Minister blames low tourism ranking on lack of initiatives

Nigeria ranks low in African tourism because of the absence of purposeful tourism initiatives in the country, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, has said.

The Minister made the observation in Abuja during an interactive session with journalists.

“We have a low ranking not because we don’t have the facilities for tourism development or tourists’ attraction but because we lack serious initiatives that can help in harnessing and promoting our tourism potentials,” he said.

Kayode said that there was an urgent need to put in place more purposeful initiatives to develop the country’s tourism sector.

He, however, noted that the forthcoming first National Sports Tourism Conference was one of such initiatives.

Our correspondent reports that the conference, which will hold in Abuja from April 24 to April 25, has “Harnessing the synergy in Sports and Tourism” as its theme.

“Often times, we, Nigerians, have always looked at such areas as being only for government but that should not be the case.

“There should be more ideas for tourism development because they would foster increased economic activity in the country,” he said.

The minister stressed that viable business initiatives in the tourism sector would help in giving Nigeria a greater share in Africa’s tourism business.

“The sports tourism conference is just one segment of what tourism as a whole can offer us. We need more of these to make the sector more active,” he said.

thetidenews.com