Culture and Tourism

World Tourism Day: NIHOTOUR Tasks Stakeholders On Professionalism, Industry Growth

Published

5 years ago

September 27, 2020

Joel Ajayi

Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, has urged stakeholders in the tourism industry to always upgrade their professional knowledge for effective service delivery.

Kangiwa made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos as the world celebrates the 2020 edition of the World Tourism Day.

He said that Nigeria’s tourism industry would fare better if stakeholders worked hard to upgrade their knowledge about the industry in line with global best practices.

According to him, stagnated knowledge about extant developments and trending issues in the sector has affected tourism industry growth in the country.

“We must continue to acquire professional knowledge that will equip us to deliver efficient services and promote the growth of the industry,” he said.

“By upgrading our skills and knowledge, we will be equipped to use the latest techniques being employed by our counterparts across the globe to brace-up with global standards,” he said.

He said that NIHOTOUR was willing to promote service delivery and industry growth through the provision of opportunities for constant training and re-training of practitioners.

“I urge tour operators, travel agents, tour guides, hoteliers and other practitioners in the tourism value chain to constantly upgrade their knowledge for greater efficiency.

“This is very important to tourism growth. Standardisation and professionalism should not be jettisoned if we must move the industry forward,” he said.

Kangiwa told NAN that the theme for the 2020 edition of the tourism day celebration: ` Tourism and Rural Development’ was a call on stakeholders to positively affect rural communities.

“The theme reminds us of our roles in rural community development, a huge amount of natural tourism assets are found in the rural communities.

“It is our duty to promote local tourism potentials such as festivals, cultures, arts and natural sites for global recognition and acceptance,” he said.

The NIHOTOUR director-general identified poor record keeping and tourism receipt statistics as major challenges facing the industry.

“As an institute, we will work with the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics to ensure accurate and factual figures of tourist’s receipts, this will change the people’s perception about tourism as mere leisure instead of a viable business.

“We are talking about a very vibrant market, one that can contribute significantly to the economy, one of the major problems is the lack of tourism statistics,” he said.

The world tourism day is annually celebrated on Sept. 27 to raise global awareness on the role of tourism, and to demonstrate its effect on social, cultural, political and economic values.

NAN

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Creative Industry

NTDA Strengthens Tourism Growth Through Partnership with African Travel Commission (ATC)

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) has taken a significant step toward advancing tourism development across the country by partnering with the African Travel Commission (ATC).

This strategic alliance was re-echoed during a recent meeting at the NTDA Headquarters in Abuja where ATC met with the Director Overseeing the Office of Director-General, Mr. Richard Ovie Esewhaye to discuss a unified approach aimed at boosting tourism.

The ATC delegation was Led by Dr. Lucky George, Executive Director of the ATC, who espoused the need to leverage our collective strengths to promote sustainable tourism growth and cultural exchange within Nigeria and indeed Africa.

In his response, the Director Overseeing the Office of Director-General observed that tourism development has been a cliche for a long time in Nigeria with past administrations paying lip service to the sector. He expressed commitment to effecting a paradigm shift towards practical tourism growth under the present administration.

As the NTDA and ATC plan to jointly develop campaigns that highlight the rich cultural heritage and emerging travel experience of Nigerians and Africans, a major stakeholder that will now be engaged is the travel press.

This was re-emphasised during the session with both parties in agreement that the essence was to pool resources and expertise in order to attract a broader international audience that will key into the new impetus engineered by NTDA and ATC.

In his closing statement, Mr. Esewhaye underscored the potential for this collaboration to create jobs and enhance infrastructure, stating, “This partnership is a testament to our shared vision of transforming Nigeria and Africa’s tourism landscape.”

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