THE Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the Federal Government is irrevocably committed to the development of the tourism sector.
The minister made the statement, while speaking at the Annual General Meeting and conference of the Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) in Lagos.
The theme of the conference was “Positioning Tourism Within Nigerian Economic Space”
He said the government was mustering the right political will and taking a number of result-oriented steps to develop and reposition the sector.
Mohammed described tourism as “the oil that never dries”, saying the government would harness the potential of the sector to boost the revenue of the country.
“This government is committed about the development of the tourism sector and we are mustering the political will to reposition the sector.
“We recognise the potential of tourism to propel the growth of the economy and we will do everything possible to develop this sector and make it a major revenue earner for the country,” he said.
The minister explained that the government was focusing on the development of domestic tourism, while putting in place the right infrastructure to attract foreign tourism.
He said domestic tourism was not fully explored in view of its importance to the economy of the country.
Mohammed added that the government was giving those areas like entertainment, fashion in which the country had comparative advantage over some other countries priority attention in its tourism development agenda.
Highlighting some of the steps being taken by government to develop the sector, the minister said the Presidential Council on Tourism was being revived.
He said the resuscitation of the committee would engender the rapid development of the sector though policy directions.
He said the issuance of tourist visas was being simplified and issuance time reduced to 48 hours to attract foreign tourists.
He added that a committee to implement the tourism roadmap had been set up and that a task force on creative economy had been put in place.
He said the government had designed a festival calendar for the country to stimulate internal tourism and attract foreign tourists.
The minister, however, said the government could not develop tourism alone, calling for the partnership of private sector and other stakeholders to develop the sector.
A former governor of Cross River State, Dr Liyel Imoke, in a speech at the conference said the state’s success story was proof that tourism could be a big mover of the economy.
He said with the right policy, vision, infrastructure and attitude, the country could make tourism as its major revenue earner.
He regretted that the greatest problem to the development of the sector was the misrepresentation of Nigeria by its citizens to the outside world, saying the practice must stop if tourism should grow.
“The greatest problem facing the development of tourism in the country is what I call ‘Naija Bashing’
“Nigerians, running Nigeria down, especially some of our people abroad.
“This is not good for our tourism as foreigners would have wrong perceptions about us. We need to believe in the country for tourism to grow.
“We need to speak well of the country everywhere we go. It is when we stop writing those negative headlines that the perception will change and people will visit our country,” he said.
He urged the country to focus more on domestic tourism as a strategy to develop external tourism.
Imoke canvassed harmonisation of festivals in the country to stimulate patronage and reduce confusion associated with simultaneous holding of festivals.
Also speaking,Director-General Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation,Mr Folarin Coker, said the agency was working hard to retain every dollar spent abroad on tourism in the country.
He said NTDC was engaging the relevant stakeholders to promote domestic tourism and win tourists to the country.
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