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Minister of Tourism, Ms. Lola Ade-John in a group photograph with members of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) led by President, Mr Nkereuwem Onung, during a courtesy visit to her office in Abuja.
FTAN however seeks the FG attention to revisit the master plan. This in addition to the idea of allowing individual states of the federation to draw up their own tourism master plans, which FTAN posits will equally serve as a roadmap and guide in the implementation of their tourism development programmes and activities.
Onung emphasised that Nigeria cannot talk about developing the tourism industry without a roadmap to guide it to do so most effectively and efficiently which is the objective of the National Tourism Development Plan as a vital document.
FTAN also seeks the reactivation of the mandatory but now abandoned FG’s hosting of the National Council on Tourism, which was a platform where important national policies and programmes on tourism industry are discussed, far reaching decisions are taken, giving guide and direction to national tourism activities for sustainability and enhancement.
The group also canvassed the formation of Commissioners of Tourism Forum, which it said will bring all commissioners of tourism across the country together and afford them to discuss tourism development issues in their domains as well as offer the opportunity for synergy in national tourism development matters.
The tourism operators’ group, in addition to its proposals before the minister, urged the FG to come up with a calendar of events, which will include all key tourism and hospitality events across the country annually. “Besides giving national tourism events a line of focus and direction in preparedness, it will guide tourists to prepare their schedules to attend tourism and hospitality events in the country by both local and international visitors,” the FTAN president told the minister.
FTAN also advocated the revival of the long rested Presidential Council of Tourism, which it said was a platform to bring together key stakeholders from the public sector comprising line Ministries, Departments and Agencies at all levels of government as well as the organised private sector in the tourism industry with His Excellency, the President and Commander-in-Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Chairman of the council.
Onung also recalled the ‘the thorny issue of Grading and Classification of Tourism and Hospitality establishments’ which he said, “needs to be in place to guide standard operation patterns for tourism and hospitality establishments in the country in line with global best practices.”
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