The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies,
NANTA, is set to hold its 47th Annual General Meeting, AGM in Abuja on April 25th to 27th and the African Tourism Conference on the 4th to 7th of May in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Speaking during a press briefing for the AGM at NANTA Secretariat in Lagos on Wednesday April 12th, the President of NANTA, Mrs Susan Akporaiye said the AGM will afford their members the opportunity to learn from experts about areas of their business that must be improved upon.
Mrs Akporaiye noted that though the travel world is incredibly interesting, there are areas of concern; such as trapped funds, monopoly, unfair practices, border and visa issues and whole lot of emerging complexities.
She explained that the AGM with the theme:
“Professionalism: A key to surviving aviation downstream turbulence and its exploitative effects”, will feature the Executive Vice Chairman of Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Mr Babatunde Irukera who will speak not only on how NANTA members can confidentially protect their businesses and clients, but also on how to navigate challenges of foreign airlines trapped funds and its impacts on their businesses.
Commenting on the International Travel and Tourism Conference, ITTC, NANTA President disclosed that for the first time in Africa, two industry associations, NANTA and Tour Operators Union of Ghana, TOUGHA, endorsed by South Africa Tourism will be hosting a hybrid multi layer tourism industry conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May, 2023.
She stated that both bodies assembled the best faculty from the University of Johannesburg on tourism enterprise and related businesses, to help define and determine the immediate and future drive of the industry, its profitability, and challenges.
In her words: “This unique conference, which will be certificated, is open to individuals, organizations, and agencies in Nigeria and Ghana, particularly those with eyes on impacting positively on the growth and sustainability of the various value chains in the African cultural tourism economy.
“We must appreciate and commend the management of South Africa Tourism, particularly their teams in Nigeria and Ghana for the special interest in our growth through knowledge based exposures and assistance to our clients wishing to visit, trade, and immerse in South African hospitality and culture.
We no doubt hope to sustain the West Coast tourism collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana after the South Africa outing”.
Akporaiye said South Africa offered to do the first hosting of the conference.
She stated that the conference will hold from 4th to 7th of May, plus Indaba which ends on the 11th in South Africa.
She emphasised that the time has come when South Africa will begin to see Nigerians as brothers and sisters and not enemies and also to work together as partners.
Akporaiye said the conference which will feature a panel of discussants, is aimed at promoting unity in travel and tourism industry in Africa.
She added that participants are expected from Nigeria and Ghana including Cameroun and Zimbabwe.
NANTA President stated further that Zimbabwe have indicated interest to host the conference after South Africa that will likely host the event for the next three years.
