Amachree calls on Tourism Minister to engage with private sector

Proprietor of Brooklyn Group of Hotels and Resorts, Chief Mike Amachree has called on the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade-John to engage with the organised private sector tourism practitioners to move the industry forward.  Amachree said it was a known fact that tourism is private-sector driven, while the government creates the enabling environment for the industry’s success. He said the interface between the public sector led by the minister and the organised private sector industry practitioners would create a healthy ground for the exchange of ideas, and the best way to move the industry forward.

Amachree, a tourism mogul and the first president of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) said it is the collaboration between the public and private sectors that gave birth to the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) which in turn led the foundation for the growth of tourism in Nigeria. He said: “Tourism is an industry in which both the public and private sector have their roles to play. It is only when the two sectors collaborate that the industry can move in the same direction.

“We thank God for the creation of a stand-alone Federal Ministry of Tourism and you as the first Minister of Tourism, unlike in the past when we had ministers of tourism and culture. It is a call to duty, and the foundations you will lay during this tenure determine how fast the industry will grow in Nigeria. I believe you are equal to the task.”

Amachree said the creation of a tourism ministry is the coming into fruition of past agitations by leaders in the tourism private sector for more than 30 years, right from the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.  He said:” Leading the private sector, I was part of the organisers of the Plateau Tourism Development Fund launch chaired by General Yakubu Gowon who was the chairman of the occasion.

“I and other industry leaders in the private sector which include: the late Mr. Matt Da Silva, the late Dr. Onuoha, the late Professor Femi Pearse,  Dr. Franklin Adejuwon, Chief Goodie Ibru, Wanle Akinboboye, and others, we liaised with the government to create FTAN for seamless collaboration between the government and the private sector. I advise that this healthy engagement between the government and private sector should be maintained.”