Tourism is serious! Folorunsho Coker
We should encourage government, private, and industrial cooperation to promote and expand Nigeria’s tourist business. We need worldwide relationships to share creative industry knowledge, experience, and investments.
Tourism is a business because we are building a bigger Nigeria. Technology and traditional, cultural, and creative assets must boost Nigeria’s tourist economy. This aim requires several policies and strategies.
Critical Infrastructure
To help tourism, improve airports, roads, and public transit.
Increase hotel, resort, and guesthouse capacity to accommodate visitors.
Film tourism
We can create film commissions to entice foreign filmmakers to shoot in Nigeria. This will highlight Nigerian scenery, sites, and culture, enticing film visitors.
Nigerian film festivals should welcome foreign filmmakers and industry executives. AI is generating the whole value chain. The film must enhance coexistence.
Increasing Nigeria’s Music Tourism
Homeless music. Give our music an O2 venue or Madison Square Gardens. Show our music at home. Let’s encourage Nigerian musicians and hold music festivals and concerts, including Afrobeat, Highlife, Juju, and Afro-pop.
Let’s create music museums and cultural centres to showcase Nigeria’s musical legacy. Afrobeats generates $1 trillion yearly.
Fashion tourism
Why should a global business that replicates us legitimise us? Nigerian fashion designers should be showcased at fashion weeks and events. We need fashion centres and incubators to support local designers and attract international fashionistas.
Nigeria needs collaborative country marketing strategies to showcase its tourist assets and creative industries. Nigeria’s creative talents should be shown in enticing vacation packages with foreign travel companies and tour operators. Use social media and influencers to promote Nigeria’s distinct culture.
Food Tourism
Food festivals, culinary tours, and cooking classes should educate visitors about Nigerian cuisine. To improve visitors’ gastronomic experience, we should train, certify, and clean local eateries and street food sellers.
Tourist Technology
We need ArtIntel technology to improve the visitor experience with personalised suggestions, virtual tours, and interactive guides. To help visitors and residents communicate, AI-powered language translation solutions are needed.
Data analysis and AI predictive modelling could discover travel trends, focus marketing, and enhance budget allocation.
Cultural Expression Promotion and Digital Marketing
Nigeria needs collaborative country marketing strategies to showcase its tourist assets and creative industries. Nigeria’s creative talents should be shown in enticing vacation packages with foreign travel companies and tour operators.
Use social media and influencers to promote Nigeria’s distinct culture.
Human Capital and Proper Vocational Training
We should teach tour guides, hospitality ecosystem workers, filmmakers, singers, fashion designers, and culinary experts, not only to increase non-producing pure academic degrees.
Cooperation or Copycatting?
We should encourage government, private, and industrial cooperation to promote and expand Nigeria’s tourist business. We need worldwide relationships to share creative industry knowledge, experience, and investments.
We need a tourist ministry to move NTDA from the Ministry of Information. Tourism must be promoted and developed. This ministry needs power and resources to execute and monitor the recommended policies and techniques. Destination marketing is not government propaganda. Tourism, arts, and culture should combine. A voice. One goal.
SDG-compliant tourism
Waste management, conservation, and community participation may conserve Nigeria’s natural and cultural legacy via sustainable tourism. COVID-19 showed tourism’s vulnerability to global shocks. Domesticate and shockproof Nigerian tourism.
To protect visitors, we may prioritise security. This involves boosting law enforcement and installing surveillance systems at transit, hospitality, and entertainment venues. Tourists may use its digital safety materials.
Visa processing and tourist admission must be simplified. This involves introducing electronic visa systems (paying and issuance), lowering visa prices, and giving longer-term visas, additional visa categories, and visa-on-arrival for specified nations. More countries should be visa-free.
Tourism rewards excellent homes. Nigeria must improve its worldwide image to attract visitors. We should aggressively participate in diplomatic efforts to enhance the global image in the country and eliminate unfavourable stereotypes and misunderstandings.
We may invest in research and data collecting (Tourism Satellite Account) to better understand visitor demands and preferences. This will help us target the proper audience with our policies and marketing. Don’t measure your performance if you don’t want to discover your issues.
We need a tourist ministry to move NTDA from the Ministry of Information. Tourism must be promoted and developed. This ministry needs power and resources to execute and monitor the recommended policies and techniques. Destination marketing is not government propaganda. Tourism, arts, and culture should combine. A voice. One goal.
These policies and procedures need good coordination, enough timely financing, and long-term commitment from the government, corporate sector, and local communities. To eliminate duplication, territoriality, and silos, government entities must streamline.
