Nigeria’s Tourism Minister, Mrs. Lola Ade John, has pledged to work closely with the Nigeria Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) to showcase the country’s tourism sites, landmarks, and rich cultural heritage.
This partnership aims to promote Nigeria’s diverse attractions, from its vibrant festivals to its breathtaking natural landscapes.
The minister made this pledge when she received NATOP President, Mrs Bolaji Mustapha, and her team in her office.
She expressed excitement over the Association’s plans to explore Nigeria’s landscapes, rich cultural heritage, and vibrant festivals, to showcase them to the world.
The initiative, according to the minister, will no doubt package and promote the country’s diverse tourism attractions, hospitality, and cultural experiences, putting Nigeria on the global tourism map.
“We shall partner together, and I do assure you of my ministry’s support and encouragement. Going forward, we shall endeavour to invite and carry your association along in whatever we are going to do.
“We need you to furnish us with a list of your accredited members and when we are going to present the tourism policy, which we think we need to review, we shall invite NATOP to look at it and further add values to the document,” she said.
The minister lamented that the present tourism budget cannot help drive the many pending tourism projects of the ministry and may impact the ministry’s participation at the global tourism trade event this year in London.
She, however, expressed hope that in the next budgetary allocation, the ministry will receive more funding to enable it to take giant steps to showcase Nigeria’s tourism offerings to the world.
”We are constrained financially for now and can’t do much but hopefully by next year’s budget, we will have done our homework well and I assure you that we are going to do many tourism projects together because of what you did during the World Tourism Day in Lagos, was the way to go in promoting Nigeria which is very dear to my heart,” the minister said.
Earlier, the NATOP president had briefed the minister on the Association’s plans to intentionally market Nigeria’s rich tourism to the world and also their intention to participate in the World Travel Market.
“We are here to assure you and the ministry of our partnership and collaboration to market Nigeria’s diverse offerings cutting across cultural heritage, ecological tourism, hospitality, festivals, and fashion.
“We are interested in sharing our knowledge concerning Nigerian tourism policy and other industry-related concerns, which would help reposition our tourism within the domestic and international space,” she said.
Mustapha noted that the association’s goal is to revitalize the tourism economy’s vital role in driving socioeconomic growth, focusing on job creation and empowerment of the people.
“We have started looking inwards, and in weeks and months to come, NATOP will embark on a project to rediscover Nigeria and, with it, galvanise the states and local authorities and the Nigerian people to think of Nigeria’s culture and tourism first. Nigeria tourism is important to us, and we want to have your ministry’s backing in this noble effort, ” she said.