Creative Industry

NTDA Targets Economic Prosperity with New Tourism and Hospitality Strategy

Published

6 months ago

March 31, 2026

By Cyril Ogar

The Nigerian Tourism Development Authority has unveiled a comprehensive strategy aimed at revitalising Nigeria’s tourism and hospitality sector to drive economic prosperity and boost foreign exchange earnings.

The Director-General of the Authority, Dr Ola Awakan, presented the roadmap on Tuesday in Abuja at the maiden National Hospitality and Tourism Stakeholders’ Forum, marking a significant step toward repositioning the sector for global competitiveness and sustainable development.

Speaking on the theme “Shaping the Future of Nigerian Tourism Together,” Awakan described the forum as a landmark initiative designed to strengthen collaboration, align stakeholder interests, and deliver practical solutions for industry growth.

Central to the strategy is the repositioning of tourism as a viable export sector capable of generating substantial foreign exchange. Awakan emphasised that achieving this vision would require targeted investment, improved infrastructure, and enhanced global visibility for Nigeria’s tourism offerings.

He outlined three critical pillars for development—attractions, hospitality, and transportation—stressing that their effective integration is essential to unlocking the country’s vast tourism potential.

Despite Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage, diverse landscapes, and vibrant creative industry, the NTDA boss noted that the sector has underperformed due to infrastructural deficits, weak institutional coordination, and inconsistent regulatory frameworks. However, he expressed confidence that ongoing reforms, supported by the Renewed Hope Agenda of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the NTDA Act 2022, are laying a solid foundation for transformation.

As part of the strategy, the Authority is strengthening its role as a regulatory, developmental, and marketing body, with a focus on boosting tourism promotion, attracting investment, improving service standards, and enhancing institutional capacity.

Key initiatives include the digitalisation of the tourism ecosystem through interactive platforms, as well as the promotion of MICE tourism—Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions—to stimulate business travel and economic activity.

A major highlight of the unveiling was the introduction of the Naija Flavour Marketplace, a platform designed to connect stakeholders across the tourism value chain, empower Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and create employment opportunities, particularly for youth and women.

In a bold move to elevate Nigeria’s global tourism profile, the NTDA also proposed the development of an International Tourism City—an integrated destination combining culture, entertainment, hospitality, and commerce to attract both domestic and international tourists.

Awakan underscored the importance of strong public-private partnerships, noting ongoing collaboration with the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria and sub-national governments to ensure coordinated development.

He further highlighted the need for strategic storytelling to reshape Nigeria’s global image and advocated for more visa-friendly policies to encourage travel, investment, and international engagement.

The forum concluded with a collective commitment to sustained collaboration and innovation, alongside plans to institutionalise the engagement as a periodic national tourism town hall.

Stakeholders expressed optimism that the strategy will significantly boost GDP growth, increase foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, and strengthen national unity.

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Creative Industry

FG Backs MyCityApp Launch of 100-Day Tourism Calendar to Drive $100bn Economic Growth

Published

2 weeks ago

September 15, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Federal Government has thrown its weight behind the launch of MyCityApp, a Nigerian city discovery and tourism platform designed to aggregate festivals, concerts, cultural events and lifestyle experiences into a single digital calendar.

The platform, which flags off the 100-Day Tourism Calendar, was unveiled on Monday at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, with the initiative targeting Nigeria’s estimated $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Media and Publicity Adviser to the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the ministry said the conference was aimed at mobilising public and private stakeholders to transform the September-to-December festive period into jobs, investment and economic growth.

Speaking at the unveiling, the Minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said millions of visitors travel across Nigeria every year to celebrate, reconnect and experience the country’s diverse culture, stressing that the festive season could be deliberately organised and monetised to strengthen tourism’s contribution to the economy.

“This initiative is about moving beyond the traditional concept of a festive season. It is about deliberately organising, packaging, promoting, and monetising one of the most economically active periods in our national calendar,” Musawa said.

She noted that every visitor generates economic activity across several sectors, including aviation, transportation, hospitality, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans and local communities.

The Minister commended MyCityApp Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Ifeoma Chukwu, for her vision and commitment to the initiative.

She urged state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other stakeholders to list their festivals, concerts, exhibitions, food experiences, cultural celebrations, fashion and sporting events on the national calendar.

Musawa said the platform would enable Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors to discover tourism and entertainment experiences across the country from a single, credible source.

Earlier, Chukwu said Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and creative sector provided enormous opportunities for tourism-driven economic growth.

She cited the contributions of tourism to the economies of countries such as Spain, France and the United States, arguing that Nigeria could equally build a $100 billion tourism economy.

Also present were Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka; Enugu State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ugochi Madueke; NCAC Director-General, Obi Asika; National Gallery of Art Director-General, Ahmed Sodangi; ARCON Director-General, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo; and MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr Karl Toriola.

MyLagosApp and MyCityApp will serve as the digital engines of the calendar, distributing events through a 360-degree media ecosystem to audiences in Nigeria and the diaspora.

Stakeholders were encouraged to upload their events on MyCityApp to participate in the national tourism calendar urging them to upload events on http://www.MyCityApp.io.

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