When Diamonds & Pearls travels stepped forward as a sponsor of the 2025 BusinessDay Tourism Conference, the move signalled more than brand alignment, it marked a clear business strategy. For the hospitality company, the decision underscored a belief that Nigeria’s tourism sector, though underdeveloped, is positioned to become one of the country’s most powerful engines of economic growth.
At the opening panel on “Sustainable and Cultural Tourism,” Wonuola Olatunde-Lamidi, the company’s co-founder, delivered a message that resonated far beyond the stage. “We fly to Zanzibar for beaches we already have in Badagry and Calabar,” she decried.
“Local communities must own, protect, and profit from their beaches.” It was a succinct statement, but it encapsulated the company’s core philosophy, an approach to tourism that is rooted in local empowerment, cultural authenticity, and long-term economic impact.
That sentiment found stark relevance moments earlier, when the moderator asked the room of over 200 tourism stakeholders “Raise your hand if the best trip you’ve ever taken was here in Nigeria.” Only a handful of hands went up and the silence that followed captured precisely why Diamonds & Pearls has chosen to lead rather than follow in Nigeria’s tourism transformation.
For the company, this sponsorship is not just an exercise in visibility, it is a strategic move in a sector that currently contributes less than 4 percent to Nigeria’s GDP, compared to 9 percent in Kenya and 12 percent in Morocco. With the federal government targeting a $USD1 trillion economy by 2030, tourism is no longer a peripheral conversation, it has become an emerging pillar of national development, and companies that help shape it today will benefit from its inevitable rise tomorrow.
Olatunde-Lamidi’s panel contributions reflected the company’s broader ambitions, not just to build beautiful spaces, but to be instrumental in transforming how Nigeria builds value from its own assets. She emphasized the need to make tourism a vehicle for domestic pride, job creation, and wealth redistribution. “This isn’t just about what we offer guests, it is about what we return to the communities we operate in,” she noted during a breakout session.
The demographic opportunity is undeniable. With over 70 percent of Nigeria’s population under 35, the country stands on the edge of a tourism-led employment boom. As Danny Kioupouroglou of Eko Hotels noted during the conference, tourism accounts for one in five jobs in Greece. In Nigeria, it is fewer than one in twenty and with comparable coastal beauty, rich history, and cultural diversity, Nigeria’s untapped potential is staggering.
For Diamonds & Pearls, this represents more than statistics, it is a call to action, by designing experiences that incorporate local heritage and investing in the infrastructure around its properties, the company is creating tourism ecosystems that benefit entire regions. These efforts are not contingent on government infrastructure alone. Instead, Diamonds & Pearls is positioning itself as a private sector catalyst, actively building the environment necessary to attract, welcome, and retain both domestic and international travellers.
Speakers throughout the day pointed out that Nigerian tourists often choose to spend their travel budgets in places like Zanzibar, Dubai, or Cape Town, not because those destinations offer more beauty, but because they offer a more polished experience. Olatunde-Lamidi’s remarks cut to the heart of this issue. The problem is not Nigeria’s lack of attractions, it is the lack of intentional development and packaging. “We are exporting tourism value that could be captured right here,” she said.
The conference discussions also reinforced Nigeria’s greatest tourism asset, its cultural diversity, with over 250 distinct ethnic groups, languages, and traditions, the country holds an unparalleled inventory of tourism products waiting to be developed. For Diamonds & Pearls, this is not a challenge of coordination, it is a well of storytelling potential that can differentiate the brand in a saturated global market.
As the conference wrapped up, there was a palpable sense that the conversation had shifted from one of potential to one of responsibility. For Diamonds & Pearls, that responsibility is already being acted upon. The company is not waiting for the future to arrive, it is investing in it now, shaping the policies, partnerships, and experiences that will define Nigerian tourism for the next generation.
At a time when many companies are still asking if Nigeria’s tourism boom is possible, Diamonds & Pearls travels has already answered the question, with a bet, a blueprint, and a belief in what the country already has. As Olatunde-Lamidi puts it best, “We don’t need to import experiences, we need to believe in our own.”
