Bassey Umo, an executive with World and Travel Land (WONTRA), says that Nigeria’s tourism sector is not sellable for now due to lack of essential infrastructure.
Umo, and other Travel and Tourism experts, on a familiarisation tour to Morocco to experience the country’s rich tourism and hospitality opportunities, said this on Friday in Casablanca.
“Even if you want to take them to Olumo Rock or other such heritage sites, are there good roads to get there and hotels to stay.’’
According to the expert, tourism is a veritable tool for national economic growth and positive image building for nations, but lamented that it is yet to be adequately harnessed in Nigeria.
She stressed the need for government to do more in order to attract investors to the industry.
Other experts, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), also urged Nigerian Government at all levels to create enabling environment to attract investors and tourists to explore the nation’s rich tourism potential for economic growth.
The experts, who visited acclaimed tourism cities of Casablanca, Marrakech and El-Jadidah, also met with their Moroccan counterparts to share experience and find areas of possible collaboration.
They said having experienced the dynamic tourism sector of Morocco which attracts investors and tourists from Europe and other parts of the world, there was the need to urge other African countries develop the sector.
Mr Taiwo Oladele, the General Manager of Dees Travels and Tours Ltd, said that as the Nigerian government was working toward economic diversification, the nation’s rich tourism potential should be harnessed.
He noted that although private investors were supposed to come into the sector for it to strive, it was the responsibility of government to provide enabling environment, especially basic infrastructure and security.
“The sector needs local and even foreign investors for it to grow and contribute meaningfully to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the government should provide necessary amenities such as stable power supply.
“We visited a lot of hotels here, and found out that power was constant, even in the remote areas, without hearing the sound of a power generating set.
“No economy can grow without adequate security, as tourists visiting a destination want to be sure that their lives would be safe before coming,’’ he said.
According to Oladele, if the nation’s tourism sector is fixed and working, it will have positive spiral effects on other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, transport, and job opportunities.
He, however, advised that government and local investors should be patient to realise the long-term returns of investing in tourism.
“They should avoid the-reap it now and get rich quick syndrome because tourism does not produce results overnight, it takes time to bring returns” he said.
However, Mr Claud Batohi, the Director AMEX GBT Nigeria, noted that Nigeria had cultural and historical heritages peculiar to its different group of people, which needed to be well packaged and made presentable to tourists.
“Nigeria has culture and history that people all over the world want to identify with, and that is why it should be made attractive to tourists.
“Recently, the French President came to Alausa in Lagos State to identify with the people’s culture, so if the president could do that, then other people should be willing to come experience Nigeria’s culture,” he noted.
He, therefore, called for collective efforts between investors and government at all levels to focus on developing tourism in the country.
NAN reports that the familiarisation tour was organised by the Moroccan National Tourism Office in collaboration with the Royal Air Maroc, for industry players of both countries to share experience and build areas of collaboration.
