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Activities have resumed at the office of the newly created Federal Ministry of Tourism, Abuja. This follows the return to duty of the minister, Mrs. Lola Ade-John. The minister had been away from office for about six months due to illness.
The Tourism minister earlier this week attended her first public function when she commissioned the NIHOTOUR Mobile Kitchen Truck in Abuja. While giving her address, the tourism minister said NIHOTOUR has succeeded in acquiring a mobile training kitchen that would significantly help in the advancement of trade and kitchen services in rural communities. She further said: “The mobile training kitchen signifies one of the series of transformative initiatives within the hospitality sector. This innovative project underscores the president’s renewed hope agenda and highlights the government’s unwavering commitment to fostering growth, empowerment and culinary excellence within our great nation. Nigeria’s cultural culinary heritage has long been a source of pride for our people both within the country, Diaspora and all over the global consumers. Our cuisines mirror the vibrancy of our communities, showcasing unique flavours that define us.”
Meanwhile, practitioners in the industry have welcomed the return of the tourism minister, urging her to concentrate on how to grow the sector. The President of the Institute of Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN) Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, while welcoming her to the ministry described her appointment as an indication that the Federal Government was ready to develop the tourism industry. He added: “Be assured of our support to ensure that your tenure, your period, your time is very successful. And when the achievements of ministers and ministries are being rolled out, please be assured that we are going to do our best, diligently to ensure that your scorecard is among those that are in the limelight.”
One of Nigeria’s leading tour operators, Mr. Jemi Alade urged the minister to embark on marketing the country as a destination to attract inbound tourists. He said: “At this period, I think the key thing is for the ministry to focus on people coming to Nigeria. She has to focus on marketing and wooing inbound tourists to come to Nigeria. We need to market Nigeria. Nigeria has a bad image around the world. We need agents of government that can go out there and set the records straight, and point out the positive aspects of the country. People want to come to where they can enjoy themselves. We need government officials that go and preach a good message about Nigeria. Tourism can do that. Tourism also can attract foreign investors. We need to focus on people coming into Nigeria.”
Also speaking on areas the minister should focus on, the President of the National Association of Tour Operators (NATOP), Mrs. Ime Udo, urged the minister to concentrate on developing some of the tourist sites in different parts of the country. She said: “First of all, I am happy the two ministries have been divided. When you are talking about tourism, you are talking about visits, tourist sites, growing a destination, and so on. We need to focus on tourist attractions. She needs to partner with the states and local government areas to develop these tourist attractions. Then they can identify the ones the local communities can manage and the ones the federal government can come in and carry out some developments around them. And if she wants to embark upon these, she must have a very large budget. Without a very good budget, she cannot do much.”
Also speaking on the resumption of office of the tourism minister, former President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Malan Kabir urged the minister to first sit down with private sector tourism practitioners to understand areas she could focus on. He said: “I was surprised when I saw her yesterday because she has been incommunicado. I believe there is an absolute need for her to call the private tourism stakeholders, have a heart-to-heart talk with them, and draw up an agenda, because nothing is happening in the ministry. There is the need for her to sit down with the stakeholders and draw up an agenda.”
