After over 25 years of dormancy, the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) has bounced back with refreshed vigour to impact practitioners and the tourism industry at large.
In this interview with OBINNA EMELIKE, during a breakfast meeting with the Association of Nigerian Journalists & Writers of Tourism (ANJET), recently in Lagos, Prince Femi Fadina, president, ATPN, speaks on the new direction of the association, impact and approach to industry engagement, membership drive, role in the tourism value chain, among others. Excerpts:
How is ATPN fairing since your election as president last November?
As you all know, and some of you are familiar with the industry, and I know most of you are familiar with the industry. ATPN was registered, I think about 1992. But for the past 25 to 28 years, it has been in comatose.
So, an election was held and I was elected. The first thing I like to do is to evaluate the problems that come with it because I realized that the pipes are rusted. And for you to allow the flow of ideas to pass through the pipe freely, you need to carefully oil the system. And for me, I believe in self-delete.
So, observe, quietly engage and get to know everybody. I have three pillars to guide me. The number one is organically; growth of membership. What I mean by that is that I would like our members to grow their own capacity and talent so that we can all bring ourselves to the table and put everything inside the funnel.
When the above is in place, we can then begin to build the ATPN that we want. The second pillar is capacity building because you need to build the team you want to understand the vision and what we intend to do.
These things are very important for me because after being in the industry for so long, I have seen a lot. I am just elated that the crusaders of the industry are the one I am speaking with today.
Yes, ATPN might not be at where we want it now. But I am a very strong believer in due process because I need to look at all the departments to be sure that what we are doing is giving value for whoever we collect money from, in terms of membership.
The third pillar is corporate sponsorships. For me to onboard all these, we need to clean the house.
If I can only achieve compliance in my tenure, that would be great for me. This is because everybody is just doing their own thing, and nobody is actually following the principles and the constitutional templates. And that, for me, is a no-go area.
Within the national tourism ecosystem today, where do you see ATPN?
I am a very strong believer in the sustainability of our sector. And that is the sustainability that comes with you, bringing up youth and mentoring them to be able to understand who you are and what you stand for.
I will say that coming from 25 years of camotes gives us time to breathe. And let us get our foot in the right place. We inaugurated our members in the FCT last week.
To be honest with you, when I saw the crop of talented members, I said to myself, Abuja has been waiting for this. The truth is, those members are a crop of leaders that need a covering. And for me, compliance is a factor.
How is compliance a factor?
There are rules, regulations, and operational structures in place. If you don’t follow them, you are simply not complying and you will get into trouble soon.
I cannot onboard you if you do not meet your financial obligations as a member. Payment is for membership. So, we have people who have just been part of this crusade, and everybody is just saying, open this chapter, open that chapter.
But you are not paying, your data is not captured. For me, that is a challenge. But like I said, it is an in-house thing.
As a family, we are getting all the structures, all the pillars together. By this time next year, things will improve a lot at ATPN.
What does ATPF stand for in the tourism industry?
For me, tourism is local. So, you need to drive it from the local front. If you ask me what the membership we are looking at, I would say anyone that has a certificate or is certificated by NANTA as a practitioner. Students that feel they need to go through our tourism structures and be certificated can be part of us. Another group is the traditional institution. They are very important because they hold the cultural flavor that we are projecting as a country. So, for me, ATPN is a practitioner institution, and we do represent the practitioners.
Is ATPN in support of what NIHOTOUR is doing in terms of certification?
Like I said, we have been in comatose for over 25 years. If we had been active in that period of time, we would have been doing certification.
But for us now, we are just getting off in the last one year, it is a gradual process. What you are expecting from us is a gradual process. Just hold on.
I have assured you that by this time next year all the necessary things would have been put in place. For me, certification of personnel is key, because that is my specialty.
What does one benefit from being an ATPN member?
In 2005, I took a trip to Gambia, and I was with the Gambian government for about seven days.
I talked to the hotel association, had a discussion with the tourism people and learned a lot from them. Also going to Barbados, I learned a lot from them.
So, I believe strongly that as a practitioner, you have to see reasons to become a member, but have to also contribute your quota to make the association vibrant enough to reap from its benefits. It boils down to seeing values.
At ATPN, we believe strongly that if you are a member, you have access to a collective pull of value and your efforts at contributing to the growth of the association will add value to us.
Who defines a practitioner?
I align with NIHOTOUR’s certification process. For example, a hotel receptionist is a practitioner, even if overlooked. We must advocate for their welfare and professionalism.
How many paying members does ATPN have today?
We currently have very few, but Abuja Chapter members have all paid their dues. Membership will continue to grow organically across the country.
There seems to be confusion between ATPN and other tourism bodies. How do you differentiate?
ATPN represents practitioners directly. Other associations may serve as umbrella bodies, but we are focused on individuals and businesses actively engaged in tourism practice.
