Africa: Private Sector Tourism Practitioners to boycott hosting of UNWTO Conference by Nigeria’s Ministry of culture, renew calls for standalone ministry

All is not looking good for the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Global Conference scheduled to be hosted by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture on November 14 and 17, 2022, as private sector tourism practitioners in the country have decided to boycott the event.

This is just as they underscored the need for a standalone tourism ministry in the country headed by seasoned professionals to run the affairs of the ministry in order to make meaningful progress.

Nigeria was awarded the hosting rights for the 1st UNWTO Global Conference on the theme ‘Linking Tourism, Culture and the Creative Industries- Pathways to Recovery and Inclusive Development in September 2021, during the 64th meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission for Africa held in Cape Verde.

The Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and the Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili signed the hosting Agreement on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the UNWTO respectively on Tuesday 19th April 2022. The signing took place at the Headquarters of the UNWTO in Madrid, Spain and the conference is scheduled to hold at the National Theatre Complex, Igammu, Lagos, from 14th-16th November 2022.

The objective of the conference is to identify, develop and promote a stronger partnership between tourism, culture, and the creative industries for inclusive economic growth and social development.

But practitioners under the umbrella body of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) have questioned the rationale for hosting the conference and what benefits the country stands to gain from it.

The President of FTAN, Mr. Nkereuwm Onung while speaking to journalists in Lagos, on Wednesday noted that the sector has made no progress in the last seven (7) years, under the current administration, adding that the sector is suffering from acute neglect by the ministry.

Onung said the conference which seeks to achieve such objectives negates the realities in the tourism sector, and hence cannot be achieved pointing out that there has been no development, partnership or engagement with the private sector since the inception of the present administration.

He said the association has already written an open letter to the President, Muhammadu Buhari, intimating him on the true state of the tourism sector and how backward the sector has retrogressed despite the genuine input of the president to move the industry forward.

Onung further added that the body is in the process of writing the UNWTO to let the global body know that the private sector will not be participating in the conference scheduled to hold in the country.

Kindly click the link below to register for the upcoming FTAN Annual General Meeting in Abuja.

http://bit.ly/FTANAGMREGISTRATION

Details of the copy of the letter made available to journalist reads:

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI:

HOSTING OF UNITED NATIONS WORLD TOURISM ORGANISATION’S FIRST WORLD CONFERENCE ON CULTURAL TOURISM AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: A WILD GOOSE CHASE OF NO BENEFIT TO NIGERIA AND NIGERIAN CULTURAL TOURISM AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES.

(1)Your Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, we the organised tourism associations under the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), the umbrella body for private operators in tourism, travel and hospitality, bring you good tidings.

(2). We wish to commend your efforts over the last seven years in enthroning good governance and improving the economy of the nation. We are also grateful to you for deeming it fit and necessary to place TOURISM among the priority sectors for this government.

(3). However, we wish to place on record that from our observations, priority has not been translated into physical reality and transformation of our sector, which is globally acknowledged as a multi-layered sector and the largest employer of labour with every ‘One’ employment out of 10 from TOURISM sector.

(4). The supervising ministry for TOURISM; the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, and the Minister in charge, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is, to say the least, have neglected TOURISM, with no basic policy direction, programmes and activities wholly initiated and/or in partnership with the private sector to drive TOURISM in other to improve its contribution to the country’s GDP.

(5). The Ministry and Minister appear to have an avowed disdain for DOMESTIC TOURISM and working with the private sector as the fulcrum to change the narrative and disruptive innovations in the sector as has been done in other climes.

(6). Not even in the difficult era of COVID-19 when most of the MDAs worked closely with the private sector to devise palliative for survival strategies did the Minister and Ministry think it wise to court the private sector.

(7). The only reaction from the Minister was to set up a ‘controversial’ creative industry committee to work out palliatives for the sector. Unfortunately, the recommendations of the committee and the review committee are today gathering dust and cobwebs in the ‘golden’ cabinet of the Minister; neither disclosed nor recommendations implemented.

(8). Moving to recent happenings, the common dominator of the pre-COVID -19 era all over the world, is TOURISM RECOVERY STRATEGIES championed by the UNWTO.

Sadly, the Minister has not felt the need to work in this direction especially given our peculiar situation; with our economy bleeding and our tourist destinations gripped by insecurity that does not repose confidence in tourists and investors in revamping our neglected TOURISM.

(9). Rather, what we have seen over the last seven years is that the Minister and the Ministry have been more focused on merely attending international events and meetings of the UNWTO and thus becoming ‘biding specialists’ by lobbying to get hosting rights to any UNWTO related events without putting in perspective the attendant economic cost and benefits to the country.

(10). The latest in the quest by the Minister and Ministry to turn Nigeria into ‘Father Christmas’ and ‘host country specialist’ for anything labelled UNWTO, is the forthcoming FIRST WORLD CONFERENCE ON CULTURAL TOURISM AND CREATIVE INDUSTRY scheduled to hold between NOVEMBER 14 AND 17, 2022 at the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos now undergoing renovation courtesy of the Nigeria Bankers’ Committee, which the Minister said is now to be renamed – Lagos Creative and Entertainment Centre.

(11). Mr President Sir, we the private sector, strongly believe that this world conference is of no benefit to Nigeria and our TOURISM INDUSTRY. It is rather self–serving and more of personal aggrandisement and these can be deciphered from a critical analysis of the present state of our TOURISM and CULTURE.

Curled from: ATQ News