How Nigeria celebrated World Tourism Day 2024

 

By Justina Okpanku

On Thursday, September 27, Nigeria joined the rest of the world in celebrating World Tourism Day (WTD), a day set aside by the United Nations Agency (UNWTO) to celebrate tourism.

Tourism is considered the largest employer, employing both skilled and unskilled labor. In addition to being a tool for reducing poverty, tourism also fosters unity between communities.

World Tourism Day has been celebrated since 1980 on the anniversary of the adoption of the Statutes of the World Tourism Organization on 27 September 1970.

This special day is an opportunity to think about tourism and push people to embrace it with its enormous benefits. Activities such as walks, adventures and workshops are held to reflect on the challenges of the tourism industry and to raise awareness of the importance of sustainable tourism practices.

It is unclear what the Federal Ministry of Tourism was doing in the nation’s capital, Abuja, but there were collection pockets of tourism stakeholders doing their thing at individual/corporate levels.

However, the Lagos State Government has managed to raise the bar with its partners in the private sector. The companies opened and presented their products and services at Muri Okunola Park while the other participants talked about tourism inside.

There is no denying that this year’s World Tourism Day left much to be desired, as tourism operators looked back nostalgically.

The President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Nkereuwem Onung, has expressed his concern over the current lack of synergy between public and private sector operators under the current administration.

Onung, whose association is the peak body for private sector tourism, stressing that apart from occasional appearances by Tourism Minister Lola Ade-John at selected events, “little progress has been made”.

“This is not the tourism industry we envisioned when the ministry was established, and it is disheartening to see the aspirations of many go unheard,” he noted.

With the creation of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 1999, the first Minister of Tourism, Chief Ojo Maduekwe (later) and the Permanent Secretary, David Oyegun, pulled all the strings row to give the nation a grand celebration in Calabar, Cross-River State on September 27, 1999.

This has become part of the tradition as visitors take advantage of the chance to visit local attractions, historic sites and natural wonders that showcase the unique cultures and heritage of the host states. Tourism awareness has been increased across states and at the grassroots level. Indeed, it brought with it economic development, fostered national unity and understanding among citizens.

There is currently no information from the Ministry of Tourism ahead of “D” Day. Mum was Ade-John’s word regarding WTD’s hosting rights by city or state.
Indeed, lack of coordination by the Ministry of Tourism and its agencies, especially the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA), has been a hindrance to the progress of the tourism industry here.

FTAN organized a virtual meeting for the tourism press on the occasion of Tourism Day. President Onung insisted on the need to improve the partnership between the public and private sectors. It is understood that Organized Nigerian Tour Operators, NATOP, had planned to visit Akwa Ibom State to celebrate the WTD with the Akwa Ibom State Government. As expected, a state that hosts the entire Nigerian tourism usually uses the opportunity to showcase the tourism offerings that abound in their state. It is important that Nigeria can benefit from the tourism industry if managed well.

For this year’s celebration, the United Nations World Tourism Organization chose “Tourism and Peace” as the theme and hosted Georgia. The United Nations agency in Spain, of which Nigeria is a member UNWTO, said World Tourism Day 2024 aims to explore the intersection between tourism and peacebuilding, highlighting how travel, cultural exchange and practices of sustainable tourism can contribute to conflict resolution, reconciliation and the promotion of world peace.

They said that by bringing together stakeholders from different sectors and disciplines, the celebration aims to achieve this goal
generate innovative ideas, strategies and collaborations to harness the transformative power of tourism to build bridges, foster dialogue and promote peace and reconciliation. Lagos State and its partners, including Eleganza Group and Sterling Bank, ran with the WTD’s message of peace.

They provided the platform for stakeholders to take part in the various activities by celebrating.

The event was suffused with music and dance. A prominent artiste who declined to give his name thanked Lagos State for its efforts but regretted that the event was marred by bureaucracy. “Have you seen any artwork or anyone from the artists’ constituency? They didn’t think about art. What do tourists come to see in Lagos? Where are the tourism products? Well, the event was dominated by traditional rulers and government officials.”

Another tourism stakeholder, Bola Alake, blamed the Ministry of Tourism for its inability to give guidance.

“The Federal Ministry of Tourism should have reached out to various states and collaborated with governments, especially on the WTD. People eagerly awaited the only tourism celebration in a year. Nothing happened. We just read what other countries around the world have done to celebrate Tourism Week, adding: “We are facing security challenges that militate against the tourism industry and we also have no customers in our restaurants and hotels. People don’t have money. And I ask you: are we really celebrating World Tourism Day in Nigeria? Where is the tourist infrastructure? The roads are terrible and the plane tickets aren’t even cheap. Domestic tourism is negatively affected.

In general, some stakeholders said that the Ministry of Tourism failing to organize an event to engage people in all states is not too tidy, taking into consideration the theme of this year’s celebration.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, has however called on tourism operators to promote peace and unity in the country.

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