Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the even development of Nigerian tourism is the ambivalent disposition of state and local governments to the sector.
Not even the fact that with a few millions of naira ecotourism potentials in most, if not all the states of the federation, can be developed for domestic tourists.
While so much has been said about the material and nonmaterial wealth inherent in the tourism sector, a ready product that can diversify the economy in many ways, such pious pronouncements at the state level is without any serious conviction.
State and local governments would rather award contracts from which they can make a kill than invest in tourism which has long term reward.
Speaking at the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation? on Monday, Hon. Sekonte Davis, a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Culture and Tourism, who led his committee on an oversight visit to the tourism agency, maintained that all? the States in Nigeria were rich in tourism potential.
“We have come to the realisation that we need to do everything to appropriate all the benefits in the sector. All the states are rich and we need? to develop the potential in these States, because oil will dry up soon” he stated.
He added that Nigeria has the widest ecospecies and ecotourism, and if well developed, would attract people to Nigeria.
His call was not the first in this wise, several efforts have been made by the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation to mobilise States and local governments to tap into their tourism assets; river, caves, waterfalls, mountains and hills? cascading the nation’s landscape.
In 2009, Commissioners of tourism from over 30 states of the federation were sponsored to South Africa on a farm trip by the NTDC, to understudy industry players in South Africa, and thereafter, talk their state governors into replicating what they saw in SA in their various States.
Not quite six months, some of the commissioners were sacked from their states cabinets for political reasons, despite the wealth of experience they brought from? the farm trip.
Today, the efforts of former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, at developing the tourism potentials of that state have earned the state billions of naira. The Carnival Calabar has become the biggest street party in Africa, originally designed to attract tourists to structures like TINAPA, the Obudu Cattle Ranch Resort,? and other sites in the State.
Very little can be said of other States, outside Cross River. In most cases, the state governors are either clueless as to how to go about developing the sector or are too greedy to invest in any long term project, the socio-economic benefits notwithstanding.
The global economic crisis and the more recent Eurozone crisis have placed Africa and other emerging economies ahead of most European countries.
Because of the high dependence on intra-regional travel, many Eurozone countries are set for a fall in 2012 according to Euromonitor International, “as austerity measures and ongoing economic uncertainty take their toll, with demand from key European market sources waning.”
However, the report said emerging regions such as Africa and Asia are booming, “thanks to the rising middle classes. Angola is the world’s? fastest growing country for arrivals in 2012, with a flourishing travel business market, increased foreign direct investment and bilateral air agreements.
It noted that the Arab Spring countries are expected to witness a rebound this year, “Yet volatility continues to cast a shadow over the region. The United Arab Emirate and Turkey will continue to benefit from consumers seeking out destinations deemed safer at the expense of North African destinations like Tunisia and Morocco.” Are the? Nigerian States and local governments prepared to tap into these opportunities?