association. The Civil Servants put in place of trust for the future of tourism to drive Nigerian national economy were the people who put the association and the Nigerian tourism in the state of comatose to date. wo, look Ajibola Hamzat visit my website http://www.artcitiestravelafrica.com/travel News page for a little more because i will keep the rest till next time. I thank The Nigerian Guardian group of Newspapers and another print media standing at Apapa Geek for all their steadfast to make tourism an active sector that would have highly driving Nigerian economy today. Thanks very much
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