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By Okorie Uguru
There was excitement in Custom House, ExCel, London as Nigeria made a return to the World Travel Market (WTM), the world’s foremost fair for tourism business. The event was held between November 5 and 7, 2024 in London. It was the first time the country was participating in an international travel exhibition in almost ten years.
Nigeria before this last one had not participated for many years and this has made it difficult for tourism industry practitioners in the country from both the private and public sectors to keep abreast with trends and developments in the global tourism industry.
The former Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade-John, supervised and coordinated Nigeria’s participation. She was assisted by the consultant to the WTM exhibition, Mrs. Ola Wright. Unlike in the past when the federal and state tourism parastatals dominated the stand, Nigeria’s stand this year was dominated by the private sector. There were only two exhibitors from the public sector: the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) and the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
While in the past Nigeria’s exhibition stand used to stand alone, this year, some associations also paid for stands to exhibit. They include the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) and the West African Travel Organisation (WATO).
The Nigerian stand at the tourism expo had a huge share of visitors who were curious to find out things about the tourist attractions in Nigeria.
Lagos State delegation was led by the state’s Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka. She had a hectic time showcasing the state to the world with a promise to put up an even bigger and better presentation next year.
An elated Mrs. Ola Wright, Nigeria’s consultant to the 2024 WTM and President of the West Africa Tourism Organisation (WATO) spoke about the return of Nigeria to the world stage: “To see a Nigerian stand built and Nigerians doing us proud, we exhibit everything from our tourism offerings, the products, from our arts and culture, our gastronomy, to our music. So, we demonstrated what Nigeria has to offer to the world. A lot of international media right from the beginning kept trooping to our stand to see what we have.”
The President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr Nkereuwem Onung said he felt fulfilled with Nigeria’s participation. He heaped praises on the former tourism minister, Mrs. Lola Ade-John for coordinating Nigeria’s participation. He said that Nigeria is back to the international scene, while also appreciating the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA).
“They actually made us look the way of the World Travel Market. Everybody had forgotten about it, and they did it for two years, and then the third year we are all here. It is a thing of joy because when you talk about marketing and promotion of a country, this is very vital. The investments take place here; the new trends are showcased here. Whatever you want to find out, where will people go to? It is here you know about it. And for us to talk about a country and tourism and you are not at this expo, any trade expo, it is not just the WTM… we have not been in any trade expo as a country with marketing materials… But I’m sure you can see it today. You can see Ibom Air making their presence felt. You can see Lagos State also. This was completely private-sector driven. That means it can even happen without the government. So thanks to NANTA for letting us know how it can be done, and thanks to the former Minister of Tourism Mrs. Lola-John, who at least pulled up the courage to get this done.”
