No doubt, Akwa Ibom is one of the richest states in the country because of the abundant crude oil its rich land habours.
Interestingly, the state is far beyond oil. It is blessed with enthralling nature, beautiful landscape, and several kilometers of coastline among others potential that make it tourism heaven. As well, the state is full of colonial firsts and history, many of which are untold.
Considering the tourism potential, which is largely untapped, the National Association of Nigeria Tour Operators (NATOP) decided to move its radar and tourism promotion efforts to the state in order to showcase the world, what is better than oil in the state.
At its 5th annual general meeting (AGM), which held from June 26, 2021, at the Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, Uyo, NATOP gathered beyond its members to stakeholders in the tourism and travel business, including airlines, hospitality and destination managers, travel press, government representatives, as well as young tourism practitioners to discuss and chart way forward for Nigerian tourism, starting with Akwa Ibom, which has shown willingness to exploit its tourism potential in a huge capacity that will impact its economy.
Aptly themed ‘Restarting Tourism in Nigeria: A new template’, NATOP offered the state and Nigeria at large a template to restart its tourism and this time to make tourism count in the national economy.
This year’s theme is in line with NATOP’s vision, which is to serve as a catalyst for the development and promotion of tour businesses and packages as a component of the travel and tourism industry and as an economic activity.
As well, it is in response to the impact of the Corona Virus pandemic, which shut down economies and businesses, especially tourism and travel last year, with many still struggling to recover today.
From one speaker to the other and one panel to the other, the AGM offered the participants and industry stakeholders insight and clear template on how to recover their businesses from the impact of the pandemic.
The AGM was blessed with the presence of Catherine Afeku, former Minister of Tourism Ghana, the guest speaker, who willingly enriched the new template with her wealth of experience, having successfully hosted Year of Return in Ghana that saw millions of visitors in 2019 and till date.
She insisted that while the ‘Door of no return’ sent African people to slavery, tour operators should create ‘Bridge of return’ to woo back Africans in the diasporas.
“First, while packaging your tours, do not treat the Diaspora as tourists. Invite them back home, and use the Bridge of No Return to have them symbolically walk on it to Return to the motherland”, she urged.
“Spend time and energy to educate and repackage your selling materials on the state you wish to market, use celebrities from the places you want to market to invite their friends in the Diaspora on a large scale to come home (we did that). In its simplistic format, it has worked magic for our tourism numbers”, Afeku admonished.
For the new template to take root, she called on tourism stakeholders in Nigeria, particularly NATOP members to also lobby for friendly policies and tax incentives from the government to support the tourism sector, encourage members to be more professional, sell the country in a positive manner and showcase what is great and strong about the place they are marketing.
Toeing the same line, Akanimo Udofia, an international businessman and keynote speaker, noted that the new template is timely and necessary for recovery because tourism represents one of the world’s leading service sectors that generates sustainable revenue and major wealth and job creator.
“This gathering today is very vital because it offers platforms for us to explore strategies and approaches that will make us to remain competitive and relevant in business”, Udofia said.
“It is my strong belief that gathering like this is necessary for increasing our cooperation and understanding of how we can combine knowledge and best practice to create more sustainable and successful tourism, which fosters a sense of renewed pride in our nature and in our beautiful state, Akwa Ibom”.
The AGM took a more practical turn when Ikechi Uko, organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market and a member of NATOP and FTAN board of Trustee, reeled out figures and researched data on travellers frequencies to destinations among others.
Using data of the top 15 destinations Nigerians travelled to in 2019, Uko noted that the Middle East had the highest traffic from Nigeria with 43 percent, Europe 27 percent, Africa 10.2 percent, Americas 10 percent and Asia nine percent.
With the data, he identified three major drivers of international outbound travel and tourism in Nigeria, which are leisure/shopping about 60 percent, followed by religion, visiting friends and relatives, while trade and business also add up to the travel attraction.
Reviewing the percentage, he explained that Middle East had the highest figure of Nigerian traffic and followed by the UK because about 60 percent of Nigerian outbound travellers go for leisure and shopping, which abound in the Middle East and the UK.
Having heard and seen what tourism can do to the state economy, the Akwa Ibom State government, the host, is ready to partner with NATOP to explore and exploit its tourism potential for the development of the state, and probably, a template other states can copy.
With world-class infrastructure such as the Victor Attah International Airport, the enthralling World Cup standard stadium, efficient security system among others, Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom State, expressed willingness to work with NATOP to further open and showcase the state’s tourism, potential to the world starting with historical sites, beautiful culture, breathtaking landscape, the several kilometers of coastline that are untapped among others.
Excited at the attention the state is getting since NATOP expressed interest to host the AGM in the state, Orman Esin, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Tourism, commended NATOP choice of the state, expressing hope that the conference would usher a new partnership between the state and tour operators.
Reeling out potential that can be explored, promoted and marketed by NATOP members, Esin pointed out that the state is home to the earliest missionaries, longest coastline in Nigeria, a fertile land rich in tourism, an international airport, one of the best golf resorts in West Africa, and well-positioned to take tourism to the next level in Nigeria.
As expected Hajia Bilkisu Abdul, national president, NATOP, was very busy at the event. But she paid tribute to Fatima Garbati, former and late president of the association.
She earnestly desired the new template because of the huge loss of revenue in the sector occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacts many tourism businesses are still struggling to overcome.
She insisted that the AGM was moved to Akwa Ibom State because NATOP usually uses its AGM to promote domestic destinations, evident in the vibrancy of destinations that hosted the AGM in the past.
Showing federal presence at the AGM, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, who was represented by Ifeoma Anyanwutaku, permanent secretary of the ministry, urged the association to increase its efforts at promoting tourism, as well as international partnerships and adopting international best practices for networking.
As expected, the minister assured of the readiness and commitment of the ministry in offering and implementing favourable policies that would grow and strengthen the sector.
Like the big masquerade that comes last and also ends the festival, Nkeruwem Onung, chairman, NATOP Board of Trustees and acting president of FTAN, expressed appreciation of the Nigerian tourism private sector to the government of Akwa Ibom State on its commitment to developing tourism to huge revenue earning status.
He assured that the journey, which the state started with NATOP would continue and would draw the world to visit and spend their hard-earned foreign currency in the state.
For tourism to fully optimize its potential, Onung, who is contesting for FTAN presidency, insisted that there has to be a separate ministry for tourism.
However, the AGM, which started on Friday, dragged into Monday amid exciting activities, especially tour of tourism sites across the states. At Ikot Abasi, NATOP members saw good potential to market and are already making plans to visit, connect would-be visitors and help them add the destinations to their bucket list, while Akwa Ibom becomes top on their package offerings.
