The Director General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, NIHOTOUR, Dr. Abisoye Fagade, has stated that Nigerian Tourism industry must upgrade to globally recognised standard, and inspire confidence, attract investment, and guarantee quality.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the ongoing Akwaaba African Travel Market at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, Dr Fagade noted that this is why NIHOTOUR is driving the effort of ensuring institutions and provisional compliance across the country.
He said: “I am here to explain standardisation and regularisation of the industry. From hotels to restaurants, from stores and operators to event managers, we must upgrade to globally recognised standard, and inspire confidence, attract investment, and guarantee quality”.
The DG explained further that: “When every participant is properly recognised, regulated, we build strong international resources, most importantly, create a tourism ecosystem that is credible, competitive, and future-ready. Across our Africa, travel market is modernisation. It’s a call to action”.
He stated that Akwaaba African Travel Market is more than exhibition but a call to action that African tourism needs a common voice, working together and to be stronger.
While commending the organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Fagade stated that: “If he had not taken this action 21 years ago, I’m not sure we would be here today. Once again, I can’t imagine having a son or a daughter 21 years ago. The daughter of a soldier is ready to get married at this point.
“Again, I’m saying thank you for taking that action 21 years ago. It’s a call to action in a manner that Africa tourism, depends on how we all organise ourselves, regulate ourselves, and present ourselves to the world”.
The DG continued further that: “It’s obvious that we need a common voice. It takes being 21 years ago to organise this. One man like me and all of us are going to do that.
“If we refuse to organise ourselves, we might not be able to get ourselves involved properly. We might be doing well in the middle of it. But with us together, we can only be stronger.
“And with this kind of ideas, we need many more. We have 12 months to live here. We can be having tourism events every year, different locations, different times”.
He urged the participants to leave the forum with one shared resolve, which is to make Africa tourism not only vibrant and diverse, but also standardised, professional, and trusted worldwide.
“Fagade added that: As I often say, people have built this Nigeria. Let tourism, hospitality, build Africa’s tomorrow. ”
In his welcome address, the organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ambassador Ikechi Uko advised Africans to travel within the continent.
Uko enjoined participants at the expo to also have the vision that the continent could get 500 million Africans to travel to Africa.
According to him, “We have everything we need to be able to create the tourism that we need. That is what gave birth to the programme. So today, we are 21 years living that vision.
And we are happy. And ambitious. And Africans are the biggest travellers in Africa today.
“I was attending World Travel Markets in London, and I found out that all of us have to come to London to sell Africa. And I said to myself, why can’t we get Africans to sell Africa in Africa? And when I started pursuing that vision, everybody said it wasn’t possible”.
Uko stated further that when he started doing the show in 2003, 2004, it was an impossible dream because Africans never travelled to Africa, stressing that It took like five years before Kenya, Zimbabwe got the vision and started pushing for that.
He said: “So the first countries that actually got involved were Kenya and Zimbabwe, trying to sell Africa to Africans. Today, we thank Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, you have the best tourism in Africa. But 15 years ago, nobody believed Africans could go to Africa”.
Uko continued that: “And the future is very bright. Travel advice is good news again. I had that vision in 2002, 2009. Today it is a reality.
“There is a little part of America that I shared some days ago. Europeans say, we spend our holidays in America.
“And so where do the Americans or Europeans go to? It’s only three states. Oregon, New York, California, and a little bit in Vegas.
That’s all the Americans and Europeans go to. Americans are the leading group for American tourism. That is why their president would say, go to Africa”.
He noted that Africans are the biggest travellers in Africa today.
He pointed out that Nigeria has less than 1 million foreign tourists and yet the hotels are declaring billions.
Where does that money come from? From within, he stated.
He stated further that every Nigerian billionaire became a billionaire in dollars without having foreign money coming to his pocket, adding that everybody was made here.
He noted that ” imagine if we were to make this in all our African countries, Africa would be great. Africa would be big. And Africa can achieve that through its own actors”.
